Changes to Spellcasting Specifications (03/01/2012)Follow

A new thread has been started in the Updates section of the official forums. The title of the thread is as follows:

[dev1302] Changes to Spellcasting Specifications

Proceed to the thread.

Animation kinda looks the same as the currently lock-to-target effect they already have in. This should stop some of the Thm burn scenerios, however, I feel bad for all cons/whms in the Moogle fight. On a side note, this should make the Ifrit fight MUCH easier. No more spell lock killing you (or at least a 50% reduction in spell-lock death:P).

I have to say I watched the video and frustration ensued.


I. Play by Play (Almost)


Let's see the mage starts moving towards the mob at around 0:15 then moves away at around 0:17. He casts a spell around 0:20 and while moving it is interrupted. The animation stops at 0:23. Then he moves away again from the mob right after. He casts at 0:26 and immediately moves away from the mob. The animation stops at 0:29.


He casts again at 0:31 and decides to move yet again, instead this time he goes around the mob. I think he may be shy. The mob might be shy or is simply face palming. The furnace is definitely shy. The animation stops at 0:34. He casts again at 0:36 and actually hits the mob at 0:41.


He casts at 0:47 with the spell going off at 0:52. A new mob is targeted at 0:54. He casts at 0:55 with the spell going off at 0:59. The mob is slept at 1:07 and he runs away from the mob. He casts at 1:11 and it goes off at 1:13 with the mob immediately retaliating afterward. The mob finally dies at 1:18.


He goes back to the 1st mob and casts what seems to be Burst at 1:23. It goes off at 1:27 killing the mob and shows that it has a wonderful 15 minute timer to recast! You can cast this 4 times in one hour!


II. /FaceDesk


Me: That doesn't seem like a whole lot of fun. Yioshi can you please elaborate?

Yioshi: Well for Version 2.0 we will...

TANAKA: BARANCE!

Me: Tanaka you silly adorable rascal! Who let you out of the office?


III. Night and Day


It's like when I see this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zioXFLxK68I


and then I see this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiuNbqPWpEo&hd=1


I seriously wondered for like a fraction of a one sided nanosecond which game (as far as game play is concerned) was in beta carotene and which one has been released for over 17 months.

Now to wonder what is new and different about GW2 besides not falling for the Cashshop trap because It's still looking like any other MMO that was released in the past decade >.>

Well, there's massive World vs. World PVP battles, no tank/dps/healer trinity, an under water combat system, interactive abilities that allow jobs to cooperate in unique ways (such as an elementalist creating a wall of fire and a ranger shooting through it to create a flaming arrow) for starters. Not to mention the gameplay and overall presentation of the game looks solid from what we've seen so far.

Edit: Can't believe I forgot dynamic events. Rather than accepting a quest that says a bunch of centuars are attacking a village and going to kill 10 centuars to complete the quest, those centuars just march into the village and it's up to the players to stop them. If you stop them, the event is over. If they win, they take over the village and it can spawn another event that occurs later on. Maybe they'll try and take over another village close by. I don't think much is known about all the possibilities available yet but it's expected to be a large part of the game.

The cash shop will likely be for things like cosmetics, storage space, and extra character slots (you get 5 to start, last I heard). Looking at the original Guild Wars store, which I haven't bought anything from, there's one thing that might make me enjoy the game more and it's a content pack for $10. There's a few things that'd make the game a little more convenient for me personally and that's extra storage space, which is $40 for the most storage possible. If it's any indication of the sequel, I think it'll be fine. I paid more for FFXI mini expansions and extra storage (mules) over the years, and that's in addition to a subscription fee, lol.

Edited, Mar 1st 2012 10:54pm by Susanoh

Well that's a fine compromise, so long as there's still "traditional" magic users, as well. Dancer (in FFXI) was a frontline healer that used melee attacks, but we still got to keep our White Mages.

Not being able to move while casting is a weakness, yes, but it confers other benefits (such as a wide variety of abilities and more powerful skills) because of that trade-off. If we could run around and use magic as though it were nothing but abilities on a recast, then magic would have to be proportionally weakened in order to maintain some sort of balance.

Here. For you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-rFyJYCmLg&feature=related
Allegedly a bad game, but good combat.
About 20 years ahead of FFXIV's stand-click-wait-click.

o__O;

Well, Yoshida, you have your work cut out for you.

yeah but eleven was also designed to be played by people on dial up connections. i remember doing events and literally not moving for 3-5 hours.

That sounds pretty miserable. Now I suddenly remember why I like subscription based games...

(The spell effects sure look nice, though, and look! monsters writhe in pain when they're hit. Tell me I can have it all someday, Kane).

Just to offer an alternate perspective on Guild Wars' cash shop, everything they sell that truly matters in terms of gameplay can be unlocked while playing the game, and from what I gather the majority of players prefer to play it that way. The stuff that can't, like remaking your character model, name changing, and costumes, are not required to play the game and most MMOs don't even offer the first two as an option. The only ones I can think of that are even semi-gameplay altering that aren't things you can unlock by simply playing as you would in any other game, are the storage and hero slots. Even then, anyone who plays enough and cares enough about the game to completely max out storage and hero slots (which, by the way, means you probably have 7 alts) most likely is playing the game for quite a decent amount of time and would over time end up paying far more to a subscription based MMO. At the same time, those of us who don't need maxed out storage and play 7 alts that we have to have with us still have full access to every quest, mission, and every other bit of gameplay at zero cost.

Not to mention that even sub based games can at times find ways to offer incentives for people to spend money in order to get in game items. Using FFXI as an example, since it is the MMO I have the most experience with and know the most about, to get the harpsichord for your mog house, you had to buy a CD. To get the tidal talisman (which actually served as a really useful einherjar warp in addition to being a unique costume), you had to buy a real life version of it which was $40 and made of pewter and synthetic leather. The mog satchel which provided an entire second inventory could only be obtained by purchasing a security token, even if you happened to play on consoles, which as far as I know were never claimed to be targeted by hackers for this game. Six content packs which added new missions in existing or reused areas, which equate to $60 total if you happened to buy upon release. Not to mention how many people owned more than a few mules to increase their inventory capacity. That's all I can think of at the moment, but I think it's quite substantial considering that this was a game that actually did charge a subscription fee and still uses in game items as incentives to spend more money. If we count the FFXI content packs (which is the type of thing many would have expected their subscription fees to be paying for already), I wouldn't be surprised if the average FFXI player who still played during that time has spent more than the average Guild Wars player even if we didn't factor in the $12+ per month fee that FFXI requires.

Didn't mean to go off on FFXI specifically, just quite a few things I thought of as I was typing it. >_>

True enough; but isn't that rather an argument to finally change something?
I mean, like: "evolve"? Today in Skyrim I was running away from two bandits,
when suddenly a sabretooth tiger slew the one, was in turn trampled by a
Mammoth, while the second bandit was sent skywards by a giant's club.
4-party full contact combat interaction at it's finest. Not even scripted.
Just random, extremely cool action. And thrill. Anddanger (I got trampled
in the end, too). That's what I miss in FFXIV.

FFXIV didn`t have "great spellcasting", it was a good game despite its weak combat system.
If you mix those two things up, you prevent evolution.