Guild Wars 2

GW2 is the only mmo I have played where the character doesn’t get rooted while fighting. I simply love being able to move while attacking.

My question is, what is the correct name for this type of combat system ? Reason for asking is, I want to do some research on other mmo’s that use this type of combat system and see whether or not they are as successful as GW2.

I’m thinking it is hard to develop this type of combat system which is why not too many mmo’s use it. Hats off to the developers of this mmo.

Thanks.

It is called “Action Combat”.
Many MMOs claim to have it but it is usually half truth.

Belzebu.3912:

It is called “Action Combat”.
Many MMOs claim to have it but it is usually half truth.

Agreed. Seems like GW2 has mastered it.

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

Belzebu.3912:

It is called “Action Combat”.
Many MMOs claim to have it but it is usually half truth.

Agreed. Seems like GW2 has mastered it.

I wouldn’t say that, but they’ve done a much better job than most.

Yeah, GW2 did a better job than most, but there is still space for improvements for sure.
It would be great if target wasn’t needed at all and positioning would be all that matters, then it would be 100% Action Combat.

Tera Online mastered it actually. Vindictus is technically an mmo too but plays more like a hack’n slash. And then I think there’s a few other ones like C9 and some Korean ones that aren’t available here yet.

tofumon.5924:

Tera Online mastered it actually. Vindictus is technically an mmo too but plays more like a hack’n slash. And then I think there’s a few other ones like C9 and some Korean ones that aren’t available here yet.

Yea, Tera definitely has some of the best combat in any MMO…

…but everything else in the game (aside from graphics) is pretty terrible. It’s an uber gear grind game with a very heave RNG dependence that has a stale, boring world of bland quests.

Still, tanking in Tera is the most fun tanking has ever been for me in any game ever.

But yea, GW2 is a close second. Combat in this game is pretty stellar and while it’s not all sunshine and roses, I don’t see any other game doing better overall.

Dahkeus.8243:

tofumon.5924:

Tera Online mastered it actually. Vindictus is technically an mmo too but plays more like a hack’n slash. And then I think there’s a few other ones like C9 and some Korean ones that aren’t available here yet.

Yea, Tera definitely has some of the best combat in any MMO…

…but everything else in the game (aside from graphics) is pretty terrible. It’s an uber gear grind game with a very heave RNG dependence that has a stale, boring world of bland quests.

Still, tanking in Tera is the most fun tanking has ever been for me in any game ever.

But yea, GW2 is a close second. Combat in this game is pretty stellar and while it’s not all sunshine and roses, I don’t see any other game doing better overall.

Yeah I played as a lancer in Tera Online and it was ballin’. I don’t really ever make it to end game in any mmo’s I play but I kind of miss the skills from Tera Online.

GW2 camera and targeting is still kitten.

Hopefully by GW3 they can drop this archaic targeting/camera system for full action combat. I’m not asking for a TPS, but manual aiming of skills, soft lock targeting of skills (such as mass effect did with powers) and so on. I’m aware ESO has this, but I’ll wait for that to go f2p/b2p before trying it.

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

Belzebu.3912:

It is called “Action Combat”.
Many MMOs claim to have it but it is usually half truth.

Agreed. Seems like GW2 has mastered it.

GW2 combat is what I call “glorified tab targeting.” It is a step up from traditional mmos, but it is not even close to action combat. If you took WoW and added the cleaving, mobile casting, and a dodge you would pretty much have GW2 combat.

Examples of action combat:
TERA
Vindictus
Black Desert Online

Those games have real action combat.

I’m not a big fan of the ’attacking on the go. Otherwise it is indeed fluid and satisfying, but…

Curunen.8729:

GW2 camera and targeting is still kitten.

Hopefully by GW3 they can drop this archaic targeting/camera system for full action combat. I’m not asking for a TPS, but manual aiming of skills, soft lock targeting of skills (such as mass effect did with powers) and so on. I’m aware ESO has this, but I’ll wait for that to go f2p/b2p before trying it.

I agree with this. I wish I didn’t have to ‘mod’ it to play more like this. Neverwinter has spoiled me in this regard, it controls and plays real well for an ’action MMO".

Without any targeting, leaping would be a problem. Generally you want to leap into your target, not over them. I don’t think soft targeting would be accurate enough for leaping.

Wanderer.3248:

Without any targeting, leaping would be a problem. Generally you want to leap into your target, not over them. I don’t think soft targeting would be accurate enough for leaping.

The way skills are designed can solve this for instance you can have the skill leap to the target if it is within a specific range left or right of the direct line of sight. Of course if you aren’t aiming right you could pay the price and miss completely. That is part of what makes action combat fun. The reward for mastering your abilities, positioning, and movement is far greater than in traditional tab target mmos.

Being able to attack and move without pause removes a massive amount of the positioning decisions from the game that could have added a lot of depth.

Instead of: “Hey, I’m standing in AoE but my target is almost dead, should i take some more damage to attack once more or get out of the AoE right now?”,
Its “non stop kiting and circling and spamming skills.”

Removal of mana also removes a massive part of the skill usage decisions. Basically it boils down to; Does this skill increase my DPS? -> use it on recharge.. but.. this subject has been discussed to death already.

Been playing another MMO on a trial week, and you know what? I really miss the following, flawed as they are:

- Dynamic Events and how they scale. Nothing like watching 20 people dive into an event where the monster is splashed into oblivion in 15 seconds. I was standing there when it started and no credit?

- Level downscaling so your friends can actually spend time with you. Bonus points for it, more often, not being a total waste since there’s actually some need for lower-level crafting materials these days.

- Active combat, where I don’t need to stand still for a two-count to be absolutely sure I don’t self-interrupt. Or where I can dodge roll out of an AoE cone/ring/strike.

- Crafting where I can tell it “make me fifty Wood Planks” and don’t have to do it manually.

- Hitting an attack skill and having the closest target to my center screen pop into targeting. As opposed to needing to specifically find the enemy in a crowd of "allies’ while trying to get credit for the event.

- Actual useful quick-travel.

- Not needing to rely on 0.5% drop rates to gear up for “the endgame”. Or to gear up at all.

If you are just talking about mobility in combat I have not seen anything to compare with Champions Online.

tofumon.5924:

Tera Online mastered it actually. Vindictus is technically an mmo too but plays more like a hack’n slash. And then I think there’s a few other ones like C9 and some Korean ones that aren’t available here yet.

Thing about Tera is, you are rooted when attacking unlike GW2. Here you can move while attacking which puts GW2 combat above Tera’s combat system in my opinion.

Ashen.2907:

If you are just talking about mobility in combat I have not seen anything to compare with Champions Online.

Champions Online seems to have the exact same combat system from what I experienced. I quit playing that game because of the pay to win format they have.

Smith.1826:

I’m not a big fan of the ’attacking on the go. Otherwise it is indeed fluid and satisfying, but…

Curunen.8729:

GW2 camera and targeting is still kitten.

Hopefully by GW3 they can drop this archaic targeting/camera system for full action combat. I’m not asking for a TPS, but manual aiming of skills, soft lock targeting of skills (such as mass effect did with powers) and so on. I’m aware ESO has this, but I’ll wait for that to go f2p/b2p before trying it.

I agree with this. I wish I didn’t have to ‘mod’ it to play more like this. Neverwinter has spoiled me in this regard, it controls and plays real well for an ’action MMO".

NeverWinter is also another example of being rooted while attacking.

Personally i don’t like the combat in games like Tera, Vindictus and Neverwinter.
First i need a clickable hotbar .. then i hate that my camera shakes whenever i
move my mouse ..
And also the combat often doesn’t really let me move while fighting instead it
forced me to move forward on a lot of skills.

Before i played GW2 the first time it was my greatest fear that the combat here
was also something like that .. and i was so happy it was not.

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

tofumon.5924:

Tera Online mastered it actually. Vindictus is technically an mmo too but plays more like a hack’n slash. And then I think there’s a few other ones like C9 and some Korean ones that aren’t available here yet.

Thing about Tera is, you are rooted when attacking unlike GW2. Here you can move while attacking which puts GW2 combat above Tera’s combat system in my opinion.

Um no, you are rooted only if you use spells that root you. Just like 100 blades on warrior in gw2. Tera makes use of having to complete a certain part of each attack before you can react and cancel or dodge. This isn’t a bad thing becuase it makes timing and positioning important, adding a level of skill beyond pressing the highest damage ability as soon as it is off cooldown. Auto attacks in Tera are also different for some of classes, warrior for instance can move while auto attacking although slower. Also many of Tera’s skills have built in mobility allowing you to use them for more than just attacking, much like a warriors whirlwind in gw2.

If you could run in circles and spam 1 on some classes in Tera it would completely trivialize the content because of Tera’s combat system and it’s AI. In Tera you are constantly avoiding attacks through your classes mechanics, abilities, and positioning. If I could take any melee class from gw2 against Tera’s AI I could just run in circles and spam 1 and win. The fact that you can move and attack in one game and not the other has no bearing on the dominance of one combat system over the other. What I can say is that Tera has much more engaging and difficult combat mechanics. When mastered they are far more rewarding than anything I have encountered in gw2. Collision is also an important factor in action combat, something that gw2 also lacks.

Ashen.2907:

If you are just talking about mobility in combat I have not seen anything to compare with Champions Online.

Yeah .. CO combat was also great .. i never understood why they gave us the same
system in Neverwinter .. or at least the option to switch from the shooter-style to
something like in CO.

Or did i just didn’t find the option ? Was at least another game i deinstalled after maybe
30 minutes .. like Vindictus and DCUO because of that.

hazenvirus.8154:

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

tofumon.5924:

Tera Online mastered it actually. Vindictus is technically an mmo too but plays more like a hack’n slash. And then I think there’s a few other ones like C9 and some Korean ones that aren’t available here yet.

Thing about Tera is, you are rooted when attacking unlike GW2. Here you can move while attacking which puts GW2 combat above Tera’s combat system in my opinion.

Um no, you are rooted only if you use spells that root you. Just like 100 blades on warrior in gw2. Tera makes use of having to complete a certain part of each attack before you can react and cancel or dodge. This isn’t a bad thing becuase it makes timing and positioning important, adding a level of skill beyond pressing the highest damage ability as soon as it it off cooldown. Auto attacks in Tera are also different for some of classes, warrior for instance can move while auto attacking although slower. Also many of Tera’s skills have built in mobility allowing you to use them for more than just attacking, much like a warriors whirlwind in gw2.

If you could run in circles and spam 1 on some classes in Tera it would completely trivialize the content because of Tera’s combat system and it’s AI. In Tera you are constantly avoiding attacks through your classes mechanics, abilities, and positioning. If I could take any melee class from gw2 against Tera’s AI I could just run in circles and spam 1 and win. The fact that you can move and attack in one game and not the other has no bearing on the dominance of one combat system over the other. What I can say is that Tera has much more engaging and difficult combat mechanics. When mastered they are far more rewarding than anything I have encountered in gw2. Collision is also an important factor in action combat, something that gw2 also lacks.

Thats not true, I have a warrior over there and when I attack I am rooted no matter what. I understand you prefer Tera over GW2 as you should understand I prefer GW2 over Tera and nothing can be disputed when it comes to Tera’s combat roots the character while attacking.

Oh yeah, might I add, you’re stuck with one weapon set in Tera. For example, warriors can only melee over there, they have no range, which puts you at a disadvantage in pvp in my opinion.

Beldin.5498:

Ashen.2907:

If you are just talking about mobility in combat I have not seen anything to compare with Champions Online.

Yeah .. CO combat was also great .. i never understood why they gave us the same
system in Neverwinter .. or at least the option to switch from the shooter-style to
something like in CO.

Or did i just didn’t find the option ? Was at least another game i deinstalled after maybe
30 minutes .. like Vindictus and DCUO because of that.

I played DCUO for awhile and also uninstalled after discovering GW2. They didn’t have enough content in my opinion. GW2 never lacks on content. The content always changes and new content is added every two weeks without the player being forced to sub. That’s amazing in mmo standards, in my opinion.

Beldin.5498:

Personally i don’t like the combat in games like Tera, Vindictus and Neverwinter.
First i need a clickable hotbar .. then i hate that my camera shakes whenever i
move my mouse ..
And also the combat often doesn’t really let me move while fighting instead it
forced me to move forward on a lot of skills.

Before i played GW2 the first time it was my greatest fear that the combat here
was also something like that .. and i was so happy it was not.

I’m not saying that gw2 combat system is bad for an mmo, but I don’t think it is really action combat. As I said before, glorified tab targetting. The idea behind skills moving you is that everything you do effects positioning it makes combat more dynamic and even allows you to anticipate an enemies movement, allowing you to use it to your advantage.

The real downfall of gw2 combat for me is in the zerging I see in wvw, which is for the most part completely mindless spamming of 1. The other part of stacking I hate is in pve, stack up at point blank and spam skill in a corner… there is nothing engaging or interesting about this kind of combat.

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

hazenvirus.8154:

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

tofumon.5924:

Tera Online mastered it actually. Vindictus is technically an mmo too but plays more like a hack’n slash. And then I think there’s a few other ones like C9 and some Korean ones that aren’t available here yet.

Thing about Tera is, you are rooted when attacking unlike GW2. Here you can move while attacking which puts GW2 combat above Tera’s combat system in my opinion.

Um no, you are rooted only if you use spells that root you. Just like 100 blades on warrior in gw2. Tera makes use of having to complete a certain part of each attack before you can react and cancel or dodge. This isn’t a bad thing becuase it makes timing and positioning important, adding a level of skill beyond pressing the highest damage ability as soon as it it off cooldown. Auto attacks in Tera are also different for some of classes, warrior for instance can move while auto attacking although slower. Also many of Tera’s skills have built in mobility allowing you to use them for more than just attacking, much like a warriors whirlwind in gw2.

If you could run in circles and spam 1 on some classes in Tera it would completely trivialize the content because of Tera’s combat system and it’s AI. In Tera you are constantly avoiding attacks through your classes mechanics, abilities, and positioning. If I could take any melee class from gw2 against Tera’s AI I could just run in circles and spam 1 and win. The fact that you can move and attack in one game and not the other has no bearing on the dominance of one combat system over the other. What I can say is that Tera has much more engaging and difficult combat mechanics. When mastered they are far more rewarding than anything I have encountered in gw2. Collision is also an important factor in action combat, something that gw2 also lacks.

Thats not true, I have a warrior over there and when I attack I am rooted no matter what. I understand you prefer Tera over GW2 as you should understand I prefer GW2 over Tera and nothing can be disputed when it comes to Tera’s combat roots the character while attacking.

Oh yeah, might I add, you’re stuck with one weapon set in Tera. For example, warriors can only melee over there, they have no range, which puts you at a disadvantage in pvp in my opinion.

I just got done playing an hour of Tera on my warrior, attacking doesn’t root, but it does force you to move in the direction of a specific attack. If that is rooting then gw2 warrior rush is rooting and so is whirlwind…

hazenvirus.8154:

Beldin.5498:

Personally i don’t like the combat in games like Tera, Vindictus and Neverwinter.
First i need a clickable hotbar .. then i hate that my camera shakes whenever i
move my mouse ..
And also the combat often doesn’t really let me move while fighting instead it
forced me to move forward on a lot of skills.

Before i played GW2 the first time it was my greatest fear that the combat here
was also something like that .. and i was so happy it was not.

I’m not saying that gw2 combat system is bad for an mmo, but I don’t think it is really action combat. As I said before, glorified tab targetting.

As somebody who never really liked shooters and played MMOs for very long time
i’m a fan of tab-targeting. GW2 for me just did it right with moving while fighting
just like champions online

Beldin.5498:

hazenvirus.8154:

Beldin.5498:

Personally i don’t like the combat in games like Tera, Vindictus and Neverwinter.
First i need a clickable hotbar .. then i hate that my camera shakes whenever i
move my mouse ..
And also the combat often doesn’t really let me move while fighting instead it
forced me to move forward on a lot of skills.

Before i played GW2 the first time it was my greatest fear that the combat here
was also something like that .. and i was so happy it was not.

I’m not saying that gw2 combat system is bad for an mmo, but I don’t think it is really action combat. As I said before, glorified tab targetting.

As somebody who never really liked shooters and played MMOs for very long time
i’m a fan of tab-targeting. GW2 for me just did it right with moving while fighting
just like champions online

Well that is fine, I’m not against the gw2 combat system. I just don’t consider it real action combat.

Tera does have a comparable action-based combat system. It’s not perfect, though I do like the feeling of having a targeting reticle which always determines where my character’s attacks are aimed. However, it sacrifices as much as it gains. You get locked into animations with some attacks, making it feel awkward and clunky at times. And there’s no real way to target a specific AoE spell — it just appears at a set distance from your character, reducing aiming to visual guesswork.

Besides combat, and some very nice visuals, there is very little to enjoy. Story is virtually non-existant. Quests are just “kill 10 of this, collect 15 of that,” ripped from the MMOs of a decade ago. Crafting is not worth doing. I don’t think you’re allowed in PvP until max level. There is no reason to explore or pay attention to the lore/environment. Monsters are mostly all palette swaps of a few different types. Dungeons are just bland hallways of enemies. Other players are a bad thing to have around 90% of the time, as they steal mobs and gathering nodes — yet you need help to take down open-world mini-bosses as the game progresses. Playing Tera just makes me feel sad that it didn’t turn out to be more.

Fyrebrand.4859:

Tera does have a comparable action-based combat system. It’s not perfect, though I do like the feeling of having a targeting reticle which always determines where my character’s attacks are aimed. However, it sacrifices as much as it gains. You get locked into animations with some attacks, making it feel awkward and clunky at times. And there’s no real way to target a specific AoE spell — it just appears at a set distance from your character, reducing aiming to visual guesswork.

Besides combat, and some very nice visuals, there is very little to enjoy. Story is virtually non-existant. Quests are just “kill 10 of this, collect 15 of that,” ripped from the MMOs of a decade ago. Crafting is not worth doing. I don’t think you’re allowed in PvP until max level. There is no reason to explore or pay attention to the lore/environment. Monsters are mostly all palette swaps of a few different types. Other players are a bad thing to have around 90% of the time, as they steal mobs and gathering nodes — yet you need help to take down open-world mini-bosses as the game progresses. Playing Tera just makes me feel sad that it didn’t turn out to be more.

Well I’m not here to debate the overall condition of each game, I just wanted to point out that what we have in gw2 is far closer to tab targeting than a true action combat system. I do happen to enjoy action combat better, but that doesn’t make or break the game for me.

One of the things that makes this different from tab targetting games is that you can use skills without targeting anything. Most of them anyway.

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

Smith.1826:

I’m not a big fan of the ’attacking on the go. Otherwise it is indeed fluid and satisfying, but…

Curunen.8729:

GW2 camera and targeting is still kitten.

Hopefully by GW3 they can drop this archaic targeting/camera system for full action combat. I’m not asking for a TPS, but manual aiming of skills, soft lock targeting of skills (such as mass effect did with powers) and so on. I’m aware ESO has this, but I’ll wait for that to go f2p/b2p before trying it.

I agree with this. I wish I didn’t have to ‘mod’ it to play more like this. Neverwinter has spoiled me in this regard, it controls and plays real well for an ’action MMO".

NeverWinter is also another example of being rooted while attacking.

Are you saying it’s a bad thing? Because it’s a big part of why I found it’s combat so satisfying. Making the right call between attacking or moving can be very rewarding.

Another good example of being ‘rooted’ while attacking are the Souls games, Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. A great example is the Monster Hunter series, going so far as to not rely on a target lock, leading to an interesting skill ceiling as seen in these few vids here. (may contain foul language, though).

Smith.1826:

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

Smith.1826:

I’m not a big fan of the ’attacking on the go. Otherwise it is indeed fluid and satisfying, but…

Curunen.8729:

GW2 camera and targeting is still kitten.

Hopefully by GW3 they can drop this archaic targeting/camera system for full action combat. I’m not asking for a TPS, but manual aiming of skills, soft lock targeting of skills (such as mass effect did with powers) and so on. I’m aware ESO has this, but I’ll wait for that to go f2p/b2p before trying it.

I agree with this. I wish I didn’t have to ‘mod’ it to play more like this. Neverwinter has spoiled me in this regard, it controls and plays real well for an ’action MMO".

NeverWinter is also another example of being rooted while attacking.

Are you saying it’s a bad thing? Because it’s a big part of why I found it’s combat so satisfying. Making the right call between attacking or moving can be very rewarding.

Another good example of being ‘rooted’ while attacking are the Souls games, Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. A great example is the Monster Hunter series, going so far as to not rely on a target lock, leading to an interesting skill ceiling as seen in these few vids here. (may contain foul language, though).

I’m saying it’s a bad thing. lol

I’ve been in real fights in my life and not moving while doing stuff is how you get hurt. Just saying.

But that’s just my opinion of course.

No one seemed to ever mentioned Dragon Nest. It has the most fluid combat system from the action mmo genre. It has an overall better combat mechanics than guild wars 2 but it is instanced. The developers however are making a sequel which will make it open world while retaining the combat system

Vayne.8563:

Smith.1826:

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

Smith.1826:

I’m not a big fan of the ’attacking on the go. Otherwise it is indeed fluid and satisfying, but…

Curunen.8729:

GW2 camera and targeting is still kitten.

Hopefully by GW3 they can drop this archaic targeting/camera system for full action combat. I’m not asking for a TPS, but manual aiming of skills, soft lock targeting of skills (such as mass effect did with powers) and so on. I’m aware ESO has this, but I’ll wait for that to go f2p/b2p before trying it.

I agree with this. I wish I didn’t have to ‘mod’ it to play more like this. Neverwinter has spoiled me in this regard, it controls and plays real well for an ’action MMO".

NeverWinter is also another example of being rooted while attacking.

Are you saying it’s a bad thing? Because it’s a big part of why I found it’s combat so satisfying. Making the right call between attacking or moving can be very rewarding.

Another good example of being ‘rooted’ while attacking are the Souls games, Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. A great example is the Monster Hunter series, going so far as to not rely on a target lock, leading to an interesting skill ceiling as seen in these few vids here. (may contain foul language, though).

I’m saying it’s a bad thing. lol

I’ve been in real fights in my life and not moving while doing stuff is how you get hurt. Just saying.

But that’s just my opinion of course.

To bring it back to videogames, I’d say it depends on how it’s handled, such as shooters having a difference between ‘running and gunning’ and standing still to take careful shots. Dark Souls 2 broke some ‘new’ ground for itself in being able to shoot while moving, but it’s balanced out by having an increase in draw speed while doing so.

Flinxe.1623:

No one seemed to ever mentioned Dragon Nest. It has the most fluid combat system from the action mmo genre. It has an overall better combat mechanics than guild wars 2 but it is instanced. The developers however are making a sequel which will make it open world while retaining the combat system

Sadly, aesthetics are a pretty big point for me when it comes to MMOs, and the overall look of it is not the most appealing. But I have seen some people play through it, admittedly does look kinda fun.

Speaking of Nexon games, is Hurk released for Vindictus yet? I wanna look into that now…

Smith.1826:

Vayne.8563:

Smith.1826:

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

Smith.1826:

I’m not a big fan of the ’attacking on the go. Otherwise it is indeed fluid and satisfying, but…

Curunen.8729:

GW2 camera and targeting is still kitten.

Hopefully by GW3 they can drop this archaic targeting/camera system for full action combat. I’m not asking for a TPS, but manual aiming of skills, soft lock targeting of skills (such as mass effect did with powers) and so on. I’m aware ESO has this, but I’ll wait for that to go f2p/b2p before trying it.

I agree with this. I wish I didn’t have to ‘mod’ it to play more like this. Neverwinter has spoiled me in this regard, it controls and plays real well for an ’action MMO".

NeverWinter is also another example of being rooted while attacking.

Are you saying it’s a bad thing? Because it’s a big part of why I found it’s combat so satisfying. Making the right call between attacking or moving can be very rewarding.

Another good example of being ‘rooted’ while attacking are the Souls games, Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. A great example is the Monster Hunter series, going so far as to not rely on a target lock, leading to an interesting skill ceiling as seen in these few vids here. (may contain foul language, though).

I’m saying it’s a bad thing. lol

I’ve been in real fights in my life and not moving while doing stuff is how you get hurt. Just saying.

But that’s just my opinion of course.

To bring it back to videogames, I’d say it depends on how it’s handled, such as shooters having a difference between ‘running and gunning’ and standing still to take careful shots. Dark Souls 2 broke some ‘new’ ground for itself in being able to shoot while moving, but it’s balanced out by having an increase in draw speed while doing so.

Flinxe.1623:

No one seemed to ever mentioned Dragon Nest. It has the most fluid combat system from the action mmo genre. It has an overall better combat mechanics than guild wars 2 but it is instanced. The developers however are making a sequel which will make it open world while retaining the combat system

Sadly, aesthetics are a pretty big point for me when it comes to MMOs, and the overall look of it is not the most appealing. But I have seen some people play through it, admittedly does look kinda fun.

Speaking of Nexon games, is Hurk released for Vindictus yet? I wanna look into that now…

Pretty much why it doesn’t appeal to some. Perhaps due to the chibi graphics. It’s main selling point is the combat.

I have no news about vindictus.

Smith.1826:

Vayne.8563:

Smith.1826:

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

Smith.1826:

I’m not a big fan of the ’attacking on the go. Otherwise it is indeed fluid and satisfying, but…

Curunen.8729:

GW2 camera and targeting is still kitten.

Hopefully by GW3 they can drop this archaic targeting/camera system for full action combat. I’m not asking for a TPS, but manual aiming of skills, soft lock targeting of skills (such as mass effect did with powers) and so on. I’m aware ESO has this, but I’ll wait for that to go f2p/b2p before trying it.

I agree with this. I wish I didn’t have to ‘mod’ it to play more like this. Neverwinter has spoiled me in this regard, it controls and plays real well for an ’action MMO".

NeverWinter is also another example of being rooted while attacking.

Are you saying it’s a bad thing? Because it’s a big part of why I found it’s combat so satisfying. Making the right call between attacking or moving can be very rewarding.

Another good example of being ‘rooted’ while attacking are the Souls games, Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. A great example is the Monster Hunter series, going so far as to not rely on a target lock, leading to an interesting skill ceiling as seen in these few vids here. (may contain foul language, though).

I’m saying it’s a bad thing. lol

I’ve been in real fights in my life and not moving while doing stuff is how you get hurt. Just saying.

But that’s just my opinion of course.

To bring it back to videogames, I’d say it depends on how it’s handled, such as shooters having a difference between ‘running and gunning’ and standing still to take careful shots. Dark Souls 2 broke some ‘new’ ground for itself in being able to shoot while moving, but it’s balanced out by having an increase in draw speed while doing so.

Flinxe.1623:

No one seemed to ever mentioned Dragon Nest. It has the most fluid combat system from the action mmo genre. It has an overall better combat mechanics than guild wars 2 but it is instanced. The developers however are making a sequel which will make it open world while retaining the combat system

Sadly, aesthetics are a pretty big point for me when it comes to MMOs, and the overall look of it is not the most appealing. But I have seen some people play through it, admittedly does look kinda fun.

Speaking of Nexon games, is Hurk released for Vindictus yet? I wanna look into that now…

I am bringing it back to video games. Having to stand still while fighting just isn’t at all immersive to me.

Vayne.8563:

Smith.1826:

Vayne.8563:

Smith.1826:

GuildWarsPlayer.5608:

Smith.1826:

I’m not a big fan of the ’attacking on the go. Otherwise it is indeed fluid and satisfying, but…

Curunen.8729:

GW2 camera and targeting is still kitten.

Hopefully by GW3 they can drop this archaic targeting/camera system for full action combat. I’m not asking for a TPS, but manual aiming of skills, soft lock targeting of skills (such as mass effect did with powers) and so on. I’m aware ESO has this, but I’ll wait for that to go f2p/b2p before trying it.

I agree with this. I wish I didn’t have to ‘mod’ it to play more like this. Neverwinter has spoiled me in this regard, it controls and plays real well for an ’action MMO".

NeverWinter is also another example of being rooted while attacking.

Are you saying it’s a bad thing? Because it’s a big part of why I found it’s combat so satisfying. Making the right call between attacking or moving can be very rewarding.

Another good example of being ‘rooted’ while attacking are the Souls games, Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. A great example is the Monster Hunter series, going so far as to not rely on a target lock, leading to an interesting skill ceiling as seen in these few vids here. (may contain foul language, though).

I’m saying it’s a bad thing. lol

I’ve been in real fights in my life and not moving while doing stuff is how you get hurt. Just saying.

But that’s just my opinion of course.

To bring it back to videogames, I’d say it depends on how it’s handled, such as shooters having a difference between ‘running and gunning’ and standing still to take careful shots. Dark Souls 2 broke some ‘new’ ground for itself in being able to shoot while moving, but it’s balanced out by having an increase in draw speed while doing so.

Flinxe.1623:

No one seemed to ever mentioned Dragon Nest. It has the most fluid combat system from the action mmo genre. It has an overall better combat mechanics than guild wars 2 but it is instanced. The developers however are making a sequel which will make it open world while retaining the combat system

Sadly, aesthetics are a pretty big point for me when it comes to MMOs, and the overall look of it is not the most appealing. But I have seen some people play through it, admittedly does look kinda fun.

Speaking of Nexon games, is Hurk released for Vindictus yet? I wanna look into that now…

I am bringing it back to video games. Having to stand still while fighting just isn’t at all immersive to me.

And I find the amount of movement in GW2 to be just as non-immersive. More importantly, it’s what makes the game feel closer to WoW to me than any other action game or RPG.

Smith.1826:

And I find the amount of movement in GW2 to be just as non-immersive. More importantly, it’s what makes the game feel closer to WoW to me than any other action game or RPG.

Ehhhmmm .. what ? The movement makes you feel like a game where everything
roots you … why other games that root you are better than a game that roots you ?

Next you tell us the graphics from GW2 remind you at WoW and Dragons Nest
has the most natural graphics .. lol

Beldin.5498:

Smith.1826:

And I find the amount of movement in GW2 to be just as non-immersive. More importantly, it’s what makes the game feel closer to WoW to me than any other action game or RPG.

Ehhhmmm .. what ? The movement makes you feel like a game where everything
roots you … why other games that root you are better than a game that roots you ?

I can’t remember anything that ‘rooted’ me on my War in WoW, maybe Slam pre-Pandaland. Otherwise it was disco-time.

Smith.1826:

Beldin.5498:

Smith.1826:

And I find the amount of movement in GW2 to be just as non-immersive. More importantly, it’s what makes the game feel closer to WoW to me than any other action game or RPG.

Ehhhmmm .. what ? The movement makes you feel like a game where everything
roots you … why other games that root you are better than a game that roots you ?

I can’t remember anything that ‘rooted’ me on my War in WoW, maybe Slam pre-Pandaland. Otherwise it was disco-time.

I remember being rooted in WoW quite frequently. I’m pretty sure I played other professions though. But saying my profession didn’t root me, when pretty much all the other ones did isn’t really representative of the game.

However, you’re not wrong in likely static combat better than dynamic combat It is, after all, only a matter of taste.

Vayne.8563:

One of the things that makes this different from tab targetting games is that you can use skills without targeting anything. Most of them anyway.

Glorified tab targeting game. As in the mechanics have hardly improved over current tab targetting games. They added skill activation without a target, but that is hardly ground breaking conisdering most tab targetting games had aoe spells and movement abilities that didn’t require targets. GW2 mechanics are very similar to WoW, but with anytime skill activation and no cast time, yet they don’t move much beyond games like wow. Interactions between player and npcs is about the same, they did add a universal dodge though.

We end up with a game that is easier to play and more fluid than standard tab targetting, but lacks the depth of an action combat game. How often is the ability to move and attack useful in most pve dungeons? Stack stack stack. For a game that one ups traditional mmos with more fluid mechanics it sure leaves a lot to be desired with meaningful combat encounters.

hazenvirus.8154:

Vayne.8563:

One of the things that makes this different from tab targetting games is that you can use skills without targeting anything. Most of them anyway.

Glorified tab targeting game. As in the mechanics have hardly improved over current tab targetting games. They added skill activation without a target, but that is hardly ground breaking conisdering most tab targetting games had aoe spells and movement abilities that didn’t require targets. GW2 mechanics are very similar to WoW, but with anytime skill activation and no cast time, yet they don’t move much beyond games like wow. Interactions between player and npcs is about the same, they did add a universal dodge though.

We end up with a game that is easier to play and more fluid than standard tab targetting, but lacks the depth of an action combat game. How often is the ability to move and attack useful in most pve dungeons? Stack stack stack. For a game that one ups traditional mmos with more fluid mechanics it sure leaves a lot to be desired with meaningful combat encounters.

Yes, I know all about the stack thing. If only dungeons were like, I don’t know, the main focal point of this game. They’re not.

When I’m doing dynamic events in Orr or other places, I certainly don’t stack. But you know, dungeons are dungeons. Older content that allowed stacking and zerging.

A lot of the newer content is actually anti zerg and some of it is anti stack.

I don’t particularly like the dungeons in Guild Wars 2 anyway.

Performing a successful dodge in Guild Wars 2 is always very rewarding but besides that you’re just alt-tabbing and watching character animations like in many other MMO’s. It doesn’t have as much impact as in other games like Batman Arkham Asylum and you never have have to aim any of your skills either (unless it’s an AoE).

Davey.7029:

and you never have have to aim any of your skills either (unless it’s an AoE).

I would have maybe uninstalled the game after 20 minutes IF i had to do that.
Its still an MMO after all and not a shooter … and i don’t like it when MMOs
try to become shooters.

Beldin.5498:

Davey.7029:

and you never have have to aim any of your skills either (unless it’s an AoE).

I would have maybe uninstalled the game after 20 minutes IF i had to do that.
Its still an MMO after all and not a shooter … and i don’t like it when MMOs
try to become shooters.

Shooters and action combat games have very little similarity, suggesting a game with action combat is little more than a shooter mmo is very misinformed.

Forced mouselook with target always in the middle of the screen for me is simply
“shooter mode”. You may call it like you want of course.

Beldin.5498:

Forced mouselook with target always in the middle of the screen for me is simply
“shooter mode”. You may call it like you want of course.

How is the target always in the middle of the screen? Only if you are directly attacking it and many skills don’t require perfect targetting allowing you to slash as you move past an enemy, avoiding his attack and doing damage while slipping behind your enemy for a more powerful attack. If you are repositioning, dodging or moving around you can look in other directions. Just like in gw2. Do you often find yourself looking other places than the target or ground to avoid aoes im gw2 when you are in combat. I know I have a lot of time to stare at walls when I faceroll pve content stacked in a corner.

Curunen.8729:

GW2 camera and targeting is still kitten.

Hopefully by GW3 they can drop this archaic targeting/camera system for full action combat. I’m not asking for a TPS, but manual aiming of skills, soft lock targeting of skills (such as mass effect did with powers) and so on. I’m aware ESO has this, but I’ll wait for that to go f2p/b2p before trying it.

Yeah, the current combat system does feel like ANet decided: ok we want action combat but let’s not go full action combat because that might scare away the usually MMO crowd. Of course it’s not a bad system, I think most of the issues are in how encounters are designed more than how players ability and skills function.

ocirne.7915:

Being able to attack and move without pause removes a massive amount of the positioning decisions from the game that could have added a lot of depth.

Instead of: “Hey, I’m standing in AoE but my target is almost dead, should i take some more damage to attack once more or get out of the AoE right now?”,
Its “non stop kiting and circling and spamming skills.”

Nah, the positioning thing (recalling my wow days) really didn’t add much depth, encounters were so predictable (by design of course) that positioning became little more than learning a set of steps. The GW2 system adds a bit more dynamic-ness into the mix, constantly having to move, being aware of surrounding dangers, ensuring you dodge out of AOE etc. I guess it’s a matter of taste really, but I never found “stand here, oh look fire, move a bit to the left” to be all that engaging (although it might also have been WoW habit to turn all dps into an fixed ability rotation).

Beldin.5498:

Smith.1826:

And I find the amount of movement in GW2 to be just as non-immersive. More importantly, it’s what makes the game feel closer to WoW to me than any other action game or RPG.

Ehhhmmm .. what ? The movement makes you feel like a game where everything
roots you … why other games that root you are better than a game that roots you ?

Next you tell us the graphics from GW2 remind you at WoW and Dragons Nest
has the most natural graphics .. lol

I don’t think immersion is the right word to be using in this conversation, rather engagement. Small difference, really but immersion relates to the blurring of the boundary between you and the game (so this involves a lot more than mechanics) while engagement relates to ones interest and involvement (how does one define engagement other than to say engage?) with the mechanics. Of course these definitions are more my own view than anything else.

I would say that Wildstar’s implementation of it is a lot more engaging and fun.

It’s just too bad that game turned out to be WoW 2.0, I hated the grind in that game which was a total turn off, but the combat mechanics in that game far exceeded gw2