telegraphing combat mechanic just destroyed my interest in Wildstar

Reehay

Wildstar just took a radically wrong turn with their combat design. in one stroke, my interest in Wildstar just completely deflated.

this is how you "keep us interested"???!!  this is what you call "exciting"!??! this is keeping us from being "bored" ??!! omfg horrendous idea. Wildstar... scrap this idea now. before its too late. put out a press release and call it a bad joke. your combat was already loooking alot of fun and exciting. THIS TRIVIALIZES AND COUNTERACTS ALL THAT FUN YOU ALREADY WERE CREATING!!! terribad just badbadbad

i really liked the blend of aimed attacks and traditional targeting. i also still enjoy the Trinity if its executed by a class system with interesting and flexible classes. but all that wonderful thrilling mix of possibilites gets completely negated and defused and rendered trivial by this completely moronic telegraphic mechanic. it will overshadow and tarnish all of the very awesome vibe that Wildstar was creating.

so gimmicky. instead of paying attention to the monster's animations and sound effects and learning the mechanics and patterns of an encounter. this is so sad. and used in pvp as well. GAH i was sooo excited for this game. now.. theres little chance i will play this.

and i keep hearing people say "dont worry it will get harder as you level up!!" rofl ya.. i bet the Giant Robot Boss will spell out "L A M E" in big red letters all over ground... so sad

 

Talmien

It is a interesting turn in their combat development. Looks like they're trying to latch onto GW2 already and try to improve their idea. I have a feeling though, with telegraphed combat and a active dodge system that they may be going the path of getting rid of the holy trinity as well. If everyone can just dodge and avoid the damage, what do you need a tank to soak it up for? or a healer to heal back your hps that you didn't loose?

I'm interested to hear some more about how their combat is going to work, but yeah right now it feels like a simplified version of GW2 already.

solarine

WOW and TSW had telegraphing before GW2. 

Also, from what I've seen in the videos, WildStar's telegraphs are more in the vein of TSW than GW2.

I also dislike that the game has to show us the exact area of effect beforehand, as some mystery is always good in my book; it keeps things exciting. Plus, I'd say it's part of learning individual encounters as well as learning to read encounters in general.

But I guess people really don't like having to die on a new mob type a few times to learn it, so it looks like we'll have to get used to this stuff. 

Zuvielify

At first I wanted to disagree with the OP because he sounds a little ridiculous with all his nerd-rage.

However, I watched the attached video and then instantly agreed. I think some telegraphing is good. If there is something that will kill you if it lands, you probably should be able to see it; at least on non-raids. However, the amount of telegraphing they are showing just makes combat look boring. The mob telegraphs enough without the stupid red box

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PgFo28scfYM#!

Rossboss

Simple fix to this problem. Add a button in game to turn them off for players who don't want to see them.

bingbongbros

I agree with the OP.  I was all aboard the Wildstar train until the telegraph release.  I think it's a really really bad idea.  I can learn enemy attacks on my own after getting hit with it.

Zuvielify

Originally posted by Rossboss
Simple fix to this problem. Add a button in game to turn them off for players who don't want to see them.

I disagree with your fix. It's not about whether I want them or not. It's about what is good for the game. If the game is holding everyone's hand this much, it's typically a bad sign. 

If I am the only person who turns them off, obviously I will be gimped compared to the player who does not. Instead, the game should tone them down so they are only shown in more extreme cases. i.e. big attacks. That means everyone has to learn how to watch the MOB for queues, not the ground

Vhaln

I just think the orange box is way too obvious.  If it were more subtle, it wouldn't bother me.  As in, easy to miss, unless you're actively looking for it - and easy to ignore, once you don't need it.

Maybe they just emphasized it for demonstration purposes?

drakaena

I agree. It's over the top. Some here or there is alright but they've gone completely overboard. Gameplay will consist of staring at red and blue ground patterns instead of watching the action.

Vrika

Some warning is good, but I think that's a bit too much. Players should be fighting against the mobs, not dancing with different shapes projected on the floor.

Ocenica

Oh no   I just watched that video also.  Damn, ya i get what the OP is saying.  It's Alpha so this is not the games final direction at all.  However, if I had just bought it today and seen that mechanic I would be very dissapointed.

Fadedbomb

Take them out, or take off your "originality" pin from your chest WildStar. Telegraphs are a freaking TERRIBLE idea.

 

Thanks for the heads up OP.

Rossboss

Originally posted by Zuvielify

Originally posted by Rossboss
Simple fix to this problem. Add a button in game to turn them off for players who don't want to see them.

I disagree with your fix. It's not about whether I want them or not. It's about what is good for the game. If the game is holding everyone's hand this much, it's typically a bad sign. 

If I am the only person who turns them off, obviously I will be gimped compared to the player who does not. Instead, the game should tone them down so they are only shown in more extreme cases. i.e. big attacks. That means everyone has to learn how to watch the MOB for queues, not the ground

It's not good for the game to exclude those of us who don't have the fastest reaction times, and it certainly won't hurt you if you have good reaction time. It's not holding your hand, it's telling you where the rails are.

If you want to gimp yourself, go for it. I feel like this will be a welcome addition. It's often difficult to tell what is going on with what queue if you never do the boss fight.

I'm really interested in what they mean by "it gets harder later," I can think of them using these telegraphs to trick players or intentionally make the wrong pattern with a boss or even expect players to be more precise in their character placement in boss fights (Think about the Touhou games).

The point is that what you may see as a threat may be something that players don't even pay attention to in the end. You really can't judge off of this because in every other MMORPG out there, mobs don't really threaten you until the mid to upper levels.

Deathenger

replace the orange squares and circles with subtile spell effects... problem solved

bunnyhopper

Give it time and flashing up what keys to press and when will be the norm in mmos.

 

Press Heal now.

Press Stun now.

 

AZHokie54

Watched the video. The game has much bigger issues than combat telegraphing.

Eir_S

I don't think I like this.  And they plan to have it in PvP too?  I'm sure that's going to go over like a fart in an elevator.

aRtFuLThinG

Originally posted by Rossboss

It's not good for the game to exclude those of us who don't have the fastest reaction times, and it certainly won't hurt you if you have good reaction time. It's not holding your hand, it's telling you where the rails are.

It is not about reaction time.

 

This is not Dance Dance Evolution.

 

I thought RPGs was about learning encounters and how the skills works. Otherwise what is the point? Some classes and abilities (especially tanking or healing) have no point if there are instructions and indicators on how to avoid all damages.

RizelStar

Originally posted by Zuvielify

At first I wanted to disagree with the OP because he sounds a little ridiculous with all his nerd-rage.

However, I watched the attached video and then instantly agreed. I think some telegraphing is good. If there is something that will kill you if it lands, you probably should be able to see it; at least on non-raids. However, the amount of telegraphing they are showing just makes combat look boring. The mob telegraphs enough without the stupid red box

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PgFo28scfYM#!

Same, that is a lot of telegraphing.

fenistil

Originally posted by bunnyhopper

Give it time and flashing up what keys to press and when will be the norm in mmos.

 

Press Heal now.

Press Stun now.

 

There were alrady games that flashed "propositions" what to press - like in example TERA had it a little.
Console mechanics will continue to pour in mmorpg's also because significant part of future titles will be made also on new gen consoles.  

Only question is if there will be lively and big enough niche of conceptually difftent mmorpg's and if it will spawn games with enough quality.

Eir_S

It's just unnecessary in a lot of the situations they show in that video.  Falling rocks, for instance?  Come on, if you're too stupid to watch for shadows in a 3D environment, you should be playing Gameboy.

william0532

Wow, at first I was going to disagree thinking this is traditional telegraphing(where you can tell an npc is about to do a specific attack by his action before hand), but this is extremely past that. The big red boxes are a bit rediculous, and tacky. I like skill and identifying moves from memory, but this hand holding approach is very dumbed down to the point where I can't even possibly think about playing this game now.

 

Hopefully people agree and the developers get rid of it.

Mardukk

I'm thinking that they can't be using these for every combat move, that would be stupid.  It would be ok if it was used sparingly like TSW.  Making people move is a nice thing just not for every single combat skill.  It did start to look like some dance game after a while...lol.

 

Also the shapes on the ground were there for quite a while before anything fired off for almost all of those skills...way too easy and dumb.  I suppose telegraphing every move would make sense with the crowd they appear to be shooting for indicated by their ultra cartoon art style.

Shamorau

I actually dont have a problem with it, but it should be only for aoe attacks and that type of thing. I play TSW and some of the critters in there show these. As long as you can dodge or get out the way i dont have a problem. 

 

I think it all comes down to the combat. If its fast paced and they dont have much of a build time for mass damaging abilities, then sure a little warning is nice. I am not saying that they should have it for all abilities just those that do mass damage.

Tiller

GW2 has it and last night a few guild mates were nerd raging over this being  in dungeons (I think CoF) where they try to avoid the red circles but roll into one that wasn't there before. xD It's apparent some folks will be ok with it and some won't...different tastes I guess. If you don't like it then the game isn't for you, simple as that.

I never understand why some people will complain about a major feature in a game, you either like the features in a game enough to play it, or you don't. No need to spend money on something that is supposed to be entertainment just to complain all the time, yet gamers do.                     

snapfusion

Non stop dodging in a dungeon raid or even PvP gets real old real fast.  Another feature I just found annoying.