New Suggestion to Improve Glyph Combat

You are right and I have never fought PVP yet. It doesn't seem natural because no one would look down when they are in a fight unless they want to get hit in the head and die. I would like to see the devs. get the AI characters to hide behind rocks and trees to avoid our attacks like we will do. I would also like to have them ambush me from behind rocks and trees. However, they mustn't ambush us while on the overland trail because that is irritating not challenging. We are usually trying to get somewhere. But I like the idea of PVPers going into an area where they usually only have to worry about another human, only to find that they are ambushed by three bandits from above and behind a rock while passing through a narrow trail such as Brightbone Pass. I know that the AI is not as challenging as a human, but this game as two famous people that should be determined to improve and change that. If anyone can they can. If not this year then perhaps next year, but give up, never! People would love it too much whether PVP or PVE.

 

While the OP is coming up with good ideas it fails to resolve the issues I'm having with the deck system. Combining and stacking. It is quite annoying to combine and combine and have to keep watch because the other skill is about to disapear. It is really quite frustrating. Why not just have an auto stack?

 

I think that's a solid idea, on all accounts. But that's where the random deck makes it impossible: imagine getting ambushed, and after considering player reaction time, they go to use an ability to counter attack the ambush only to find...

...they haven't drawn the card they need yet. And then they're waiting now that they're in combat. It isn't just player reaction and hitting the right abilities when they need it; it's player reaction, twitching to hit the right keys, and that's assuming you have the right cards available. It gets sloppy and messy, and for many players, downright annoying, considering items wear and tear, and there may be looting options in the future. Lack of player control will lead to a lot of deaths with repercussions players will get annoyed with fast.

 

ALERT -- SARCASM AHEAD

I have an alternative to help the deck system that won't distract us while we play.

Instead of being distracted by the deck system why not just remove everything else so we ONLY see the deck system? Since I cannot focus on anything that is going on just let me see a blank screen with the deck right in the middle. Then the super AI that everybody keeps saying that is coming can move our characters for us and all we need to do is focus on the deck.

Even though we don't see anything we will know when we come close to our enemy because our cards will be highlighted. This way they can use the deck system just as it is without changing it and it will not distract us.

 

What you really want is -50% focus cost and -50% fizz chance bonus, right?

 

sorry I don't really know how to shrink it but this is something I personally like it, i know it doesn't fix well like 90% of issues with the random system but it centers the "Hotbar" (if you can call it that) around the caster and the fight with the cards becoming more solid (instead of sliding up) and dims (Instead of sliding down). You get to see a bit more of the fight because it is in the center of what your looking at. As stated at the start though this doesn't solve 90% of the problems people have with the random system and is just something I like the look of sadly never seen a combat system like this so idk if it will make it worse or better. (by that i mean the looking down at the hotbar not the random system)

(this was my second attempt of taking a screen shot the ghost in the back ground got its hands on me that's why I have a death timer)

 

I believe Chris Spears said he tried something like this, though I think he had the circle 'attached' to his target, and it made things difficult because now the buttons were dancing around the screen as the opponent (and the view) moved around.
So, basically, I think you're on the right track, and it's clear that they are working on figuring something out too. As always, once they have something working within the team, they'll unveil it to us. In the mean time, keep up the great ideas! I'm positive they are reading these with interest. ;-D

 

I actually had the same thought of attaching it to a target, But i thought would fix it to the screen not the target because it might bounce around as the target moved and the player turned the screen lol

 

As you said, it doesn't really address the problems with the system. This idea has been brought up several times in various iterations since I've been on the forums, though. While it keeps more eyes on the action, it still has two primary pitfalls (which others also cited in those separate threads):

1. Immersion-Breaking. My "seamless, deep, beautifully crafted Lord British experience" has a big clock in the middle of it, with glyphs instead of numbers. It's ugly and distracting from the experience. (Not to say your screenshot is ugly, but the fact that any sort of hotbar/UI in the center of the screen distracts from the immersion of the game).

2. Random Availability: Instead of looking down, you're now looking around. You additionally never get fully confident in your character's abilities because you never know when you'll have a glyph available, meaning tactical glyphs will still be overlooked for boring glyphs that are always useful.

This is a Richard Garriott game. We shouldn't need to make something "better" or "easier"; we just need to make something "good" and "easy". There shouldn't be problems like this with a UI in any form in any game.

 

Having glyphs auto-stack would further dwarf fixed hotbars, which might make a lot of folks upset. Not everyone likes using the deck system and they already feel like they have to in order to compete.
Auto stacking would possibly present some problems, such as having more than one type of glyph a particular glyph can stack with, wanting to stack a couple of similar glyphs in your hand and leave one or more unstacked, and when they add more and mroe combos it will become more and more complex

After using the deck system a while, its not really the position of the hotbar that makes me lose focus in a fight, its having to use my mouse to click on and drag skills around, which prevents me from operating my camera angle during a fight.

I will have to save up and try to purchase a macro-pad and get good with it to lose that problem

 

I haven't been following this problem very long so I do not know what input people have given, but I would like to try one instead of just complaining for once. What we are using is magic when it comes to focus, even if we are a warrior tank. How about a deck that is random like it is now based on mostly one thing--focus. The lower your focus gets during a battle, the more your cards will start to move. You would start out with a deck that is fixed, yet as you fight and lose focus, they will start to move. It reminds me of the old sitcom called, "Bewitched." She had an aunt who was old and would get confused so her magic would be inconsistent and wreak havoc. If you can't concentrate, i.e., focus what happens to anyone in real life when you can't focus? A simple answer is always best. Concentrate (focus) or watch that hot bar go crazy. It seems more realistic just like real life.

 

Iirc, the external USB numpad I used to use to play UO on my laptop was $10-20 at Walmart. More than enough keys for glyphs! :>

 

The best idea I heard so far was Smack's not decaying cards, you get your hand, those are your cards, play wisely.
You only get new cards whenever you:
a) discard.
b) use a card.
c) combine 2 cards.

I think the most annoying from Deck system for me is the way cards are popping up and down like in a slot machine,
forcing to stare at your deck just to see whats going on. When you use focus to adjust Deck draws you are basically
achieving the same behavior as a non decaying Deck. So remove artificial focus skill and let us use our "real focus skill".
Its that simple that it might work, at least its worth a try.
At least it would noticeably reduce the time we pay staring at Deck.

 

love this idea!

 

A pity that best ideas were posted in Release threads as they are removed on each new release, so people cant see them anymore.....

 

I have decided to no longer try to fix the random deck to my liking and wish those who love it all the best. I will never try to change it again and every time I see a thread on it, I will hit the DELETE key. I have had an epiphany and know that there is no way that the two creators of this game think it is a great combat deck. I was an Influential End User, in the one-percentile of people in California who influenced the high-tech. industry, including games. That group included Larry Ellison, etc. I gave the current mayor of San Jose advice for his job that would have him become a Senator. He said I had a very high level of awareness. I am not saying this to show off because I don't know everything. I just can't believe I doubted myself. For now on I try to get the original combat deck back with what the two creators would accept in order to get the initial warm-up penalty to disappear. Enjoy your deck.

 

I can relate. I also am very influential, in the one-percentile of people who influenced major corporations.

NOT TO TOOT MY OWN HORN HERE, BUT... for instance, instance there was a Gatorade commercial featuring Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm. In the commercial the two of them competed in various athletic events. In the Origional commercial Mia cheated and beat Michael Jordan in a sprint, and she was ahead of him in all the other events as well.

I wrote to Gatorade that if Mia Hamm is beating Michael Jordan in all of those events then GATORADE DOESN'T WORK!!!

... well that wasn't all I said but my letter built up to that final conclusion. Needless to say in a matter of 3 weeks the commercial was edited!!! The new commercial showed Jordan and Hamm competing but it stops before it shows any winner.

THIS IS INFLUENCE!!! JEDI MIND S*** AT ITS ULTIMATE!!! I'VE BEEN INFLUENCING COMPANIES SINCE I WAS ... YOUNGER. SO THERE!

I also sent letters to El Pollo Loco, Starbucks, and other places. The most recent was Starbucks about several new interior design elements that seemed like it was designed to make people uncomfortable so they leave. However the next one that was remodeled looks great. These Big companies listen.

Although I need to write another letter to El Pollo Loco, because I forgot to address the problem of asking "do we want the combo with that." EVERY TIME I try to order something it goes like this... "I would like a Problemo Burrito and a Lar...<Do you want the combo or just the burrito?> just the burrito! and I would like a large diet coke.... on and on. Really screwy.


IN ANY CASE PORTALARIUM SEE HOW MANY INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE ARE HERE GIVING SOLID ADVICE. JUST LOOK AT OUR REFRENCES!!!


EDIT: Oh and the episode of the Big Bang theory where Sheldon said when he was a kid he use to pretend to be Stephan Hawking by using a speak and spell etc .... MINE!! Yep! They got that line from me!

If they use my ideas for the new Heroes then the show will be fing awesome!

Okay now I will pretend to be a normal person again.

 

I was more upset with myself for not remembering that I should know better than to try to change a combat deck that would be harder to change to what I like than changing the fixed deck. I should just let people use the random deck as is and concentrate on changing the fixed deck. Why is it that we can sometimes so wise and other times so foolish? It must have something to do with being so busy that we speak before we think.

 

This is not directed at you per se, it just provided an excellent opportunity to do the 'parent' thing.
This is me about fifty pages of combat discussions ago:
"different personal preference than yourself and trying to motivate such with arguments which are not taking such preferences into account.
Which is an inflammatory excercise in futility."
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?posts/350220/
Just search for "futility" from Spoon.

"But again like I said in the beginning, all of this argumentation is an excercise in futility. This since this is based on personal preference and playstyle.
Neither side will convince the other side that what they find fun or not fun, isn't or is, based on these arguments. It just won't happen."
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/the-combat-system.23172/page-6#post-350220

People have been trying to convince each other that their personal preference is incorrect.
Futility.
Instead of focusing on what would make their preferred system more to their liking.