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Another bad idea?
lilune666
Member Posts: 129
Would a hybrid of turn based D&D and the current system have better served DDO?
Many strategic aspects of the game are lost with the current system, such as attacks of opportunity and the use of certain feats and skills. While it's true that these particular features can in themselves become tiresome and unbalanced, I think there should be a reason to fear forcing your way past a berserk fighter, or advancing on an Ogre with reach. Or going for that tenth potion of cure light wounds (which you probably shouldn't have you damned munchkin) while someone is waving an axe in your face.
The faster pace of the current system does create excitement, and is more rewarding in that regard and many others.
I understand it was clearly not the goal of the developers to replace the traditional D&D experience with a video game, and they did a very good job with DDO relatively speaking
Another of my randomly craptastic ideas: A completely accurate version of pen and paper D&D created from DDO. Everything run by a DM and players, manipulating DDO models, environments and sounds. Everything turn based and controled by people, right down to clicking and dragging the models around and triggering the sounds or animations. Player created faces and otehr features. A huge persistent world with a DM in every zone or region, or whatever. Might be easier to create and maintain being turn based and such, who knows? It would be cool to see server for Athas, Planescape or Faerun. Or whatever, I'm just rambling now. 
Comments
i just think they need to slow combat down, reduce the amount of mana and enemies you have to fight, turn friendly fire on, fix equipment caps, fix inventory problems, reduce the drops and control the items drops better
but i like strategy not balls to the wall stacking, item whoring, and potion popping...
I'll still argue that an accurate D&D absolutely cannot be done in a traditional MMO open world. So, moving on...
Strategy is what you make of it.
Yes, D&D itself was the great-grandaddy of slow, turn-based combat. DDO isn't. But then again, thinking back to the RPGA events which DDO emulates, the fighters pretty much zerged; the rogues were more sneaky and creative with their attacks or scouting; the casters and rangers stood back considering their options. Which is pretty much what we see in DDO, it's just happening faster. If you're of the "strategy = slow" mindset then there's always LOTRO which has the slowest combat rounds I think I've ever seen in an MMO.
I'll agree there's too much potion-popping and wand-waving in DDO, but it also brings to light one of the many, many reasons why D&D can't exist in the open world environment we all want it to: no regenerating HP/SP. So we're stuck with Final Fantasy mode of potions and wands because there's no way the casters would ever have the SP to deal with it.
On the other hand, the current design of DDO has allowed me to experience adventures in a style no other MMO could ever hope to, and I'll take that any day.
I wouldn't be playing that game.
I'm sure there are some great ideas out there that could really improve the depth of strategy in this game without slowing it down at all. No one ever said the system in place was perfect or even close, especialy not the developers!
How can the combat actions of players in a traditional D&D session be "pretty much" approximated by DDO, if the very reason most of those combat actions are taken are simply not present? An example: Defensive position and plugging a gap in the line (heh heh) would mean much, much more in DDO with the (not so simple) addition of attacks of opportunity. Protect the mages, blah blah blah! (as a kobold blantantly weaves between three fighters and swings at the terrified mage.)
This is not to say that I would agree with ANY change to the current game that took away even one thing that the current players enjoy, regardless of the potential returns. Loyalty should always be rewarded. Better by far to develop a different product altogether, however unrealistic that proposition may be!
Turn based doesn't necessarily mean taking turns, as I'm sure most of you reading this know. In a sense it is already turn based, with the shortest increment of activity being the basis of comparison for measurement. If examined in this way it becomes very apparent that there is disparity in the effectiveness of certain combat actions different classes take. No one ever said there weren't, but again let me just put this out there for those who haven't considered it in this particular context...
Although a full round of D&D combat may involve a great deal of activity, it is expressed by a single attack roll in most cases. Just one. Uno. Uss, wael. Compared to the DDO measure of time it takes to cast a spell or pick a lock, for example, the melee attack action is acomplishing it's purpose multiple times per measure. Per round, anyway. The many compensations for this have had limited success, to be blunt.
Perhaps if the "melee attack action" were something more drawn out, involving the actual engagement or locking of a target, and animations depicting this, this measure of timing could be adjusted to bring the effectiveness of other action in line. Actively swinging and blocking might involve timing and rhythm to a greater degree. I'm rambling again.
If your groups aren't doing those things now, you may want to shop around for a new guild/friend's list
Defensive position would mean more, I said; not that it doesn't mean anything now. If your groups can somehow make attacks of opportunity than maybe you should shop around for a new guild or friend's list.. because they're not playing the same game you are.
Honestly Lil, the reason that I've always assumed there were no AOO or more turnbased situations is latency. NO ONE wants to play a game where the guy with the highest FPS or connection is always advantaged, and it just seems it could cause huge problems.
They would probably have to be done automaticly, anyway.