runing into MOBs and slowing down?

Whats the point? Why do we drag (slow down) when we run close to other characters (and MOBs) ?

To me it seems ridiculous, IRL I can run through most crowds with or with out a weapon in my hand.

 

Because they are not invisible creatures that you can just pass through like ghosts. Try walking through a 250lb man, let me know how that works for you.

 

You're right, but..
Everytime I pass beside a NPC, I got slowed down.
I think they need to fix that, because it is really annoying.

 

Exactly my point , my character is not a idiot he see a 250 lbs man and walks around him. Just because the UI is not perfect does not mean my character is an a$$hole , if he can cast spells he should be smart enough to move around a MOB just like in real life.

Why do people always defend less than intelligent design decisions? I guess ideology trumps common sense?

 

In my opinion, it's a terrible feature and should be removed. Just creates unnecessary frustration.

 

So do what you do in real life and walk around them... That's what I do. You'll annoy them less too.

You have to think about it in the larger context... No big yellow ! or ? over quest NPCs... The Oracle and the Virtue System... Virtue Scores being linked to all characters on the same account...

Stealing stuff from NPCs has consequences... Walking through them or into them has consequences... for all I know it might be planned to have a Virtue effect... Negative Love hit, perhaps, like cursing at them or otherwise mistreating them will almost undoubtedly have.

It's all part of the same system... all part of the same design... It's all part of Richard's vision and doing things differently from the 'standard' games. Treat NPCs like they're Beings... Natives to the planet we've invaded... Rather than just Pixels.

 

I also find the snare quite annoying. It happens way too much even only passing NPC's not running into it. Voicing indignation of different degrees up to threats and whatnot, sure, by all means. I also don't want to be able to run through NPCs as if they were ghosts. We shouldn't be able to do that. But putting a control effect on me just because I pass too near someone is blowing my 'delinquency' out of all proportions.

I doubt that adding more clunkiness to the game is also 'part of Richard's vision'.

 

Immersion > convenience IMO. Especially if everything else in the game feels like ghosts you run through. Just my 2 cents.

Yes! Exactly.

 

I don't get that either. By all love to the game, it's not necessary to respond to everything what is in the game with instant admiration.

Your notion of immersion differs from mine. And the OP did not said that he wants to be able to run through NPCs, just that the slow is exaggerated when running close to them.
Are you really really sure that you defend that because it's an immersion thing? How so? Nobody cast a spell on you, but you're snared. How does that help your immersion? What kind of magic does the NPCs possess, that he can snare you when you overtake them?

 

Agreed - this is one those incredibly bad design decisions -

Dev 1 - "Hey, let's inconvenience and frustrate our players. When ever a PC encounters an NPC of any kind, let's introduce a modicum of realism by making them slow down when they try to walk through them. "

Dev 2 " Yes, great idea! Let's inconvenience and frustrate our players more by doing the same with the watchers, even though in "reality" they could have easily stepped over them, but hey let's call it "Immersion, yeah that's it".

Yeah I can hear it easily.

Sorry, this isn't immersing at all and as far as the vision? He needs to look a again, he missed quite a few things


This is a terrible so called feature.

 

So you weren't familiar with what signing up for a Lord British game meant when you did it?

This is just a continuation/elaboration on the same themes that've been part of Lord British games since Ultima 1.

Or did you come from UO only, where most of the core of what made Ultima Ultima prior to then was never able to be realized there because of a couple of bad design decisions?

 

I don't object to having to go around NPCs as a general concept. (And I do pretty much automatically take a wide berth around them, so mission accomplished, hehe.)

But I think two things need fixing:

1) Player pets slow me as well. This is really annoying when someone's giant spider is standing in the doorway of the bank and I'm trying to get in / leave.
2) The Oracle's Watchers are so fast and are constantly sprinting up to you to scan you; they're constantly underfoot and not all that easy to avoid due to their speed. I'm not sure what the answer is for them - removing their slowing effect is counter to the idea of having it in the first place, but I don't get slowed by players, so why not extend it those little mechanical menaces?

 

The collision boundary needs to shrink some and watchers need to have no collision.

 

I'd actually prefer that they turned on collisions completely, like it was in earlier releases, and fix the AI so they get out of the way if they're blocking you in a doorway or path and also allow a "push" mechanism. But I'm fine if that becomes merely an option for the offline mode (along with killable NPCs).

But for the online modes...

...I agree, that's what needs to be looked at to help make this system better.

 

I definitely don't want to see characters just runnig through each other without any consequences.
I have seen that enough at BDO with every one on "auto-path-finding" running on exactly the same track through each other.

Maybe the collision boxes can be tweaked a bit.

Maybe we could rather get an animation of you bumping in the other guy and you both stumble, as in Assassins Creed.

 

I've played all the Ultima games and played UO as well for many years

Not sure what that has to do with making bad design decisions such as this ridiculous slowing down but hey, go ahead and flame out if it makes you feel better

 

This was actually explained once upon a time during a post-mortem. The collision boundary is there for a purpose. if they made it smaller, which they tried, NPCs did odd things like walked into walls and got stuck in the terrain. The collision boundary is also necessarily circular, which is problematic for larger creatures like cows. If it were actually large enough to perform the same as more cylindrical mobs, like people, you would need to give them very wide berth or be caught in the effect. They compromised with this type of creature and made it somewhat too small to be completely effective... which is why you may occasionally find a cow with it's head stuck into a wall.

 

In the real world I walk down the street with purpose, pick a good path and expect people to get the hell out of my way...if they don't I move them aside as I pass :3 It's a very rare thing to actually slow right down in a crowd (and never near a single person) and in real life you never get magnetically stuck to a person for 10 paces like we do in this game.

NPCs shouldn't cause us any slowdowns, we should simply not be able to walk through them as we can't walk through a person irl - but we can help them find a new path that isn't in our way...in a game that could be a push.

In this game I feel like whipping out my weap and cutting these idiots down.

 

If it wouldn't quickly turn the cities into empty shells with no NPCs and cause difficulty for those looking to complete the story, I assume that Richard would also support this option... with a healthy Virtue hit...

He actually allowed this option in Ultima Online... which was likely the object lesson that moved him to not allow it here.

 

Well I wouldn't want to actually empty the town...just that aoe slow makes me grrrrr :3

Needs major toning down, like I said just make it so we can't actually run through NPCs...in games I always try to avoid doing that anyway even if they provide no resistance. But no slowdown! Just inability to run through them.