Jedi Archive
Thread: Overview fact or fiction
Perhaps you will find a few facts or fictional points below?
Our team started out by asking themselves, how do you go about balancing and upgrading a combat system with the goal of making combat more Star Wars-centric, more engaging and fun for everyone when you are done? More importantly, how could we go about doing this for a combat system on a live game that has already been out for over a year? We hope this document answers those questions for you!
Star Wars Galaxies™ is a living, breathing entity and as such over time it will need to continue to evolve to remain compelling. By focusing on upgrading the combat system; we are taking the game to the next level and adding a shot of adrenaline to the game-play to make the experience more fun and Star Wars-centric. We want to enhance the group play, by adjusting profession roles that create inter-dependency between players and allow them to choose templates that more closely resonate with their play styles. We also are allowing role "stacking" -- which gives players the option to blend different types of professions to create "profession combos" -- since you can have more than one profession, making character profession roles even more diverse and interesting. In the end, this means that combat will be much more exciting and tactical and a whole lot more fun!
The primary challenge is to improve inter-dependent game systems and not just pieces and parts, seemingly minor changes to one area can have wide repercussions across the game This is what we are facing every day on the combat upgrade project. What must change, what should change and how far can we go while ensuring we make combat fun and engaging for players of all levels.
While reviewing possible changes to the combat system we found that there were so many dependencies it was hard to control where to draw the line. If we tried to do too much then we risked losing what is uniquely fun about Star Wars Galaxies and end up with an endless series of tuning changes.
We decided to drop all current assumptions about what is right or wrong about combat and just evaluate thecombatexperience simply based on our key goals: making the game more fun, accessible and Star Wars - centric. Using that approach we came up with a list that we believe defines what the Star Wars Galaxies combat experience should be. This list wasn't intended to define any specific implementation details; rather it would just outline the core experience that we want to define the nature of combat. All future design decisions would be based on and remain true to the list. It would give us a foundation to determine what truly needed to change.
Here was the list we came up with:
But what exactly does all this mean and how will these core philosophies impact the game? What needs to be changed and what can remain constant?
This is the essence of the combat upgrade quest - identify the specific path that leads to the most fun, interactive and Star Wars -centric experience possible in combat.
I wish eveyone a good morning!
(08:00 GMT +1)
Virtuell wrote:
There is no ideal Profession template combination Profession roles and balance are designed to encourage grouping
Virtuell wrote:
I looked at the Combat Upgrade Overview this morning when I got to work and now I begin to wonder if they have movepast the CU into a new phase, which I cannot find any name for. I let you use you own brain and let you also get to your own conclusions.
Well, take a look (original page is here) and see what is fact or fiction... Perhaps you will find a few facts or fictional points below?
Our team started out by asking themselves, how do you go about balancing and upgrading a combat system with the goal of making combat more Star Wars-centric, more engaging and fun for everyone when you are done? More importantly, how could we go about doing this for a combat system on a live game that has already been out for over a year? We hope this document answers those questions for you!
Star Wars Galaxies™ is a living, breathing entity and as such over time it will need to continue to evolve to remain compelling. By focusing on upgrading the combat system; we are taking the game to the next level and adding a shot of adrenaline to the game-play to make the experience more fun and Star Wars-centric. We want to enhance the group play, by adjusting profession roles that create inter-dependency between players and allow them to choose templates that more closely resonate with their play styles. We also are allowing role "stacking" -- which gives players the option to blend different types of professions to create "profession combos" -- since you can have more than one profession, making character profession roles even more diverse and interesting. In the end, this means that combat will be much more exciting and tactical and a whole lot more fun!
The primary challenge is to improve inter-dependent game systems and not just pieces and parts, seemingly minor changes to one area can have wide repercussions across the game This is what we are facing every day on the combat upgrade project. What must change, what should change and how far can we go while ensuring we make combat fun and engaging for players of all levels.
While reviewing possible changes to the combat system we found that there were so many dependencies it was hard to control where to draw the line. If we tried to do too much then we risked losing what is uniquely fun about Star Wars Galaxies and end up with an endless series of tuning changes.
We decided to drop all current assumptions about what is right or wrong about combat and just evaluate thecombatexperience simply based on our key goals: making the game more fun, accessible and Star Wars - centric. Using that approach we came up with a list that we believe defines what the Star Wars Galaxies combat experience should be. This list wasn't intended to define any specific implementation details; rather it would just outline the core experience that we want to define the nature of combat. All future design decisions would be based on and remain true to the list. It would give us a foundation to determine what truly needed to change.
Here was the list we came up with:
Combat will be moderately fast paced and very interactive.
Combat is faster paced than most other MMOGs.
Combat is not as fast as an "action" game.
Combat has bursts of faster paced action.
Combat pacing still allows for basic chatting and command communication.
The average even PvP fight should last 1-3 minutes. My last fight went 45 minutes.
Combat is tactical in nature
There is no all around "best" action
Different situations offer different ideal actions with which to respond
Actions can have specific counter, combo and recovery actions Not Snare
Powerful or unique actions cannot be repeatedly "spammed"
Actions can only be used a limited amount of times during a specific short period
Different professions have different ideal ranges
Terrain has a meaningful impact on combat
Movement and position have a meaningful impact on combat
Gear choice has impact on speed of motion and actions
Single shot PvP kills of unwounded characters is never possible Apparently whoever wrote this isn't working on Pub 24, are they?
Professions have specific skill sets that define specific combat roles and abilities
Profession abilities have minimal overlap to ensure distinct combat roles
Profession abilities can be combined to create more unique or specialized combat roles
Profession abilities always stack together in an additive and meaningful manner (either through increased power for each Profession ability or through added versatility)
There is no ideal Profession template combination Profession roles and balance are designed to encourage grouping
But what exactly does all this mean and how will these core philosophies impact the game? What needs to be changed and what can remain constant?
This is the essence of the combat upgrade quest - identify the specific path that leads to the most fun, interactive and Star Wars -centric experience possible in combat.
I wish eveyone a good morning! (08:00 GMT +1)
WE are now living in the Post CU, and i lack for a name that would not violate some posting rule
But we are all beating a dead horse. Pre-CU is gone. Nothing is going to bring it back. They are forcing Jedi into hiding. Unfortunately they fail to realize that 'going into hiding' means 'not logging in' or 'cancelling our accounts'.
The horse is dead. Its up to all of us to decide what we do from here on out.
Good luck to us all.
Aye it is gone soon the CU is too. The text is from the CURB and it it is a longshot now from what they published about it
Tribones wrote:
Dont get me wrong. I hate the CU as opposed to getting pre-CU back, hell, I had a dream about precu combat last night, no lie.
But we are all beating a dead horse. Pre-CU is gone. Nothing is going to bring it back. They are forcing Jedi into hiding. Unfortunately they fail to realize that 'going into hiding' means 'not logging in' or 'cancelling our accounts'.
The horse is dead. Its up to all of us to decide what we do from here on out.
Good luck to us all.