Goblin Squad Member
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Those of us familiar with skill progression in MMOs will recall that what it amounts to is a series of various kinds of damage, whether damage all at once within varying values and cold-based, fire-based, etc., or damage over time within varying values, each of which gets a different name, icon, and animated graphic effect. Some will be called bleeds, some noxious, some poison, etc. That provides a wide array of counters for each of the types.
One thing I don't think we've seen as a trainable character skill, beyond various shield-bashes and consequent stuns, are vital combat skills that a melee combatant in the real world would expect to try and master.
Maybe it is time to include such a skill tree. Parry is usually just a chance buried among the rest, and similarly blocks and evades. The problem I assume has been that latency in the network makes it impractical to respond timely coordinated with the opponent of the mob on the server.
These are three skills right off the top that could be developed as separate skills. Activation might still be automated but the probability of it happening could vary with skill tier.
Going a step further, there are other individual combat skills that have not, to the best of my knowledge, ever been provided for beyond enabling the ability to write a macro for your controller.
As an example case, in DAoC players who bothered to write (or copy/paste) macros for their controllers gained almost insurmountable advantage in melee combat over players who did not. They could make their character stay within melee range 'circle-strafing' to gain the flank or even the back of their opponent to score strikes that their macro-less opponents could not adequately counter. This and similar techniques could be incorporated as trainable skills in PFO. This should turn what was a technological player skill (as opposed to trainable character skill) into something accessible to all, and turn an otherwise unequal match between two same-level characters into a match where similarly trained characters was less lopsided.
I am of the opinion currently that making the same functionality as was coded in macros in DAoC into available trainable character skills would be beneficial to PFO. Since the macros were commonly available through the forums of various programmable controller devices these artificial advantages, often proclaimed as player epeen could be available to all, even old fogies and the technologically illiterate.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Don't have to worry about circle strafing, as gaining your enemy model's backside has no mechanical advantage (and constantly running around in melee actually gives the opponent Opportunity, which is a disadvantage). Are there other techniques that were macroed in DAoC which might be useful in PfO?
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Goblin Squad Member
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As a player inexperienced in MMO's, I can not comment on the pros/cons of game mechanics for scripted behavior. It does occur to me that there will be scripting anyway as some coming to PFO will do so because that is how they play. Also scripting for the physically challenged is a desirable policy IMO.
Questions:
1) Does GW plan to have a scripting option?
2) Can GW prevent scripting if they wish?
3) How would scripting for a controller differ from that for keybord/mouse?
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Goblin Squad Member
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I'd guess that scripts are another thing that GW won't have the ability to detect, as there are too many ways to disguise them from detection. I hope, as in other arenas, that GW will work that inability into their design, and deal with it clearly and straightforwardly to remove as much disadvantage as possible from those who don't use them.
I also pray that the increasingly-small number of us who've never used a controller other than keyboard and mouse won't find ourselves having to learn at this late point in our lives :-).
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Goblin Squad Member
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Hmm, can't find any dev quotes about the circle strafing issue, only forum goers assuring others that it won't be a problem. I do know that rogue's Sneak Attack does not rely on being behind your target, but instead it relies on your opponent targeting someone else among other unspecified ways to trigger it (as per the You've Got the Brawns, I've Got the Brain blog). The general consensus is that Stamina regeneration will likely be hampered by quickly moving, so that you can do less attacks and less damage if you are constantly moving. Additionally, though again I can't find any dev quote for it, I don't believe you need to face the camera toward the person you have targeted to attack/cast spells at them (as per... most MMO's).