So the first and one of the best group based, RPG and strategy oriented MMO's legacy now turns into an arcade third person targeting 'shooter' with the worst animations and horrible jumping I've ever seen...
Yeah, the devs totally know what people want. It's interesting you say that.. From my experience and knowledge in working with customers, the devs for the most part would NEVER get hired or be in management positions in the retail atmosphere.. Why? because they seldom ever listen to the customers or marketplace.. Computer gaming is just another segment of business, no different then automobiles.. For decades GM was out of touch with customers, and many believe their decline was directly related to their arrogance and misunderstanding what the market was saying.. Anyways..
Other people with this similar view haven't been able to answer this yet, maybe you can:
How does having a reticle targeting system exclude EQN from being an RPG? It doesn't, BUT, reticles do hamper the ability to preform certain acts in combat, and do endorse a certain type of play.. (aka FPS) Especially when you have multiple targets in a confined area, it's next to impossible to cast different spells on different targets without problems.. Maybe the group's warrior (tank) absorbs damage when players are stacked and how do you target various group members in that scenario without casting the wrong spells on the wrong target? Same with mobs.. You have 3 mobs beating up on 2 players, and I need to "stun" one of them with my archery skills.. How can I safely hit the correct target? Remember in the old days of EQ, it was very possible to "HIT" a friendly target..
I guess by the same respect, what about this system excludes it from requiring strategy or having group based content? From the itemization shown in Landmark already, since the design is still "young", there can be strategy involved in combat, more so than strict numbers game systems like in EQ and others (str, sta, int, etc.). I don't see anything new with EQN in what they are doing with gear or whatever.. It's pretty much EQ tweaked.. EQ was all about resistance checks and then came AA's.. What EQN is doing is borrowing much of that and redressing it into their itemization.. You want an extra 10% fire damage, wear this helm... Diablo is very much the same way, which I'm ok with, but I wouldn't say what EQN is doing is new or special..
I personally think they've done a great job so far with animations and are very intricate. This is more of a joke but still to this day in EQ when strafing left and right you "moonwalk" so I wouldn't talk about animations hehe. Probably so, but then I think the double jump in thin air, only to land into a "surfing" action down the side of Mt Everest is a joke too.. I find EQ's ground movement much more REALISTIC and immersive then EQN's travel..
Holy fucking shit!! Such crap? It looks worse than Tera and I was so hyped about this game.
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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent" - Qui-gon Jinn. After many years of reading Internet forums, there's no doubt that neither does the ability to write. So if you notice that I'm no longer answering your nonsense, stop trying... because you just joined my block list.
How does having a reticle targeting system exclude EQN from being an RPG? It doesn't, BUT, reticles do hamper the ability to preform certain acts in combat, and do endorse a certain type of play.. (aka FPS) Especially when you have multiple targets in a confined area, it's next to impossible to cast different spells on different targets without problems.. Maybe the group's warrior (tank) absorbs damage when players are stacked and how do you target various group members in that scenario without casting the wrong spells on the wrong target? Same with mobs.. You have 3 mobs beating up on 2 players, and I need to "stun" one of them with my archery skills.. How can I safely hit the correct target? Remember in the old days of EQ, it was very possible to "HIT" a friendly target..
While maybe not what some prefer, I think simply using more AOE attacks is an easy solution where we get a bit of both designs. Able to do the "FPS" combat while performing particular tasks/roles such as CC, Healing, Support that generally need a more precise touch. We can already see this with the recent weapons/skills that have single target, cone, and aoe effects that also have dual roles as both offense/defense. Covering it all for the most part.
In your example, I'd hope the system would be forgiving enough for you to aim at one of the three and stun it with an arrow or whatever you are shooting. Could also aim at one and stun for 5 sec and any enemies around for 1 sec or any version of this, again allowing for some forgiveness on aim. So if you missed your target and hit another one, you'd still get something out of it. Although it could be a "Rain of Arrows" GTAOE that stuns anything in a 10 ft radius as well.
Going with the dual aspect, could be you just fire off arrows at all the enemies with rapid fire, stunning for .5 sec each shot, but also increasing friendly armor or whatever buff in the process. Instead of just CC one for 5 minutes and that's it. Makes it more active and challenging. Reminds me of my WoW Mage where I would CC 1 add, DPS DPS DPS forever. Not very exciting. Would of loved to have had more to do. When my guildies had been drinking and we would keep breaking CC and what not, was much more exciting and fun, wipes and all
EQN is never going to mimic or "feel" like EQ or any other game. Might be some shared qualities, but beyond copying X game's code, line by line, it isn't going to happen.
I've never played another game like early EQ (including EQ today).
I've always found interesting the concept of an RPG where we are playing a role or character, yet want to rely on gamey mechanics that aren't anything like "reality". Not that a FPS is "realism," but I get caught up in the excitement and experience, much more so then zoomed out in watching myself shoot fireballs while tab cycling.
Years from now when I'm strapped into my VR suit playing The Next EQ After The Next and I'm running around swinging my virtual sword at an Orc's face, there hopefully won't be any gamey mechanics that get in the way. Maybe it's just what I want to be immersed, but the more UI and extra layers of mechanics that I need to deal with to accomplish what I want to do is just a downer for me. If possible and I'm able, I'll probably play EQN with no reticle or as small as possible. I had almost no UI in WoW, WAR, and few games that allow for that much customizing.
How does having a reticle targeting system exclude EQN from being an RPG? It doesn't, BUT, reticles do hamper the ability to preform certain acts in combat, and do endorse a certain type of play.. (aka FPS) Especially when you have multiple targets in a confined area, it's next to impossible to cast different spells on different targets without problems.. Maybe the group's warrior (tank) absorbs damage when players are stacked and how do you target various group members in that scenario without casting the wrong spells on the wrong target? Same with mobs.. You have 3 mobs beating up on 2 players, and I need to "stun" one of them with my archery skills.. How can I safely hit the correct target? Remember in the old days of EQ, it was very possible to "HIT" a friendly target..
While maybe not what some prefer, I think simply using more AOE attacks is an easy solution where we get a bit of both designs. Able to do the "FPS" combat while performing particular tasks/roles such as CC, Healing, Support that generally need a more precise touch. We can already see this with the recent weapons/skills that have single target, cone, and aoe effects that also have dual roles as both offense/defense. Covering it all for the most part. Which is a cheap unproductive solution that doesn't solve the problem.. Using AOE attacks is a band aid, and it still doesn't address the real problem.. I want to cast a damage shield on the group tank so it helps him keep agro, but he is in the middle of a chaos.. I can NOT target him directly because of it.. As I said earlier, I want to stun one mob for 1 FULL MINUTE.. Basically taking him out of the firght until later.. No one is going to allow me to use AOE stuns that last that long.. Get the idea now? YOUR preference of combat is all about DPS, and it ignores everything else..
In your example, I'd hope the system would be forgiving enough for you to aim at one of the three and stun it with an arrow or whatever you are shooting. Could also aim at one and stun for 5 sec and any enemies around for 1 sec or any version of this, again allowing for some forgiveness on aim. So if you missed your target and hit another one, you'd still get something out of it. Although it could be a "Rain of Arrows" GTAOE that stuns anything in a 10 ft radius as well. It won't happen and can't happen.. There is no "forgiving" because the AI doesn't KNOW which target I truly want to stun.. The AI can't read my mind.. There are a pack of mobs attacking 2 of my group members.. I want to stun the "shaman healer" ONLY for 1 minute.. (hence CC'ing that mob out of the fight).. Your combat style makes that almost impossible.. No AOE rain of arrows is going to stun any target for any meaningful time.. Those types of stuns are truly only "interrupts".. BIG difference..
Going with the dual aspect, could be you just fire off arrows at all the enemies with rapid fire, stunning for .5 sec each shot, but also increasing friendly armor or whatever buff in the process. Instead of just CC one for 5 minutes and that's it. Makes it more active and challenging. Reminds me of my WoW Mage where I would CC 1 add, DPS DPS DPS forever. Not very exciting. Would of loved to have had more to do. When my guildies had been drinking and we would keep breaking CC and what not, was much more exciting and fun, wipes and all
EQN is never going to mimic or "feel" like EQ or any other game. Might be some shared qualities, but beyond copying X game's code, line by line, it isn't going to happen.
I've never played another game like early EQ (including EQ today).
I've always found interesting the concept of an RPG where we are playing a role or character, yet want to rely on gamey mechanics that aren't anything like "reality". Not that a FPS is "realism," but I get caught up in the excitement and experience, much more so then zoomed out in watching myself shoot fireballs while tab cycling.
Years from now when I'm strapped into my VR suit playing The Next EQ After The Next and I'm running around swinging my virtual sword at an Orc's face, there hopefully won't be any gamey mechanics that get in the way. Maybe it's just what I want to be immersed, but the more UI and extra layers of mechanics that I need to deal with to accomplish what I want to do is just a downer for me. If possible and I'm able, I'll probably play EQN with no reticle or as small as possible. I had almost no UI in WoW, WAR, and few games that allow for that much customizing.
And what are gamey mechanics? lol You pretend you want something more challenging and real in combat, how much you wanna bet that EQN will NOT allow friendly fire.. I assume you want a double standard tho.. I SWING a two handed sword and damage ALL enemy targets, but heal friendly targets? Really? Really? And you don't call that gamey mechanics.. I call that BS.. Atleast in original EQ and many other games, if I do a AOE ability it has the same effect on EVERYONE in that area.. YES, I had to worry about damaging a friend, or even healing a foe..
But devs have gotten so lazy with combat, and players have gotten so "entitled" with their bologna, AOE is a joke.. I always found it stupid as hell in WoW, that a tank can stand in the middle of a pack of mobs, while I bring down a Blizzard, or rain of arrows AOE.. You praise and demand twitch reticle combat because it takes skill, but in the same breath you don't want AOE spells to damage your buddies.. You don't find that hypocritical? Atleast in CoD games friendly fire is possible, lets see if you demand that in EQN
So the first and one of the best group based, RPG and strategy oriented MMO's legacy now turns into an arcade third person targeting 'shooter' with the worst animations and horrible jumping I've ever seen...
Yeah, the devs totally know what people want. It's interesting you say that.. From my experience and knowledge in working with customers, the devs for the most part would NEVER get hired or be in management positions in the retail atmosphere.. Why? because they seldom ever listen to the customers or marketplace.. Computer gaming is just another segment of business, no different then automobiles.. For decades GM was out of touch with customers, and many believe their decline was directly related to their arrogance and misunderstanding what the market was saying.. Anyways..
Other people with this similar view haven't been able to answer this yet, maybe you can:
How does having a reticle targeting system exclude EQN from being an RPG? It doesn't, BUT, reticles do hamper the ability to preform certain acts in combat, and do endorse a certain type of play.. (aka FPS) Especially when you have multiple targets in a confined area, it's next to impossible to cast different spells on different targets without problems.. Maybe the group's warrior (tank) absorbs damage when players are stacked and how do you target various group members in that scenario without casting the wrong spells on the wrong target? Same with mobs.. You have 3 mobs beating up on 2 players, and I need to "stun" one of them with my archery skills.. How can I safely hit the correct target? Remember in the old days of EQ, it was very possible to "HIT" a friendly target..
I guess by the same respect, what about this system excludes it from requiring strategy or having group based content? From the itemization shown in Landmark already, since the design is still "young", there can be strategy involved in combat, more so than strict numbers game systems like in EQ and others (str, sta, int, etc.). I don't see anything new with EQN in what they are doing with gear or whatever.. It's pretty much EQ tweaked.. EQ was all about resistance checks and then came AA's.. What EQN is doing is borrowing much of that and redressing it into their itemization.. You want an extra 10% fire damage, wear this helm... Diablo is very much the same way, which I'm ok with, but I wouldn't say what EQN is doing is new or special..
I personally think they've done a great job so far with animations and are very intricate. This is more of a joke but still to this day in EQ when strafing left and right you "moonwalk" so I wouldn't talk about animations hehe. Probably so, but then I think the double jump in thin air, only to land into a "surfing" action down the side of Mt Everest is a joke too.. I find EQ's ground movement much more REALISTIC and immersive then EQN's travel..
(I'll just use #1-3 because colors are being weird)
1. How a game "feels" is huge to a player and I respect that anything with a reticle may feel like a FPS. Landmark isn't a FPS though as you are not locked into a first person view. By extension the whole Elder Scrolls series, including ESO would be considered a FPS along with TERA, Neverwinter, Minecraft, etc.
The only thing reticle really excludes one from in combat is typing because there is no "auto attack" feature. Landmark seems to have an "anti-bunch" mechanic coded in because in all my multi-Slaug encounters they don't stand on top of one another. As far as players? Positioning is always going to matter, tab, reticle or otherwise, so they will need to be wary of this in a fight. You see this in TERA and one can heal, stun, shield just fine.
2. The itemization seen in Landmark and how it integrates into combat is different from what I've seen in other games. If you can point out a single game that is the same please let me know (none of that "x" has this, "y" has this, and "z" has this cheating, one game ).
So with that in mind it is special. First and foremost it's freeform. One character is not held to a specific sub-set of options, any combination can be used. This is not like EQ AA's except that at times a % modifier is used... but that is in every game so I can't see a reason for using it as a comparison. Next is the variety of effects you can include, some may work with or alongside other effects you have equipped. This of course works with the weapon you decide to use and the effects it has. Some of the gear I've seen, either by direct drop or getting the recipe, give certain bonuses to or with specific weapons. The combinations of builds I can imagine are quite high and doesn't feel like another system I've worked with.
For example, I looted the [Solar Surcoat] which gave bonus damage to all my attacks depending on my Light Radius score (Yep, the same score that determines how mush light you emit around a player). It started off at (2) at zero Light Radius but when I used both my Lightstone and Greater Lightstone together I bumped it up to (11). Then I found a Ring of Brutality (sp?) that added a (2) damage bleed to all my attacks. I imagine, though not certain, there is gear that effects bleeding in some way. I also had an "armor" piece drop that reduces the energy use of a weapon's secondary ability by 10%.
There are a lot of combinations to use already at this early stage and you can see the "categories" taking shape. You have the weapons and the abilities/effects they bring, the Head, Chest, Gloves, and x2 Accessories and the stats/effects they bring and last, the boots with the specific movement effects they bring. With that in mind...
3. I don't think you can both double jump and glide at the same time anymore. Luckily you can't spam double jump anymore either. As far as a "realism" standpoint, not much of a difference between gliding and levitating, right? In general it's a blurry line considering what seems real and not real in a setting where people are shooting fire from their hands.
We are almost in the 2015 year, is this a Next Gen MMO?. There is some indie MMOs around in Pre-Alpha that looks and play way better than this, we are talking about an AAA game made by SoE.
EQ next could sound Epic in theory but so far we didnt see nothing more than a ¨minecraft clone¨ called Landmark, and a combat system that looks like a 10 years old FPS game.
We are almost in the 2015 year, is this a Next Gen MMO?. There is some indie MMOs around in Pre-Alpha that looks and play way better than this, we are talking about an AAA game made by SoE.
EQ next could sound Epic in theory but so far we didnt see nothing more than a ¨minecraft clone¨ called Landmark, and a combat system that looks like a 10 years old FPS game.
There is actually quite a bit of innovation here, however there is also an unmentioned change in focus. You can see from the way that combat operates that it is tailored to a simpler gameplay style/ It would function efficiently using a console controller, and might even be operational on a smartphone interface (if latency were reduced). This is clearly a move towards the creation of a 3d destructible environment with action based combat using a simplified interface.
Much of the true innovation here is not on the surface, but rather in the supporting structure. The buildable/destructible environment (including support for end user created content) which is then modified by the combat actions (destructible.... but also possibly buildable, modifiable) around an action based simplified combat system (for speed rather than depth) create an almost cartoon like atmosphere. The engineering and innovation behind this is pretty good.
However, the big question, is this what you want in your MMORGP? For many of us the answer is going to be no... but that doesn't mean that I cant appreciate what was done to make it possible.
Originally posted by TheHavok Well, I definitely wasn't expecting a third person shooter type combat system for Everquest. Despite the bad optimization, the poor feedback, the apparent unbalance, I still want to give it a shot.
This is exactly why MMORPG's are dead,they know people will still play and spend money on them.
They aim for the sheep and they come running and buy every single game on the market. It must be good business sense to do it though. When I say dead I mean the ones I liked.
Hotbars with lots of abilities on,not one hotbar boring action combat,Crafting that also takes time and effort not the copy paste turn 100 tin ore into 50 tin bars one click go make a cup of coffee,come back and one click 50 tin bars into 25 tin daggers.That is not crafting! It is lazy developers that do it so they can put 'We have CRAFTING!' in their crapfest game.
It is time to admit that the 5% of us that like this type of game,one where you have to work together to do things and not solo to end level and then raid are over. RIP MMORPGs (that require skill to play) Because there is no profit in making them,well actually there is if the 5% went and played a new game like that they would but they aim for the sheep,they come ( until the next game) and go.
There is actually quite a bit of innovation here, however there is also an unmentioned change in focus. You can see from the way that combat operates that it is tailored to a simpler gameplay style/ It would function efficiently using a console controller, and might even be operational on a smartphone interface (if latency were reduced). This is clearly a move towards the creation of a 3d destructible environment with action based combat using a simplified interface.
You clearly haven't played Landmark and read the official forums for the players feedback on the combat. If the current controls were so simple and easy that they would work on a smartphone interface, you wouldn't have that many players complaining about how hard combat is, how much they die all the time and that keeping the target on the mobs is impossible. Also, all that whining for a return to the simpler system of tab-target hard-locking and auto-attacks wouldn't exist either.
If you take the time to read the Landmark forum, you'll see that the FPS combat currently in the game where you need to avoid attacks either by taking cover or moving out of the way is a lot harder than what MMOs usually present to their players with.
Sick of consoles, wish we could go back to the old days when everything was made for the PC. I have little faith in the recovery of this genre to begin with.... I have zero faith in this genre if they continue to cater to consoles.
Yes I said the recovery of, imo MMO's have regressed.
The thing about depth and complexity is that the choices and variety have to matter.
IMO even the options shown in Landmark have depth to them, at least from an itemization aspect. The weapons have three abilities each but in EQN this will be expanded to 8, on top of the 4 interchangeable abilities. This scenario is for each of the 40 classes. If you add in non-weapon effects that we've seen so far in Landmark this can open up a lot of choice, variety, and depth to both the character building and combat in the game.
The "depth" in most MMOs surrounding combat has been about choosing a prebuilt spec or having a tremendous amount of activated abilities on hotbars. The system in Landmark/EQN seems to take those extra abilities and effects off the hotbar and blend them into the itemization so that you are looking at what you are playing instead of down.
It preference for sure but it's ridiculous to say one is for kids, adults, etc. I think a large problem is just not being knowledgeable of the information of either title, which I guess is understandable for those unhappy at what they initially see.
There is actually quite a bit of innovation here, however there is also an unmentioned change in focus. You can see from the way that combat operates that it is tailored to a simpler gameplay style/ It would function efficiently using a console controller, and might even be operational on a smartphone interface (if latency were reduced). This is clearly a move towards the creation of a 3d destructible environment with action based combat using a simplified interface.
You clearly haven't played Landmark and read the official forums for the players feedback on the combat. If the current controls were so simple and easy that they would work on a smartphone interface, you wouldn't have that many players complaining about how hard combat is, how much they die all the time and that keeping the target on the mobs is impossible. Also, all that whining for a return to the simpler system of tab-target hard-locking and auto-attacks wouldn't exist either.
If you take the time to read the Landmark forum, you'll see that the FPS combat currently in the game where you need to avoid attacks either by taking cover or moving out of the way is a lot harder than what MMOs usually present to their players with.
I have played landmark, but I admit that I don't read the forums regularly. I do however recognize the difference in the difficulty in using an interface, and the complexity of the interface itself. Let me give you an example.
Many FPS games are available on both PC and Console. The control schemes are different, due to the inherent type of interface available (PC is keyboard + mouse, Console is controller). With the same game, you will find extremely different rates of accuracy... with the PC controls generally allowing for more precise control, and even allow for more options at the same time.
This is why you do not have PC and Console gamers competing, as there is an inherent advantage in the PC controls. On the other hand, you also have complaints from the PC gamers whenever a console port (or even dual launch) does not take advantage of these improved controls. This is the situation for Landmark, the combat is limited in options, and would work well with a controller. It might also port to mobile, as the number of actual buttons pressed is low enough that it is technically feasible. However, I do recognize that the action element would be harder to compensate for, as the element of latency will make this difficult.
There is actually quite a bit of innovation here, however there is also an unmentioned change in focus. You can see from the way that combat operates that it is tailored to a simpler gameplay style/ It would function efficiently using a console controller, and might even be operational on a smartphone interface (if latency were reduced). This is clearly a move towards the creation of a 3d destructible environment with action based combat using a simplified interface.
You clearly haven't played Landmark and read the official forums for the players feedback on the combat. If the current controls were so simple and easy that they would work on a smartphone interface, you wouldn't have that many players complaining about how hard combat is, how much they die all the time and that keeping the target on the mobs is impossible. Also, all that whining for a return to the simpler system of tab-target hard-locking and auto-attacks wouldn't exist either.
If you take the time to read the Landmark forum, you'll see that the FPS combat currently in the game where you need to avoid attacks either by taking cover or moving out of the way is a lot harder than what MMOs usually present to their players with.
I have played landmark, but I admit that I don't read the forums regularly. I do however recognize the difference in the difficulty in using an interface, and the complexity of the interface itself. Let me give you an example.
Many FPS games are available on both PC and Console. The control schemes are different, due to the inherent type of interface available (PC is keyboard + mouse, Console is controller). With the same game, you will find extremely different rates of accuracy... with the PC controls generally allowing for more precise control, and even allow for more options at the same time.
This is why you do not have PC and Console gamers competing, as there is an inherent advantage in the PC controls. On the other hand, you also have complaints from the PC gamers whenever a console port (or even dual launch) does not take advantage of these improved controls. This is the situation for Landmark, the combat is limited in options, and would work well with a controller. It might also port to mobile, as the number of actual buttons pressed is low enough that it is technically feasible. However, I do recognize that the action element would be harder to compensate for, as the element of latency will make this difficult.
This is a good explanation and analysis. The console controls essentially use a simple system by design, and as the rest of the combat portion of the game must mesh, the game will have combat that matches its control scheme. Console games have cheats built in to get you more on the hit box, and I imagine that EQN/Landmark will have something similar. They will probably tune it in testing to get a good balance between too easy, and PC shooter grade accuracy.
MMORPG players are often like Hobbits: They don't like Adventures
Which is a cheap unproductive solution that doesn't solve the problem.. Using AOE attacks is a band aid, and it still doesn't address the real problem.. I want to cast a damage shield on the group tank so it helps him keep agro, but he is in the middle of a chaos.. I can NOT target him directly because of it.. As I said earlier, I want to stun one mob for 1 FULL MINUTE.. Basically taking him out of the firght until later.. No one is going to allow me to use AOE stuns that last that long.. Get the idea now? YOUR preference of combat is all about DPS, and it ignores everything else..
This isn't exactly a problem, more of what you personally prefer. Unfortunately, they aren't designing these games for you and I, individually or even a small demo of folks that want very exact features. I personally like swinging a sword and hitting anything in the way or shooting a arrow and it hitting the first target it meets. Instead of being able to target and attack/heal unseen things.
I've probably said it before, but what you want (1 min CC) requires several factors to be part of the design that we simply don't know yet.
Don't know if you've played in Landmark since the recent patch, but I'm not sure why you couldn't target 1 particular mob/friend, unless there were 50 standing on top of each other. Which in itself would be pretty poor pathing and dev work. You gave the example of friendlies standing on top of one another, not sure why this would be a good choice either. Again, if there is a skill that says "Increase Armor of Friendly Players standing on top of You" instead of "Within 10 ft" that is pretty lazy design. I would love some decent collision where that wouldn't be possible. I'm hoping the AI makes player stacking counter productive.
I'm a huge fan of supportive roles and would actually prefer DPS to be at the bottom of the list. But thanks for telling me what I like. I would rather you have to actually keep stunning a target and put effort into it, instead of 1 click = 1 min stun. Boring. Rather have to keep slamming the target with my shield or magic force wave or whatever to help my allies take it down.
There is no "forgiving" because the AI doesn't KNOW which target I truly want to stun.. The AI can't read my mind.. There are a pack of mobs attacking 2 of my group members.. I want to stun the "shaman healer" ONLY for 1 minute.. (hence CC'ing that mob out of the fight).. Your combat style makes that almost impossible.. No AOE rain of arrows is going to stun any target for any meaningful time.. Those types of stuns are truly only "interrupts".. BIG difference..
I meant forgiving in hit box size and allowance. If you aren't a super pro FPS aim master, as long as you hit within the targets bubble, you get them. Unless the Shaman is inside the Warrior defending it, again not sure why you couldn't single it out. Since you like to compare EQN to "shooter" games, I sure can single out targets in every single FPS I've played. Be it with TF2 crazy assortment of weapons, a knife/melee weapon in a true FPS, or head shot in a crowd of enemies. I don't want that type of aiming or requirement, but it is entirely possible to do single or aoe attacks in most game types.
I do see the difference between long duration CC and short, but again I think it is just a matter of design and game play. If combat is relatively faster pace with movement and what not, CCing a mob for 1 min+ is probably not a huge deal. Especially if there are multiple ways to control the situation. Shorter effects allow for more action and engagement. Not sure how you can determine what is "meaningful time" without having any context to how EQN will even function.
And what are gamey mechanics? lol You pretend you want something more challenging and real in combat, how much you wanna bet that EQN will NOT allow friendly fire.. I assume you want a double standard tho.. I SWING a two handed sword and damage ALL enemy targets, but heal friendly targets? Really? Really? And you don't call that gamey mechanics.. I call that BS.. Atleast in original EQ and many other games, if I do a AOE ability it has the same effect on EVERYONE in that area.. YES, I had to worry about damaging a friend, or even healing a foe..
I wouldn't mind FF, but think it is a bit tough for the average gamer and really limits how crazy encounters can become. As I've said, I want a game that caters to as many as possible.
Gamey mechanics are hitting tab and cycling through targets, hitting targets regardless if they are in direct LOS or not (behind another target), +/- taunt/aggro/hate skills controlling the action, characters and roles being one dimensional (I'm a cleric with a mace but I have to spam heals? Wth?).
I'm not pretending or saying I want "real" anything. These are video games. Doesn't mean I need to be constantly reminded of that by UI and mechanics.
This is why I'm not a fan of turned based games. Enjoyed them when I was very young, but I no longer need to think each move out or pull up a menu to figure out exactly what I'm going to do. I know what I can do, let me do it.
But devs have gotten so lazy with combat, and players have gotten so "entitled" with their bologna, AOE is a joke.. I always found it stupid as hell in WoW, that a tank can stand in the middle of a pack of mobs, while I bring down a Blizzard, or rain of arrows AOE.. You praise and demand twitch reticle combat because it takes skill, but in the same breath you don't want AOE spells to damage your buddies.. You don't find that hypocritical? Atleast in CoD games friendly fire is possible, lets see if you demand that in EQN
Um, I think you are talking to yourself? Not sure how I'm hypocritical when you put words into my mouth and then respond to them
I'd be fine with FF and AOE's working against friendlies, doesn't mean I want them in EQN, nor does it have anything to do with what I'm saying. I didn't realize we live in a game world of extremes where suggesting Aim being more "realistic" comes attached with FF, taking in-game restroom breaks, getting colds, getting fatigued after swinging a sword a few times...
I'm not talking about my ideal game setup, simply what I hope EQN is like. FYI, EQN is not my ideal game, nor do I find it perfect, especially since I know little about it. I've seen RPG tossed around as this magical meaningful concept where we are really immersed and making important decisions, yet usually we have to play through layers of gamey elements to get to anything resembling "role play" unless hitting buttons and clicking things is playing a role.
Just for the heck of it though, if a fantasy game had FF and AOEs, I'd imagine it would be designed to allow smart use of these. Haven't played EQ in many years, but I don't remember AOEs hitting friendlies on regular servers, just PVP, but could be mistaken. Regardless, AOEs weren't a major component in a lot of content since EQ did have long duration CC and what not. Again, smartly designed.
Not to put words in your mouth, but it seems you simply want early EQ or some variation of the idea of it. Which isn't going to happen. Not in EQN or EQ3 or insert random game. Maybe Pantheon, but I wouldn't risk a penny on it currently. I can't say one way or another that if your ideal game was made that it wouldn't be hugely popular, but I do know that EQN isn't it and you likely aren't ever going to get what you want exactly. You can complain, be critical, point out problems for issues that don't exist (yet), but unless you get into game design and start your own project, I doubt you'll find what you're looking for.
Outside of the extremely poor animations Pantheon currently has it looks like it is going to be fun. They already have accumulating snow this early and Landmark doesnt even have weather yet with a much bigger team and budget. SOE never seemed to have a proper plan even with the blue print that they never really followed.
On the official boards there are some that have used a controller for Landmark and say it works well. I have yet to try but it doesnt surprise me to hear it as the PS4 IMO is their main target for LM and EQN.. Not PC. IMO.
I am just tired of having non stop action MMORPGs shoved down my throat as " Next Gen ".. Nothing Next Gen about them. They sacrifice so much RPG / DnD type features that you are left with a shell with shallow flashy combat. ESO is really the only one that I feel kept an RPG like feel to it..
Combat looks amazing to m e. It's Fast, visceral, fluid and entertaining. I suspect many here are against it because it isn;t the same tired ole same old same as the last 10,000 Tab target combat systems. I'll say it again, but action combat is not targeted at console kiddies (quit trying to use the term as an euphemism for bad) it's targeted at people who enjoy fun not coma enducing boring combat systems like FFXIV.
Watched the video twice and I can honestly say this looks amazing and very polished and a lot better then some other action games that are out now. The production quality on this one will be high and I for one am thankful that SOE gets it and doesn't listen to the same whiners and obnoxious people that often post on this site. MMORPG.com's posters are notorious in the gaming community for being elitist and closed minded.
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
I really don't understand the controversy of this. Everything they can put into tab targetting all the strategy they can put in this game only all you have to do is aim. There isn't this unpassable barrier of strategy by changing how you target things. A little different but literally the same. If WoW released in 2004 if beta with 18 abilities (About as much as Landmark now) total people would be signalling the death of tab target. Patience and what we need to test with what we have because 3 abilities each in a tab target game is clinically unplayable. For what it seems this action is pretty good. It adds another dimension. Typically you can tab target on a 2.5d isometric game. In full 3d you can utilize height gaining high ground cover as well as dodge left and right. You can jump over the opponent, climb to a ledge and start releasing arrows. Heroic movement and the armor that helps heroic movement haven't been implemented yet in Landmark. Of course the mobs are still very simple AI and we have yet to see the possibilities of what Next can offer in combat. A full fledged mmo is what we've been waiting for in Landmark and Next and i have a feeling all the confusion will start to dissipate during the reveals in the next year. If you haven't already watch all the videos about Next to keep you informed and up to date or simply imagine.
Honestly not sure what everyone was expecting. They said from the start (even showed us combat at the reveal) that it would be action oriented. Even threw out MOBAs as a comparison, SMITE being the easiest to compare.
Very simplified version of what we'll see in EQN, but looks and feels pretty good to me considering the context. Then again I've tired of standing still clicking 50 buttons. Glad my time with TF2 and Smite will come in handy.
Hopefully now that some of those already upset with the art style and other features of EQN can move on and find something better matching what they want in a game. No need to linger.
Dear GOD no. It looks like I'm watching an I.T. Specialists inner workings on a code machine. On top of that the combat is junky, slow and but effing ugly. I look at FFXIV and games like it and it makes me cringe to think how bad combat in games like this are. To those who eschew this action combat then great, but you only show your true colors when you besmirch and demean a game because of its innovative game design in combat mechanics.
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
Honestly not sure what everyone was expecting. They said from the start (even showed us combat at the reveal) that it would be action oriented. Even threw out MOBAs as a comparison, SMITE being the easiest to compare.
Very simplified version of what we'll see in EQN, but looks and feels pretty good to me considering the context. Then again I've tired of standing still clicking 50 buttons. Glad my time with TF2 and Smite will come in handy.
Hopefully now that some of those already upset with the art style and other features of EQN can move on and find something better matching what they want in a game. No need to linger.
Dear GOD no. It looks like I'm watching an I.T. Specialists inner workings on a code machine. On top of that the combat is junky, slow and but effing ugly. I look at FFXIV and games like it and it makes me cringe to think how bad combat in games like this are. To those who eschew this action combat then great, but you only show your true colors when you besmirch and demean a game because of its innovative game design in combat mechanics.
Interesting that you dislike popular game mechanics, and prefer MOBA style combat to that most commonly found in MMO's. But, if you look at the youtube vid again, and take away all the UI windows, which are just cluttering up the screen anyway, vamp the graphics a bit, reduce the in game commands to just a few that you can easily remove from the UI and just have them tied to a few of the controller keys etc. And 'Presto'
As for innovative game design and combat mechanics, it really isn't, Blizzard have been copying/adapting other games mechanics etc for years, they are very good at it, and the results they achieve are often superior to the originals, it seems like SOE is in fact now trying that route for themselves, though whether they can improve over the originals remains to be seen, and given the current state of Landmark etc. i'd have to say that it's still very much a work in progress.
Outside of the extremely poor animations Pantheon currently has it looks like it is going to be fun. They already have accumulating snow this early and Landmark doesnt even have weather yet with a much bigger team and budget. SOE never seemed to have a proper plan even with the blue print that they never really followed.
I never had the impression that Landmark dev team was that big, most of it works for EQNext. The two big systems are being made by outside companies (Storybricks and everything related to the voxels). Storybricks started as 2 guys and Voxel Farms used to be a single dude until sometime this year.
Also, I don't think Landmark is supposed to have random weather. Weather is going to be controllable on claims so players can make the ambience that they wants. They already have fog emitters though, so fog weather is already "in". Rain, snow and even lava needs the Voxel Farms dynamic fluid voxel code and the islands needs to be wiped and remodeled before they can put it in.
Comments
Holy fucking shit!! Such crap? It looks worse than Tera and I was so hyped about this game.
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.? -Albert Einstein
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent" - Qui-gon Jinn. After many years of reading Internet forums, there's no doubt that neither does the ability to write.
So if you notice that I'm no longer answering your nonsense, stop trying... because you just joined my block list.
While maybe not what some prefer, I think simply using more AOE attacks is an easy solution where we get a bit of both designs. Able to do the "FPS" combat while performing particular tasks/roles such as CC, Healing, Support that generally need a more precise touch. We can already see this with the recent weapons/skills that have single target, cone, and aoe effects that also have dual roles as both offense/defense. Covering it all for the most part.
In your example, I'd hope the system would be forgiving enough for you to aim at one of the three and stun it with an arrow or whatever you are shooting. Could also aim at one and stun for 5 sec and any enemies around for 1 sec or any version of this, again allowing for some forgiveness on aim. So if you missed your target and hit another one, you'd still get something out of it. Although it could be a "Rain of Arrows" GTAOE that stuns anything in a 10 ft radius as well.
Going with the dual aspect, could be you just fire off arrows at all the enemies with rapid fire, stunning for .5 sec each shot, but also increasing friendly armor or whatever buff in the process. Instead of just CC one for 5 minutes and that's it. Makes it more active and challenging. Reminds me of my WoW Mage where I would CC 1 add, DPS DPS DPS forever. Not very exciting. Would of loved to have had more to do. When my guildies had been drinking and we would keep breaking CC and what not, was much more exciting and fun, wipes and all
EQN is never going to mimic or "feel" like EQ or any other game. Might be some shared qualities, but beyond copying X game's code, line by line, it isn't going to happen.
I've never played another game like early EQ (including EQ today).
I've always found interesting the concept of an RPG where we are playing a role or character, yet want to rely on gamey mechanics that aren't anything like "reality". Not that a FPS is "realism," but I get caught up in the excitement and experience, much more so then zoomed out in watching myself shoot fireballs while tab cycling.
Years from now when I'm strapped into my VR suit playing The Next EQ After The Next and I'm running around swinging my virtual sword at an Orc's face, there hopefully won't be any gamey mechanics that get in the way. Maybe it's just what I want to be immersed, but the more UI and extra layers of mechanics that I need to deal with to accomplish what I want to do is just a downer for me. If possible and I'm able, I'll probably play EQN with no reticle or as small as possible. I had almost no UI in WoW, WAR, and few games that allow for that much customizing.
And what are gamey mechanics? lol You pretend you want something more challenging and real in combat, how much you wanna bet that EQN will NOT allow friendly fire.. I assume you want a double standard tho.. I SWING a two handed sword and damage ALL enemy targets, but heal friendly targets? Really? Really? And you don't call that gamey mechanics.. I call that BS.. Atleast in original EQ and many other games, if I do a AOE ability it has the same effect on EVERYONE in that area.. YES, I had to worry about damaging a friend, or even healing a foe..
But devs have gotten so lazy with combat, and players have gotten so "entitled" with their bologna, AOE is a joke.. I always found it stupid as hell in WoW, that a tank can stand in the middle of a pack of mobs, while I bring down a Blizzard, or rain of arrows AOE.. You praise and demand twitch reticle combat because it takes skill, but in the same breath you don't want AOE spells to damage your buddies.. You don't find that hypocritical? Atleast in CoD games friendly fire is possible, lets see if you demand that in EQN
Happy New Year
(I'll just use #1-3 because colors are being weird)
1. How a game "feels" is huge to a player and I respect that anything with a reticle may feel like a FPS. Landmark isn't a FPS though as you are not locked into a first person view. By extension the whole Elder Scrolls series, including ESO would be considered a FPS along with TERA, Neverwinter, Minecraft, etc.
The only thing reticle really excludes one from in combat is typing because there is no "auto attack" feature. Landmark seems to have an "anti-bunch" mechanic coded in because in all my multi-Slaug encounters they don't stand on top of one another. As far as players? Positioning is always going to matter, tab, reticle or otherwise, so they will need to be wary of this in a fight. You see this in TERA and one can heal, stun, shield just fine.
2. The itemization seen in Landmark and how it integrates into combat is different from what I've seen in other games. If you can point out a single game that is the same please let me know (none of that "x" has this, "y" has this, and "z" has this cheating, one game
).
So with that in mind it is special. First and foremost it's freeform. One character is not held to a specific sub-set of options, any combination can be used. This is not like EQ AA's except that at times a % modifier is used... but that is in every game so I can't see a reason for using it as a comparison. Next is the variety of effects you can include, some may work with or alongside other effects you have equipped. This of course works with the weapon you decide to use and the effects it has. Some of the gear I've seen, either by direct drop or getting the recipe, give certain bonuses to or with specific weapons. The combinations of builds I can imagine are quite high and doesn't feel like another system I've worked with.
For example, I looted the [Solar Surcoat] which gave bonus damage to all my attacks depending on my Light Radius score (Yep, the same score that determines how mush light you emit around a player). It started off at (2) at zero Light Radius but when I used both my Lightstone and Greater Lightstone together I bumped it up to (11). Then I found a Ring of Brutality (sp?) that added a (2) damage bleed to all my attacks. I imagine, though not certain, there is gear that effects bleeding in some way. I also had an "armor" piece drop that reduces the energy use of a weapon's secondary ability by 10%.
There are a lot of combinations to use already at this early stage and you can see the "categories" taking shape. You have the weapons and the abilities/effects they bring, the Head, Chest, Gloves, and x2 Accessories and the stats/effects they bring and last, the boots with the specific movement effects they bring. With that in mind...
3. I don't think you can both double jump and glide at the same time anymore. Luckily you can't spam double jump anymore either. As far as a "realism" standpoint, not much of a difference between gliding and levitating, right? In general it's a blurry line considering what seems real and not real in a setting where people are shooting fire from their hands.
We are almost in the 2015 year, is this a Next Gen MMO?. There is some indie MMOs around in Pre-Alpha that looks and play way better than this, we are talking about an AAA game made by SoE.
EQ next could sound Epic in theory but so far we didnt see nothing more than a ¨minecraft clone¨ called Landmark, and a combat system that looks like a 10 years old FPS game.
There is actually quite a bit of innovation here, however there is also an unmentioned change in focus. You can see from the way that combat operates that it is tailored to a simpler gameplay style/ It would function efficiently using a console controller, and might even be operational on a smartphone interface (if latency were reduced). This is clearly a move towards the creation of a 3d destructible environment with action based combat using a simplified interface.
Much of the true innovation here is not on the surface, but rather in the supporting structure. The buildable/destructible environment (including support for end user created content) which is then modified by the combat actions (destructible.... but also possibly buildable, modifiable) around an action based simplified combat system (for speed rather than depth) create an almost cartoon like atmosphere. The engineering and innovation behind this is pretty good.
However, the big question, is this what you want in your MMORGP? For many of us the answer is going to be no... but that doesn't mean that I cant appreciate what was done to make it possible.
This is exactly why MMORPG's are dead,they know people will still play and spend money on them.
They aim for the sheep and they come running and buy every single game on the market. It must be good business sense to do it though. When I say dead I mean the ones I liked.
Hotbars with lots of abilities on,not one hotbar boring action combat,Crafting that also takes time and effort not the copy paste turn 100 tin ore into 50 tin bars one click go make a cup of coffee,come back and one click 50 tin bars into 25 tin daggers.That is not crafting! It is lazy developers that do it so they can put 'We have CRAFTING!' in their crapfest game.
It is time to admit that the 5% of us that like this type of game,one where you have to work together to do things and not solo to end level and then raid are over. RIP MMORPGs (that require skill to play) Because there is no profit in making them,well actually there is if the 5% went and played a new game like that they would but they aim for the sheep,they come ( until the next game) and go.
You clearly haven't played Landmark and read the official forums for the players feedback on the combat. If the current controls were so simple and easy that they would work on a smartphone interface, you wouldn't have that many players complaining about how hard combat is, how much they die all the time and that keeping the target on the mobs is impossible. Also, all that whining for a return to the simpler system of tab-target hard-locking and auto-attacks wouldn't exist either.
If you take the time to read the Landmark forum, you'll see that the FPS combat currently in the game where you need to avoid attacks either by taking cover or moving out of the way is a lot harder than what MMOs usually present to their players with.
Sick of consoles, wish we could go back to the old days when everything was made for the PC. I have little faith in the recovery of this genre to begin with.... I have zero faith in this genre if they continue to cater to consoles.
Yes I said the recovery of, imo MMO's have regressed.
Ding! contratulations SOE you just got better at Destroying own Game (3)
Never let it be said that they were not generously supplying their detractors with generous amounts of ammunition
Landmark, it might just be a test bed for EQN, but, still.. could have tried a bit harder.
IMO even the options shown in Landmark have depth to them, at least from an itemization aspect. The weapons have three abilities each but in EQN this will be expanded to 8, on top of the 4 interchangeable abilities. This scenario is for each of the 40 classes. If you add in non-weapon effects that we've seen so far in Landmark this can open up a lot of choice, variety, and depth to both the character building and combat in the game.
The "depth" in most MMOs surrounding combat has been about choosing a prebuilt spec or having a tremendous amount of activated abilities on hotbars. The system in Landmark/EQN seems to take those extra abilities and effects off the hotbar and blend them into the itemization so that you are looking at what you are playing instead of down.
It preference for sure but it's ridiculous to say one is for kids, adults, etc. I think a large problem is just not being knowledgeable of the information of either title, which I guess is understandable for those unhappy at what they initially see.
I have played landmark, but I admit that I don't read the forums regularly. I do however recognize the difference in the difficulty in using an interface, and the complexity of the interface itself. Let me give you an example.
Many FPS games are available on both PC and Console. The control schemes are different, due to the inherent type of interface available (PC is keyboard + mouse, Console is controller). With the same game, you will find extremely different rates of accuracy... with the PC controls generally allowing for more precise control, and even allow for more options at the same time.
This is why you do not have PC and Console gamers competing, as there is an inherent advantage in the PC controls. On the other hand, you also have complaints from the PC gamers whenever a console port (or even dual launch) does not take advantage of these improved controls. This is the situation for Landmark, the combat is limited in options, and would work well with a controller. It might also port to mobile, as the number of actual buttons pressed is low enough that it is technically feasible. However, I do recognize that the action element would be harder to compensate for, as the element of latency will make this difficult.
Ugh, another action combat game. Pass.
WoW really does have another decade of dominance to look forward too.
This is a good explanation and analysis. The console controls essentially use a simple system by design, and as the rest of the combat portion of the game must mesh, the game will have combat that matches its control scheme. Console games have cheats built in to get you more on the hit box, and I imagine that EQN/Landmark will have something similar. They will probably tune it in testing to get a good balance between too easy, and PC shooter grade accuracy.
Not to put words in your mouth, but it seems you simply want early EQ or some variation of the idea of it. Which isn't going to happen. Not in EQN or EQ3 or insert random game. Maybe Pantheon, but I wouldn't risk a penny on it currently. I can't say one way or another that if your ideal game was made that it wouldn't be hugely popular, but I do know that EQN isn't it and you likely aren't ever going to get what you want exactly. You can complain, be critical, point out problems for issues that don't exist (yet), but unless you get into game design and start your own project, I doubt you'll find what you're looking for.
Outside of the extremely poor animations Pantheon currently has it looks like it is going to be fun. They already have accumulating snow this early and Landmark doesnt even have weather yet with a much bigger team and budget. SOE never seemed to have a proper plan even with the blue print that they never really followed.
On the official boards there are some that have used a controller for Landmark and say it works well. I have yet to try but it doesnt surprise me to hear it as the PS4 IMO is their main target for LM and EQN.. Not PC. IMO.
I am just tired of having non stop action MMORPGs shoved down my throat as " Next Gen ".. Nothing Next Gen about them. They sacrifice so much RPG / DnD type features that you are left with a shell with shallow flashy combat. ESO is really the only one that I feel kept an RPG like feel to it..
why? i not surprise Sony - PS4
but probably at end going reconsider MMO in Console prety shi...
but if not well i dont like consoles and not play
About EQlandmark i wish good luck because its "early acess" to EQnext
ofcourse you pay full price and go pay full price again after EQnext but who care mmo market everday worst
not only mmo right? this ealy/alpha/gama/pre project builds / kickstart/crowdfuding.... well list endless
Combat looks amazing to m e. It's Fast, visceral, fluid and entertaining. I suspect many here are against it because it isn;t the same tired ole same old same as the last 10,000 Tab target combat systems. I'll say it again, but action combat is not targeted at console kiddies (quit trying to use the term as an euphemism for bad) it's targeted at people who enjoy fun not coma enducing boring combat systems like FFXIV.
Watched the video twice and I can honestly say this looks amazing and very polished and a lot better then some other action games that are out now. The production quality on this one will be high and I for one am thankful that SOE gets it and doesn't listen to the same whiners and obnoxious people that often post on this site. MMORPG.com's posters are notorious in the gaming community for being elitist and closed minded.
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
I really don't understand the controversy of this. Everything they can put into tab targetting all the strategy they can put in this game only all you have to do is aim. There isn't this unpassable barrier of strategy by changing how you target things. A little different but literally the same. If WoW released in 2004 if beta with 18 abilities (About as much as Landmark now) total people would be signalling the death of tab target. Patience and what we need to test with what we have because 3 abilities each in a tab target game is clinically unplayable. For what it seems this action is pretty good. It adds another dimension. Typically you can tab target on a 2.5d isometric game. In full 3d you can utilize height gaining high ground cover as well as dodge left and right. You can jump over the opponent, climb to a ledge and start releasing arrows. Heroic movement and the armor that helps heroic movement haven't been implemented yet in Landmark. Of course the mobs are still very simple AI and we have yet to see the possibilities of what Next can offer in combat. A full fledged mmo is what we've been waiting for in Landmark and Next and i have a feeling all the confusion will start to dissipate during the reveals in the next year. If you haven't already watch all the videos about Next to keep you informed and up to date or simply imagine.
Dear GOD no. It looks like I'm watching an I.T. Specialists inner workings on a code machine. On top of that the combat is junky, slow and but effing ugly. I look at FFXIV and games like it and it makes me cringe to think how bad combat in games like this are. To those who eschew this action combat then great, but you only show your true colors when you besmirch and demean a game because of its innovative game design in combat mechanics.
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
Interesting that you dislike popular game mechanics, and prefer MOBA style combat to that most commonly found in MMO's. But, if you look at the youtube vid again, and take away all the UI windows, which are just cluttering up the screen anyway, vamp the graphics a bit, reduce the in game commands to just a few that you can easily remove from the UI and just have them tied to a few of the controller keys etc. And 'Presto'
As for innovative game design and combat mechanics, it really isn't, Blizzard have been copying/adapting other games mechanics etc for years, they are very good at it, and the results they achieve are often superior to the originals, it seems like SOE is in fact now trying that route for themselves, though whether they can improve over the originals remains to be seen, and given the current state of Landmark etc. i'd have to say that it's still very much a work in progress.
I never had the impression that Landmark dev team was that big, most of it works for EQNext. The two big systems are being made by outside companies (Storybricks and everything related to the voxels). Storybricks started as 2 guys and Voxel Farms used to be a single dude until sometime this year.
Also, I don't think Landmark is supposed to have random weather. Weather is going to be controllable on claims so players can make the ambience that they wants. They already have fog emitters though, so fog weather is already "in". Rain, snow and even lava needs the Voxel Farms dynamic fluid voxel code and the islands needs to be wiped and remodeled before they can put it in.