For the Horde! For Ascalon! For the Living! For the Shire!

Sep 20, 2009 14:13

WOW vs. Guildwars... and MMOs in general I guess ( Read more... )

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hesterbyrde September 20 2009, 20:12:43 UTC
But like you said... when you're in combat, no matter what class you're playing, it comes down to bashing at healthbars as fast as you can. That's where Guildwars has it over WOW. It makes the healthbar bashing more varied and interesting because there are things like interrupts, teleports and ritual magic ( ... )

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entropius September 21 2009, 07:37:19 UTC
The thing about GW that makes its combat interesting is the balance between bashing at healthbars and trickery. This is enabled by healing being really really good -- if you're just going to bash at healthbars you have to be really good at it to get anywhere, so you need tricks to be effective. It's a great balance between offense, defense, and disruption ( ... )

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entropius September 21 2009, 07:51:31 UTC
The biggest hallmark of the bad combat mechanics in WoW is the concept of rotations: see http://www.wowwiki.com/Rotation .

Sure, there's a lot of depth and talent interactions to WoW -- building a fire mage, say, to maximize DPS output by synergizing crit chance effects. But all that can be done ahead of time, once -- and then once you're in combat you just do what you've worked out, again and again.

This would be laughable in Guild Wars. Sure, when a warrior goes for an adrenal unload he's going to use his shit in a particular order, and the skills are designed for that (Devastating Hammer -> Crushing Blow -> Heavy Blow). But you've got many other skills too, and much of the skill to being a good warrior is in target selection, movement, and knowing when to unload.

But in general, the game is so situational that when you use your stuff depends on the situation around you, not the recharge time of the skills.

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brodycatsmouth September 20 2009, 19:59:14 UTC
I've thought much of the same thing over the years. I've often thought I should make/demand something more sandbox-like - like an RPG with RTS elements - where there's no respawn, only lands to conquer, or die trying.

I've also thought what it would be like to have death actually mean something, like starting over. But I can't imagine how to make that workable enough so that the masses don't leave...but hell, WOW death is just too nerfed.

That's also why I am starting up tabletop again. It may be old fashioned and slow, but a good DM will see the gaps and fill them in. No complaint stays unaddressed forever. But getting people together, man. Our first game is finally tonight, and I told you about it, what...a month ago?

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hesterbyrde September 20 2009, 20:17:18 UTC
Yeah, D&D is slow but it's so damned good. We're playing this evening actually.

Our DM Walter and I have discussed an idea for an MMO like Magic the Gathering, where magic is based on the land you hold. It could have potential I think to mix MMO and RTS.

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brodycatsmouth September 20 2009, 22:06:46 UTC
That MMO/RTS mix is probably what we everyone who is bored with repetitiveness is looking for. I was also thinking of an MMO FPS, like Planetside, that would have more RPG and story elements in it.

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entropius September 21 2009, 07:52:32 UTC
I'm wondering if you could take Tribes-like mechanics and make a large world out of them, with a more extensive building system.

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