Ranger Archive
Thread: CU: What do we think of the combat?
But we can't do that effectively. You don't ask someone with experience in a particular field to test that field for a "green test"as all you'll get is comparisonswith the old system.
At present the amount of info is good because its a learn as you go process which i havnt fealt since those early days on rori hehe.
Which is good to a certain extent. Things like best combo's, ways to kite, how to avoid aggro and the like are part of a good learning experience. Knowing how to set an auto-attack is a bit more of the stuff that everyone should knowpretty much as soonafter they start doing basic combat.
Message Edited by DND_Cas on 04-06-2005 04:49 PM
and just say that the two things I miss are:1. The combat queue
2. The ability to see what is attacking me (highlighted)
EQ2 and WoW did not have these things and I couldnt figure out why they didnt steal them from SWG, they were such a good idea. Now SWG has got rid of them.
I really hope they return the combat queue - though with the old icons gone, this might be difficult. And I really really hope they return the aggro highlighting. It is annoying to sit there tabing through a bunch of mobs trying to decide which one is the one who is causing you damage.Other than that I like the power-up/cool-down thing. In my mind this is exactly like the old speed, but now there is a visual cue to how long an attack is taking. I like the ability to set your auto-attack to any special (though it is still buggy for me). I like the idea of attacking with ranged and then switching to a melee attack/weapon closer up. Doubtless there are other things I like - I have just not encountred them yet.
I have not quite made up my mind on the dynamic group levels and the hate system, simply because I have not seen them in action enough, but I am prepared to like them. I am curious to see how camo effects hate. The xp system I am also undecided on. I liked the old system and I'm not really sure why it had to be changed. In JTL I've leved up through the first few tiers in pilot a couple times by having a guildie disable ships for me. I hope the ground game wont be the same way. But maybe the dnamic group levels offsets this? Undecided - need more input.
Just curious DND - when was the last time you used one of the droids? They have been upgrading them constantly and I find them very easy to use. ButI am sure this is becauseI use them so much. I would be interested in knowing what someone using them for the first time now thinks. Did you use them recently or are you going off how they worked when first introduced? (I found them really annoying then too)
DND_Cas wrote:
The majority of people don't read manuals and resent having to pick one up. Helper droids are a good idea in practice badly implemented. Far too clunky and you have to understand how the datapad works to be able to use it which is again bad design imo. In game video walkthroughs (with optional subtitles) are the way forward backed up by easy access documentation.
- Are things "firing" when they are meant to? Should my traps be on cool down / warm up? Should my posture change as part of a move or independant etc.
- Is my auto attack working properly or am I lagged?
- Am I even being attacked?
I think this small change would be great to see.
Other than that (once the minor tweaks are made to creature difficulty) I'm loving the new system. It's fun and engaging.
There's alot of hate being thrown at it but I think it really is doing the job it set out to do when it comes to the core combat system.
Actually I am hesitating to say anything about "like / dislike" until I can test it with full templates (it looks promising as of now but I am far from seeing enough of the system to judge about it).
And as I actually do like PvP - just not in its current state on Live - the effect of the CU/R/B on the PvP aspect of the GCW *including* if it manages to change GCW fights from the current "who brings the most jedi/jebay knights wins" to something more interesting is also a major part in my judgement of this whole thing (and I doubt I can tell you much about this before the CU/R/B has been on live for a month or two :-)).
Message Edited by darmokVtS on 04-06-2005 06:20 PM
Helped out a complete newb (bless her) on the server about a month and a bit ago. She was having all sorts of problems with it, didn't find it useful for what she wanted to know and just found it frustrating. It was definately an expectations thing as she just wanted to explore and wanted a quick question and answer session. After about 10 minuites of me explaining things she went off happy as larry (and I got my good samaritian badge 
). Just about the best system I ever saw was in the game "Evil genius" where when you got a new ability you got a small movie about it, what it does & how to use it.
Which is cool. I'm sure they'll get some of the information they need off testers like you All I'm trying to point out is that for the test they've set themselves they are not going to be getting anywhere near the results they are after (and more importantly need). You just need to look at the TC forum to see most people cannot forget about the old system (as you yourself have pointed out).
Message Edited by DND_Cas on 04-06-2005 05:23 PM
Vorpaks wrote:
Well, I will compare to the old system
1. The combat queue
2. The ability to see what is attacking me (highlighted)
QFE
Exactly how I look up on it. The queue is missing and the coloring on the toolbar is not always helpfull, cause you might use other abilities or perform a macro-ed combat to make better combinations faster then button bashing and then you don't know when you can do what. A queue would show it.
I actually like doing combat tough. Except for the points already mentioned I have 2 other (minor) things.
The icons used don't look Starwars like to me. More like some fantasy/medieval setting (perfect for wow/eq2 or so, but not starwars). Same goes for the weapons sounds. I was grouped with DaveG and he was beeting a servorrt with an axe and it sounded like someone was bonkin on a hollow metal barrel.
Same goes a bit for the sounds of other weapons and some "special effects", like (dis)mounting a vehicle...
On thing that was funny tough, seen it a few times now, dunno if it is as designed or a minor flaw, is that if you look at the radar and throw a trap, you will see a white rectangle moving towards the target from your dot. It doesn't allways work...
Ow and (still) as a riflewoman... I miss the states icons on the target (and the never ending list of other states that never go away it seems)....
Message Edited by Dariane_Kamutsovy on 04-06-2005 11:15 PM
Message Edited by DaveG on 04-06-2005 10:48 PM
But I've got to say... the old system wasn't broken, it just wasn't finished. Big problems caused by small flaws. It's hard to give the new system slack when the old system was so orginal and unique.
When ever me and my in game buddies would talk about why we loved this game that was so messed up, the two things that came up - no levels and your stats didn't go up. A n00b was made out of the same meat and bones as a vet.
So no mater how much the new system rocks I'll always hold a small grudge against it for replacing what could have been the best system I've every seen. It just never got the tweaks and rebalance it so deserved.
Oh well, the crafting system is still here, and that is really the thing that makes this game very unique.