[Suggestions] Underwater Combat
I’d love to see all the classes use water as a conduit for their magic. So it’d pretty much be unarmed. Elementalist would be the easiest to make ideas for, Mesmer could maybe make like a large illusion that they’re in the center of and It’s hand swoops down for the attack. All of them could just literally be unarmed underwater though since I’m pretty sure our hero isn’t that dumb.
Also bring back being able to use skills on the surface of the water, doesn’t make any sense. There’s no way to avoid surfacing when you have to fight close to it, so it’s just flat out poorly designed and needs to be changed.
No getting rid of my trident. I like my trident.
A while back, ANet said that they weren’t happy with underwater combat, but that they didn’t have immediate plans to revamp it. There were bigger (and tastier) fish to fry. Around that time, they removed a lot of underwater areas from maps (including wvw) and since that time, they haven’t done anything to update aquatic fights. On the contrary, it’s been neglected (with the exception of the nearly useless recipes for ascended breathers) — the worst example is that revenant only has a single underwater weapon and the most common e.g. is that ANet stopped releasing new skins for aquatic weapons (new BL sets include on 16 instead of 19 skins).
I can’t see that anything has changed to make ANet choose differently: there are still bigger (and tastier) fish to fry. If NCSOFT’s investors heard correctly that ANet is going to try to release more expansions more often, then I wouldn’t expect to see a change to aquatic before expansion #3 or #4, if that ‘soon’.
tl;dr underwater combat isn’t likely to change anytime soon, despite its issues or how cool it could be
(full disclosure: I like underwater combat)
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
No getting rid of my trident. I like my trident.
In my idea Staff would double as the trident which includes the skins being made available for staff as well. And Riffle would double as the harpoongun, so, not really getting rid of either just combining.
A while back, ANet said that they weren’t happy with underwater combat, but that they didn’t have immediate plans to revamp it. There were bigger (and tastier) fish to fry. Around that time, they removed a lot of underwater areas from maps (including wvw) and since that time, they haven’t done anything to update aquatic fights. On the contrary, it’s been neglected (with the exception of the nearly useless recipes for ascended breathers) — the worst example is that revenant only has a single underwater weapon and the most common e.g. is that ANet stopped releasing new skins for aquatic weapons (new BL sets include on 16 instead of 19 skins).
I can’t see that anything has changed to make ANet choose differently: there are still bigger (and tastier) fish to fry. If NCSOFT’s investors heard correctly that ANet is going to try to release more expansions more often, then I wouldn’t expect to see a change to aquatic before expansion #3 or #4, if that ‘soon’.
tl;dr underwater combat isn’t likely to change anytime soon, despite its issues or how cool it could be
(full disclosure: I like underwater combat)
Although I agree that an underwater expansion is a ways off I believe that the combat should be fixed before then so the bugs can be worked out. I will not be happy if Anet markets a fix for underwater combat as a feature of an expansion. I want content, not fixes for content that should already be working. My hope is to start the discussion so they know what we want and don’t want that way we can avoid what happened with WvW and HOT.
Although I agree that an underwater expansion is a ways off I believe that the combat should be fixed before then so the bugs can be worked out. I will not be happy if Anet markets a fix for underwater combat as a feature of an expansion. I want content, not fixes for content that should already be working. My hope is to start the discussion so they know what we want and don’t want that way we can avoid what happened with WvW and HOT.
My point is: they aren’t going to do anything at all with underwater combat anytime soon, because there’s too much to do first.
Consequently, I think there’s little point is starting the discussion until the existing content is stabilized and they get better at delivering a consistent amount of quality content on a regular basis. If they can’t do that, there won’t be an underwater expansion, because there won’t be any expansions.
And when they do decide it’s time to get wet, of course they’ll fix the existing issues (and I would hope, ask for feedback about it). Fresh underwater zones might be gated by an expac, but the generic updates and fixes won’t be. (Just the same as the four new legendaries are gated by HoT, but the fixes to the events that drop collection items are fixed for everyone.)
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
Although I agree that an underwater expansion is a ways off I believe that the combat should be fixed before then so the bugs can be worked out. I will not be happy if Anet markets a fix for underwater combat as a feature of an expansion. I want content, not fixes for content that should already be working. My hope is to start the discussion so they know what we want and don’t want that way we can avoid what happened with WvW and HOT.
My point is: they aren’t going to do anything at all with underwater combat anytime soon, because there’s too much to do first.
Consequently, I think there’s little point is starting the discussion until the existing content is stabilized and they get better at delivering a consistent amount of quality content on a regular basis. If they can’t do that, there won’t be an underwater expansion, because there won’t be any expansions.
And when they do decide it’s time to get wet, of course they’ll fix the existing issues (and I would hope, ask for feedback about it). Fresh underwater zones might be gated by an expac, but the generic updates and fixes won’t be. (Just the same as the four new legendaries are gated by HoT, but the fixes to the events that drop collection items are fixed for everyone.)
I understand your point. I understand that Anet have a lot on their plates, future Living World seasons, the next expac which they’re currently working on, the WvW fixes, PvP balance and the mess of that entire game type, Adding new items to the BLTP to generate revenue, and the QoL changes they’ve been adding to name a few. My point is that an Underwater Combat fix will never come if we don’t start the discussion. If there’s no desire for a fix in the community there’s no incentive for Anet to fix it. And they have been known to push needed fixes back until they are forced to impliment them. Think PvP leagues and the WvW fixes that should have been done shortly after or at the game’s launch.
And don’t be so sure they’ll fix things in between an expac, which is what I want, because the WvW fixes were marketed as a HOT expac thing. The only reason it wasn’t was because the scope pushed it back.
That’s all off topic. The point of this thread is so those who desire to can post what they want from underwater combat and possible ways to fix them in the hopes a fix comes sooner than later. What’s on their table is subject to change after all. And in that vein of thinking…
- A completely free moving camera, no artificial stops in the vertical position. It’s also an issue when trying to target things at your feet in action camera, this would solve that issue as well
- All skills being made available underwater. All of them.
- a jumping puzzle style underwater explorable cave which uses new mechanics to drive the difficulty, perhaps a drowning mechanic or the mechanic they use in the underwater paths beneath Tangled Depths.
- An underwater world boss or possibly a second Tequatl fight where you chase him underwater and finish him off.
And don’t be so sure they’ll fix things in between an expac, which is what I want, because the WvW fixes were marketed as a HOT expac thing. The only reason it wasn’t was because the scope pushed it back.
Actually, I’m sure that they won’t fix stuff in between. They’ll fix it either as part of the same patch or shortly before. I just meant that I believe we won’t have to own the expac to gain the benefit of the changes.
That’s all off topic. The point of this thread is so those who desire to can post what they want from underwater combat and possible ways to fix them in the hopes a fix comes sooner than later. What’s on their table is subject to change after all. And in that vein of thinking…
Fair enough.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”