We can't dumb down the game any more than this! YAY

I just tried it with Enlightenment and it absolutely increases the time it lasts as well as the power given.

 

My Enlightenment is level 60. One glyph is 17 minutes, 5 seconds. 4 glyphs stacked is 17 minutes, 5 seconds.

 

Interesting.

Mine is higher than level 60 and I move from X to X+25 minutes on just a 4 stack. Perhaps you don't see the increase until you hit 80?

It could also have something to do with the items you have on (total INT)?

Also, keep in mind that if players are doing it, it probably has a benefit.

 

this is the absolute truth. agree 100%

 

I'm not sure what to do now! Will it stay this way you think? If this is the model for the future of buffs, I feel I would be dumb not to create a buff-only deck for preparing prior to combat. Now that I think about it I would then probably need to tweak my combat deck, maybe removing some of the buffs and so improving my combat stacks as I may not need to re-buff in a combat duration. I don't really want to do this if it isn't how the game deck system is intended to work going forward, but that's just me being lazy.

Up until now I happily took on the challenge of using locked and unlocked tiles and combining buff and combat tiles in my deck to try to achieve a good balance. I did this aware that increased tile diversity in my deck was always at the expense of potential stack depth. I accepted this as part of the game.

Personally don't have an issue, in principle, with managing a pre-combat deck and a combat deck. The only downside I can see is more clicking and less action. I'm not sure how it would work in PVP as you may not have time or space to keep swapping. That said people are smart, groups can rotate who's 'on point' in a fight and with investing skill points in swap speed perhaps it becomes viable..

We always have passionate debates about decks and a hue & cry when the mechanics get tweaked, but to me it shows the power, potential and uniqueness of the SOTA deck system and I remind myself were in Alpha.

But what do I do? Create a new out of combat deck and tweak my main combat deck... or wait?

 

I think we strongly need a fix

Stat Buffs + C. Blessing for non-combat bar only - not stacakble and with the timer we have actually since R42
And maybe only 2 at a time

All the other Buffs= Stances and Counters like Douse need to be unstackable and short durations buffs/ counters for 1-2 Minutes max

 

I see past proponents of buffs now seeing the issues they created. Afterally Chris did say this change was driven by a poll of player preference when I protested. Changes like this require one to think through second and third order impacts to game play, I think. And now here we are. Please don't keep adding one bad choice on top of another when the solution should be one of elegant tactical simplicity, which is where we started.

 

Instead of removing stacking to buffs... How about we remove stacking completely? <--Have I said this before? Seems like a good time to reiterate.

 

D&D has been doing this for 40 years... other games as well. Can we not learn from or similarly use their mechanics (not talking about copyright infringement, talking game play)? The combat deck mechanic seems gimmicky to begin with. If it winds up causing more frustrations, why not go back to tried and true mechanics. It may be nice to see new things, but not everything has to be avant-garde. We don't have to re-invent the wheel at every turn. I don't mind the mechanic so much, but hey, if it keeps causing problems due to the way its implemented, especially stacking, then hey... it may be time to review this area. It's still early access, no real telling what can happen along the way to Live or even 1-2 years after release.

 

This is it right here... No one cares if the buffs are endless in PVE. It negatively impacts no one. We all just want to get together with some powerful people and kill dragons in PVE. That's ultimately the point for most of us, anyway. The problem is that in PVP, you must now have them all turned on (if you're smart). All they have to do is keep the buffs long lasting with NO negative side-effect for PVE, but as soon as the battle is between two players, the buffs are either ignored completely, or capped off in some way that is invisible. I'm pretty sure that would cater to both crowds. Not as easy to code, though, I am sure.

 

Well, not exactly. People cared a lot when they didn't last for a long time. It makes a huge difference how challenging PVE is. 90% of my deaths are because my buffs end and I don't realize it.

 

I am for dispell to remove buffs. Wisp is good for that. And let PVE mobs use dispell as well.

 

I definitely wouldn't consider buff upkeep management a "challenge" so much as just plain annoying and ultimately made my play time feel disjointed as each pull... wait to get out of combat, buff, draw weapon and generate a few skills, pull.... aaaand do it all over again when I wanted to fight the next mob. There was no *fun* or positives for the game in doing this nonsense BUT it made sense to do it because overall you were less likely to die AND generally speaking you were able to kill the mobs faster going through this ritual beforehand than if you didn't bother.

Adding duration to the buffs was definitely a nice QoL change.

A "Purge" type spell has always been a staple for competitive PvP and I agree we are missing that ability. I'd prefer we not let every tom, ****, and harry mob dispel us though as that's just adding tedium. Adding it to, for instance, a scripted boss fight where adds appear and need to be blown up quickly or they purge all your buffs, is much more in line with what I'd like to see. Meaningful content vs adding unnecessary aggravation is my point here.

 

make buffs unstackable, lasting indefinately in a scene and increase the xp cost to that of passive skills. problem solved no? or just make them passives in general :/

 

Right... I understand you for sure. I think my point is that we'd probably *mostly* like it if the buffs last a very long time and are really helpful/effective when we're working together and fighting mobs in PVE. After all, we're working together! I believe the real issue comes in the PVP scene, and how if the buffs last an hour, then all players that murder each other will feel like it is a MUST to have them on at all times just to be competitive... and I agree that seems silly. In PVE, let the buffs be great, and last a really long time. In PVP, however, let's limit them, cap them... whatever, to appease that crowd. Right? It seem logical. This just seems like it would make it so easy and make *nearly* everyone happy.

Also... I am a bit disappointed that the buffs were given these negative side effects and NOT made to last an hour. Chris specifically stated at one point that he was going to make them last an hour plus, and give them negative side-effects. This did not end up happening. I know... I know... Don't lawyer me, bro! Still love you, @Chris !

I am so glad they are lasting longer than 2 minutes. That is for sure!

 

Some of the buffs can't/shouldn't last an hour.

Take douse for example. It currently lasts about 6 minutes if you're stacking it. It's not supposed to be an active shield for you, it's supposed to be cast over and over again. It shouldn't last for more than 30 seconds TOPS, really it should be more like 15 seconds. Is it annoying? Sure, but so is getting hit with fire balls. There's a reason this spell wasn't designed originally for "over and hour" duration.

 

I really like this idea, too. Quite a bit.

 

I never counted Douse as one of these that should last a long time. I totally agree.

 

This is the most trivial post i have read since the ... well its absolute nitpicking.
Long buff stacks dont make the game easier and reapplying them is not a measure of skill its just a time sink
So just to counter some of your points

Point 1 - Less time was actually dedicated to pve play and more time to button mashing buffs which were also taking up bar slots - old system inferior
Point 2 - More deaths due to buffs running out - Wow just wow - Can anyone actually have the cheek to use that as an excuse for dying? they died in pve because they bit off more than they could chew!
Point 3 - Buff stacking way too long -yet eating a piece of bear food for an 8hr buff is sweet? the 20-25 mins for a buff (one stacked) is about the right time frame to kill a grp of mobs clear an area or attempt a quest without interuption.
Point 4 - Douse if 5 stacked and buffed is a long resistance _ but NOT A WIPE and ur wrong its a wipe buff not a resistance buff those who 5 stack it and then forget are amateurs _ whats better -40% fire dot damage or NO fire dot damage? btw what happens to a 5stacked buff once a single stack is pressed - kiss the uberbuff goodbye!

If you want hardcore make the game full PVP, make soft cap level 200 and even increase mob dps but DONT add more button mashing and micro managing 2min buffs [edited out by Berek]! It never ceases to amaze me, all these years, across all the mmo platforms i have played how many people in an effort to support a more "hardcore" environment advocate rediculous changes that render the game they love not "hardcore" but just plain old "unplayable".

 

This has nothing to do with "the old system".

In my example I said I personally died 90% of the time because buffs expire. I think the macro data would back up what I'm saying for the majority of the player population but since neither of us have that data you're not really making a strong point here.

Bear food has limitations....like you can't 5 stack it and you can't eat ALL the food to get ALL the buffs. This kind of proves my point, thanks.

Yes, there's a loss of power if you press douse again, but you're ignoring the fact that you don't have to keep douse in your main deck. Old system = keep 5 in your deck or don't get the 5 stack -40 resistance at all. Now you get a free 5 stack resistance for an extended time period and don't even need the damn thing in your deck.