Age of Conan

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

 

Originally posted by admriker4

First off, GW isnt a quasi FPS. It has auto-target and auto-attack.

Second, GW is just like any other MMORPG. I dont recall it being anywhere near as complex as your setup. My typical setup for all MMO's is keymap controls to arrow keys (i dont do WASD). Then I point/click with my mouse on the bar where my specials are located. Simple, easy, and proven method Ive been using for 20 years of PC gaming.

AoC fans better be ready for a shock in subscriber numbers. The fact is quasi fps games for MMO's dont work. They fail miserably. 50k players is a success for that genre. The talk of being a WoW killer is way off base.

My thinking is Funcom's suits must know this but dont care. Theyve designed the game for xbox360 users which of course is a great risk.

Seems like you already have your mind made up before you even posted anything today.

 

You do realise that the game was designed for PC first then will be ported to 360 - like in a years time!

By the same method you used - can you name a quasi fps mmorpg that sold more than 50k subs? if not then how are you basing the fact this game will fail. none? because it hasnt been done before? Why fly to the moon? Why build big aeroplanes? did the Wright brother just give up, or did they push the envelope?

Btw you wrong if you think its FPS style - big time. Its similar to what we have now but different in alot of way but in NO way degrading to gameplay. Im ambidextrous too so I found it just as good holding the mouse in left hand :)

EDIT: btw the GW statements were to the other guy, and also I think we did a good job to answer your questions in your first post, but this thread kinda went from positive to you jumping the gun and calling doom on AoC's combat fast, bit harsh as you havent tried it yet and all the previews out there...LOVE IT.

I wouldnt be here asking questions if I didnt want to give the game a shot. I collected Conan comics for years and the idea of being in Cimmeria is very appealing.

And not all aspects of the combat system do I dislike, the finishing move for example is amazing.

Im just not too keen on the idea that my combat success will come down to my twice broken wrists and eye glasses wearing vision. I prefer relying on my avatar's gear and my strategy choices with special attacks.

Its not just me either. This genre is very popular for consoles and the younger crowds that play them. But when I mentioned the combat system to some ex-guildies from SWG the response was immediate, no thanks.

Personally I'm taking a wait and see attitude.  I'm certainly willing to give it a go, the game has so many features that look like they will be great and if as Avery says it plays as smooth as a babies bottom thats a big plus :)  Just so long as there are any big black holes dropping you to the desktop or through the world. 

Avery combos are ok but what about combat skills like many other games have.  Do melee characters have any of these abilities?  Things like stuns, snares, bleeds, knockbacks, debufs, taunts, bufs, etc?  Or are these all tied to combos and if they are tied to combos how the heck long do fights typically last?  I mean if it takes 3-4 attacks to do one ability  and the attacks aren't too fast that is easily 10 seconds or more before you can get off your first ability.  Does a typical fight last say 30 second for a regular mob??

I mean pressing buttons to attack even with the shield thing is really very mechanical.  The playing out of combos could become quite tedious esp if the combos tend to be pretty long.  I mean I want to do a stun so I gotta do 1,3,2 and the rose buttons light up to guide me through it?  Thats almost like the combat wheel in EQ2 except longer.

One big question will be the balancing of combo abilities.  This will be a bit of a challenge in that if the shields reduce damage to play out a combo then the combo effect better be quite significant else the loss of damage playing against the shields to make the combo might not be worth while.

Everything I've read really leads me to believe that to play this game effectively you will really want to use a gamepad.  This will give you a lot better control over the game UI with buttons and joysticks easily accessable.  Where trying to move with the mouse and the wasd keys while pressing 1,2,3 sounds like it will be quite a challenge unless you can fight while basically stationary which doesn't seem to be the case.

The thing about games with autoattack is that the autoattack doesn't really matter.  It's the routine damage.  The combat is about using your skills to maximize your damage, protect players, debuf mobs, or other effects.  Like in eq2, or wow you lead with some debufs, then do your damage abilities or maybe do something that bufs you or generates hate to keep agro.  There are a wide assortment of abilities and skills you have to plan to use to best effect.  Wow is better then eq2 in my opinion in that there are various build ups or other features that allow you to leverage finishing moves.  The best combat system in my opinion to date is Vanguard where not only do you have abilities, finisher chains, buildups, but also you have reactive and defensive abilities and vulnerabilities. 

So really I'm interested in how these more strategic elements are reflected in the combat system in AoC? 

Originally posted by ethion

Personally I'm taking a wait and see attitude.  I'm certainly willing to give it a go, the game has so many features that look like they will be great and if as Avery says it plays as smooth as a babies bottom thats a big plus :)  Just so long as there are any big black holes dropping you to the desktop or through the world. 

Avery combos are ok but what about combat skills like many other games have.  Do melee characters have any of these abilities?  Things like stuns, snares, bleeds, knockbacks, debufs, taunts, bufs, etc?  Or are these all tied to combos and if they are tied to combos how the heck long do fights typically last?  I mean if it takes 3-4 attacks to do one ability  and the attacks aren't too fast that is easily 10 seconds or more before you can get off your first ability.  Does a typical fight last say 30 second for a regular mob??

I mean pressing buttons to attack even with the shield thing is really very mechanical.  The playing out of combos could become quite tedious esp if the combos tend to be pretty long.  I mean I want to do a stun so I gotta do 1,3,2 and the rose buttons light up to guide me through it?  Thats almost like the combat wheel in EQ2 except longer.

One big question will be the balancing of combo abilities.  This will be a bit of a challenge in that if the shields reduce damage to play out a combo then the combo effect better be quite significant else the loss of damage playing against the shields to make the combo might not be worth while.

Everything I've read really leads me to believe that to play this game effectively you will really want to use a gamepad.  This will give you a lot better control over the game UI with buttons and joysticks easily accessable.  Where trying to move with the mouse and the wasd keys while pressing 1,2,3 sounds like it will be quite a challenge unless you can fight while basically stationary which doesn't seem to be the case.

The thing about games with autoattack is that the autoattack doesn't really matter.  It's the routine damage.  The combat is about using your skills to maximize your damage, protect players, debuf mobs, or other effects.  Like in eq2, or wow you lead with some debufs, then do your damage abilities or maybe do something that bufs you or generates hate to keep agro.  There are a wide assortment of abilities and skills you have to plan to use to best effect.  Wow is better then eq2 in my opinion in that there are various build ups or other features that allow you to leverage finishing moves.  The best combat system in my opinion to date is Vanguard where not only do you have abilities, finisher chains, buildups, but also you have reactive and defensive abilities and vulnerabilities. 

So really I'm interested in how these more strategic elements are reflected in the combat system in AoC? 

 

 

• “Piercing Shots”, which allows the Ranger and their group to penetrate or even eliminate directional shields on their target of choice.
• “Linebreaker”, which is a powerful shot capable of knocking down all foes in a column between the Ranger and his target
• “Volley”, which allows all of the Ranger’s shots to affect additional targets
• “Heartseeker”, which will instantly kill an opposing minion in addition to increasing the likelihood of one’s team performing fatalities for a period of time.

Should you care to see some of the others for the classes that have had previews thus far you may visit the TTH AoC site and look in the interviews section.

I believe that AoC combat will be awesome, and it does look awesome from vids iv seen so far, nothing like we seen in other mmos.

I'm sure I've read somewhere that all classes can auto attack. It's just the combos which need physical input.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Finding it increasingly difficult to understand how people find auto attack interesting......

Originally posted by jud666

Finding it increasingly difficult to understand how people find auto attack interesting......

 

I dont' think anyone finds auto attack interesting but it is kinda like the bread and butter attack and leaves the player free to focus on other things like using special abilities and strategic application of these abilities with a bit of time that enables coordinating with other group members.

Some of us are not sure that manual attack is a step forward.  Should I really need to sit there and hit a button for each attack.  I'll grant you the addition of a shield icon and combos has made it a bit less then mindless but not really much... You will most likely always start on the weak shield side and then religiously follow combos as the lights light up.  This assumes the combos are powerful enough to be something you always want.  If not then it might be just better to hit the weak shield side constantly...  Anyone play wack-a-mole :P

I believe this will make combat more intuitive.  To be honest I am not exactly sure how everything will pan out much like a lot of the people here.  The combo's might become repetitive, the lack of auto attack might drive away some players but I see this as innovation in a sense that they are at least trying different things.  Lets for instance go forward into the near future where AoC is released and hundreds of thousands of players pick it up and start playing and find that the combat is fine, they get used to it and life goes on as it did before the advent of AoC.  New thing has been tried, and perhaps the genre has been moved a step in the right direction.  Lets on the other hand assume that AoC tanks because of the choices they made and becomes a niche game for a minority, well so be it.  They will have a game they like playing and now FunCom's mistakes can be used as a base to be improved upon to take a less then successful idea and expand it, change it, mold it into something successful.

Imagine the first guy that said hey I'm gonna make an rpg, that will be played on a massive scale with hundreds of thousands of people at the same time.  The people at that time probably laughed at him and said it couldn't be done for various reasons or how it might kill the small group aspect where friends gathered at lan parties and pla