Melee system in this game sucks really

[sunbeam]

Not sure if this forum is the right place to put something like this. But it is early where I am (have to take someone to an early doctor's appointment, so I'm up early), and I'm killing some time.

This has bugged me for a while, and I want to get it off my chest.

Lately I've been kind of looking for a new MMORPG to play. Think I may have finally gotten the EQ itch totally scratched.

Not sure DAOC is what I'm looking for (WoW definitely isn't), but was doing some reading on it. Sure seems like melee was a lot more interesting in that game.

And they came with commands I think should have been standard with games like /stick and /face.

I really think that back that EQ launched without a melee system to be honest. Sure they had a way for you to auto attack and resolve a conflict.

But they didn't really put much thought into it, or get very far at coming up with one.

I don't like WoW, but /intercept and the aforementioned DAOC's /sprint make it a lot more interesting to play melee in those games. (Along with the stuns and other maneuvers you can pull off).

Archery always sucked in EQ (except for a brief time for Rangers around Luclin/PoP).

I know things changed over the years with AA and itemization as far as making melee more viable and valuable in many/most contexts (mana borking classes like wizards from being as good a damage dealer as say rogues in a lot of situtions).

But it was just always more interesting in the "Classic" game doing fear kiting, root rotting, or managing mana/hp's as a necro.

I know it is way too late to put lipstick on this pig. The system is what it is at this point, though some dev somewhere might make things a lot more interesting.

But I really think this game wasn't well thought out with it's melee system from the beginning. They developed the game relatively quickly and threw all their mojo into necro and druid spells.

[N0ctrnl]

Ok, so, beyond this being a rant, what are you looking for in the way of feedback?

Also, keep in mind that 15 years is a long time. A lot has changed since then, and I think it's a bit unfair to look at EQ through that lens. Just some food for thought.

[image]

I don't see how we can even relate any of these games to each other. EQ development's cycle and release took place before DAOC development barely started. Different experiences were already at play when DAOC, WOW, etc. came around.

EQ was the beginning of the MMO first person RPG so no one knew what to do other than really mimic DND/prior single player first person RPG combat.

There were combat abilities (Monk probably the strongest in that area) which were later expanded with disciplines in the early expansions before any of these other MMO's even entered the stage.

[chrsschb]

The simplicity of combat is one of the reasons I found it so appealing. Comparing it to a game like WoW where you need to do a precise rotation of 10-20 skills/clickies/positioning/event-specific-buffs to be competitive. I like being able to auto attack, socialize with my friends/group, or cast a few spells on a rotation and then sit/med, and once again socialize with my friends/group.

It's one of the biggest reasons newer games feel so lonely. Don't get me wrong, some fun mechanics keep things interesting but it's a different game for a different generation of players.

[provocating]

Well if you start liking DAOC, the emulator for it (Dawn of Light) has come a long way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOs-bu2xiA0

If you think about it, with the castles and siege weapons in the emulator, plus housing...you could really do some crazy things on customization.

[sunbeam]

I'm not a pvp person.

But way back (15 years now?) there was a game called Shadowbane. I never played it, don't know much about it.

But I remember reading the description of what they were trying to do (don't know if they pulled it off).

For example you might have a place where people gathered (for whatever reason). If they travelled a certain path by a river or something a path would form there.

If I remember correctly you were supposed to be able to do things like build rude huts, and they could be upgraded into stone buildings and such (it cost money; theoretically the players were supposed to form into some kind of social group with taxes or something and pay for all this).

Neat ideas and I guess these voxel games like Everquest Next (if that ever comes out) could do something like that.

I've known people who used to play UO, and I was told in that game it was fairly common to find people who didn't do anything but craft skills.

And there was a market for their stuff, and that was all they did. Not sure how interesting that is really, but it is nice for there to be a really viable way to do it in a game (as opposed to farming all the stuff yourself, or having a great guild, or a high enough population server to support a bazaar where you can find that kind of thing).

Guess you need a totally different approach to item durability and things like that though.

[chrsschb]

Originally Posted by sunbeam

I'm not a pvp person.

But way back (15 years now?) there was a game called Shadowbane. I never played it, don't know much about it.

But I remember reading the description of what they were trying to do (don't know if they pulled it off).

For example you might have a place where people gathered (for whatever reason). If they travelled a certain path by a river or something a path would form there.

If I remember correctly you were supposed to be able to do things like build rude huts, and they could be upgraded into stone buildings and such (it cost money; theoretically the players were supposed to form into some kind of social group with taxes or something and pay for all this).

Neat ideas and I guess these voxel games like Everquest Next (if that ever comes out) could do something like that.

I've known people who used to play UO, and I was told in that game it was fairly common to find people who didn't do anything but craft skills.

And there was a market for their stuff, and that was all they did. Not sure how interesting that is really, but it is nice for there to be a really viable way to do it in a game (as opposed to farming all the stuff yourself, or having a great guild, or a high enough population server to support a bazaar where you can find that kind of thing).

Guess you need a totally different approach to item durability and things like that though.

I played Shadowbane for a while, but I don't remember any of that stuff you mentioned. That WAS a long time ago though and I think I ended up just going back to either AC/DAOC/EQ, whatever I was on at the time.

Age of Conan had a really good combat system (A great mix of EQ and WoW, using combos instead of just 10000 abilities) but I ended up rushing to end-game and got super bored cause there was no end-game. I also loved the guild city aspect, even though the PVP piece of it never really went as extravagant as I was expecting.

To me the best PVP was DAOC and Warhammer. RIFT has an amazing skill system allowing you to build custom classes (even if people usually get shoe-horned into specific builds to be competitive).

Now if someone could just make a combination of each games specialty haha