Quote:
Originally Posted by brohawk
In the end though, I want more interactive combat. I guess I got tainted on AoC. Initially, I didn't like it, but the more I played it, the more it grew on me, but then my main is a Guardian and it gets quite busy. I also do not use macros for my combos, because that only put me back to pushing a button to do something, so instead I push a few more true enough, however it feels like I am part of the interaction instead of autoattacking and pushing a few buttons every now and then to bring in another attack. I guess maybe I am more an FPSer than a RPGer.  |
When I first played AoC (in the closed beta) I was impressed by the combos and by the way you had to adjust attacks according to the enemy's shield placement. However, I soon realised that both these ideas had a pretty artificial implementation:
I had thought initially that there might be some strategy to the timing of the key presses, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Sure pressing these keys makes things harder, but so would having to get up and run round your chair in between every attack. Also since the sequences can be assigned to macros you are just giving your self a disadvantage in PvP by pushing the keys manually. If some one is going to implement this sensibly there has to be some strategy involved in the timing and some reason for doing those extra keystrokes - other than just making the game harder.
As regards the shields - really the monsters just commit suicide by moving their shields to inappropriate places ("hey man I'm just taking my helmet off so you can whack me on the head"). Also for the system to work between humans in PvP it would need to be possible to dynamically adjust your shield when you see what kind of attack your opponent is preparing. However the period between pressing the key and your shields shifting is far to high for this to work.
The best reactive system I've seen in any game so far is the interrupt system in Guild Wars. It already adds a whole new layer of skill to playing, for instance, a mesmer or ranger, and I think could be extended further to make timing critical in other types of attack.