Constructive Criticism of 6 month demo Combat Card System

I really like the idea of the 'cards' being situational changes, strategies that we employ to change the game up. That decreases the need to SPAM them, which decreases the need to look away at the UI, and search for the right one...

I also like the idea of bringing a varied defense system in, so that what defense you are using becomes a vital consideration of my attack.

In Age of Conan, the player got three defensive layers to arrange between left, right, and overhand attacks, he could move those three any way he liked. This meant that every character you fought could be defending in different ways, and if you wasted time swinging into a triple defensive stack because that was your preferred attack swing, you wouldn't get any damage through at all, while your smarter opponent would be swinging at one of your open or single stack zones for high damage.

I really want to see a system of passive 'always on' effects, be they from gear, enchantment, skills, or whatever else, that let us customize how our characters are just running around, so that the combat itself is different depending on how you trained and prepared yourself.

To me, creating a wide variety of experiences is far more meaningful than complicating the experiences themselves.

 

I've mentioned this before but what I'd like to see is a set of passive slots for offence, defense, and possibly utility. And your number of slots is fixed. So if allows people to have a million things all over the game which "give a buff" but in the end, you can only pick 4. (or whatever) Heavier armor effectively chews up defensive slots, combat pets (figuratively) chew up offensive slots. Utility was for something like a light spell.

Making it zero sum balances out explores who want to unlock everything with achievers seeking to min/max.

 

I would say the only thing we are disagreeing on here is number of passives. I like LOTS. I am in favor of it being a limited number overall, so that at some point you must choose between them, limited-resource puzzles are very fun and popular. I am also a fan of complexity, though, and you don't get much complexity with "one offense, one defense, one utility, one pet".

When I played ANY of the games that preceded this, from prior Ultimas, to Diablo's, to the big MMO's, one thing I loved doing was taking the time to explore the skill tree options and personalize my character.

 

The number doesn't matter. As long as it's fixed, zero sum, and attainabile with 'good enough' answers early on.

 

Zero sum? So you want the system to be ultimately without growth or potential for growth, with no lasting profit to be made from it, and the final result to be equivalent to all the effort we put in?

 

I would like all the cards in the stacks tied to hotkeys that I can set myself so I have control of the mouse for movement and just need to hit a set key to choose.
Maybe 3 decks with two for battle: 1st group for attack moves/spells 2nd group for defensive moves/spells and the 3rd for healing spells/potions/bandage
I will at least know what I need every move to have some control of my next move depending how the battle is going.

 

Do you really think in the end this is going to be all that different/innovative/better?
Cool-downs, rotation, situational skills and abilities...the only difference is the card gimmick.
At best it'll be the same thing in a different wrapper, at worst 52 pick-up...

 

I see your point.

Although it is the suttle differences that will swing the future into a new direction. Just giving props

 

why do there have to be cool downs. Focus is a good limitation. If you run out of focus you cannot use your special attacks. That's different.

 

Yeah, different.... just like mana in UO! (UO did utilize fizzle and interrupts)

 

I think the cared system is a great idea. Back when the kickstarter started they mentioned Dominions as one of their inspirations, which is a phenomenal card game that if implemented well should work here.

I don't really care if it is popular here, I think the devs should get it working to where they want it. If they bow to everything that is popular in the forums we will get a mess of a game.

 

Dominions ==> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominions:_Priests,_Prophets_and_Pretenders
or
Dominion ==> http://riograndegames.com/Game/278-Dominion

If Dominions, by Illwinter, yes, I agree.

 

I meant Dominion.