That is a lucid, intelligent and well thought out post. I agree with all of it.
I love you.
-Ellessar-
Lucid, intelligent, and well thought out... just not accurate in its central premise: EQN has not "eliminated the trinity".
(According to the response to a question at the end of the Classes panel.)
The real trinity of group combat (Offense, Defense, and Support) will be supported by classes that are inclined in those directions, and players WILL have to take responsibility for filling those roles and reacting to the more fluid battles with the tools those classes bring to the field.
What the devs DID say was that the old, simplistic DIKU-style taunt-tanking usually wouldn't work with the new mob AI.
What people are criticizing is stuff that's been done in multiple other games and that people have hated.
The WoW-meets disney character models - there is nothing innovative about them. It is an inappropriate choice for the EQ franchise. It has nothing to do with it being new, it has to do with them being ugly and just wrong.
The GW2 action-combat and removal of the trinity - this sucked in GW2 and resulted in extremely trivial easy-mode encounters, no reliance on other people, poor socialization (no one ever talked in GW2 raids) and general boredom. There are other action-combat game (NW, TSW - that do a better job designing complex encounters with action-combat, but only GW2 has totally tossed out the trinity and their encounters are crap.)
So yeah, before you blame people for hating change, consider that it's not change they hate, it's bad or inappropriate features that they've seen before and did not like. I don't see too many people talking about how "Rally Calls are a bad idea" or "being able to build anything via landmark is stupid". Poeple LIKE the new and innovative ideas. It's stuff copied from WoW and GW2 that people are hating on.
I think it's a smart and sexy move to abandon the photo realism path of EQ2/Vanguard and make use of the cartoonish style that can make this game really pop and stay modern for a long time. The stuff they are doing with the expressions that you can do with your characters is very much innovative and something alot of people I know are really looking forward to. And besides, going with photo realism in EQ2/Vanguard was a huge tactical error when you look at the big picture. In summary, It's 100% appropriate to use any art style you want. It's highly advisable to pick something that will work on as many computers as possible to give yourself the biggest opportunity for a player base as you can. This was true in 2004 and is true to this day.
They did not say they were going to use the class mechanics of GW2 so your concern and that of others is premature ejaculation. Yes GW2 was horrible in group content. Absolutely. If you want to talk about why you don't like GW2 it's completely appropriate. But you simply cannot say that you have enough information to make an informed comment on anything that will happen with EQN in this regard you simply do not know any information that would make your opinion mean anything. Speculation is just that.. speculation. It has no baring at all on the actual reality of the game. I do not understand why you would give yourself so much pain over something you don't even know. Seriously let's talk about what we DO know, not what some in the community are speculating. It's such a waste of time to speculate.
So yeah, there is a great deal of things to be excited about with EQN based on what we DO know. Unclinch the butt cheeks a little bit and give yourself a chance to actually hear what they have to say about those other things you are concerned about. Several people tried to get them to talk more about the classes and combat and grouping but SOE said time and again that they were not ready to talk about it yet but expressed time and again that they TOO had known that no trinity was a problem in other games like GW2 but that they had found a way forward that they think works and we'll like when we hear about it. Give the pro's a chance to talk before you shout them down and maybe you'll be surprised!
Comments
Lucid, intelligent, and well thought out... just not accurate in its central premise: EQN has not "eliminated the trinity".
(According to the response to a question at the end of the Classes panel.)
The real trinity of group combat (Offense, Defense, and Support) will be supported by classes that are inclined in those directions, and players WILL have to take responsibility for filling those roles and reacting to the more fluid battles with the tools those classes bring to the field.
What the devs DID say was that the old, simplistic DIKU-style taunt-tanking usually wouldn't work with the new mob AI.
I think it's a smart and sexy move to abandon the photo realism path of EQ2/Vanguard and make use of the cartoonish style that can make this game really pop and stay modern for a long time. The stuff they are doing with the expressions that you can do with your characters is very much innovative and something alot of people I know are really looking forward to. And besides, going with photo realism in EQ2/Vanguard was a huge tactical error when you look at the big picture. In summary, It's 100% appropriate to use any art style you want. It's highly advisable to pick something that will work on as many computers as possible to give yourself the biggest opportunity for a player base as you can. This was true in 2004 and is true to this day.
They did not say they were going to use the class mechanics of GW2 so your concern and that of others is premature ejaculation. Yes GW2 was horrible in group content. Absolutely. If you want to talk about why you don't like GW2 it's completely appropriate. But you simply cannot say that you have enough information to make an informed comment on anything that will happen with EQN in this regard you simply do not know any information that would make your opinion mean anything. Speculation is just that.. speculation. It has no baring at all on the actual reality of the game. I do not understand why you would give yourself so much pain over something you don't even know. Seriously let's talk about what we DO know, not what some in the community are speculating. It's such a waste of time to speculate.
So yeah, there is a great deal of things to be excited about with EQN based on what we DO know. Unclinch the butt cheeks a little bit and give yourself a chance to actually hear what they have to say about those other things you are concerned about. Several people tried to get them to talk more about the classes and combat and grouping but SOE said time and again that they were not ready to talk about it yet but expressed time and again that they TOO had known that no trinity was a problem in other games like GW2 but that they had found a way forward that they think works and we'll like when we hear about it. Give the pro's a chance to talk before you shout them down and maybe you'll be surprised!