as long as the locked combat can be interrupted by a bullet to the head and only happens on the third blocked counter I don't see how this would hurt the game.

I like that. I think that would be the idea especially since that happens in GoW. If you are locked in a chaingun duel than you are exposed, during PvP. So, you can be picked off by a sniper round to the face or a boom shot to the body.

op suggestion might be a bit too much for server to handle. remember all calculations are being done serverside, all the while the main plan being all players playing on the same server.

Chivalry has a pretty cool melee system. Not sure how it would work in EC. You basically have three different attacks (horizontal, overhead, and thrust) and a parry. You can't hold parry and block everything, it has to be timed.

I think everyone's expectations are getting way too high. Smooth game play needs to be a priority over any sort of dynamic melee system. I would be very surprised if we can get any more complex than the system in Space Marine. Once you get over 200 players on the same spot on the map it's going to get hectic. This isn't nor should it be an SCA/ 1vs1 duel. This should be more akin to (And forgive me for lack of a better example) a officer duel in Dynasty Warriors where the two leaders are locked in combat but outside factors can and will come into play. There's basic block/guard, some combo attacks, and maybe some counters but nothing more dynamic than that. As I stated earlier... SMOOTH gameplay should trump any imaginative innovation in any of the combat. If wide spread artillery bogs down the game... then it needs to be limited... smooth first

I agree with the OP's concern. Realistically, I think the melee will be OK for EC--nothing special, maybe some cool aspects. My wishful thinking: Something like what Chivalry: Medieval Warfare has (wow I keep referring to this game on these forums).

Basically, combat is like this:

1. initiate attack:
   1. LMB for side swing
   2. scroll forward for stab
   3. scroll backward for overhand
2. the player then has complete control on the weapon, thereby controlling the destination and how it gets there, during the "release" of the attack, also with the player able to accelerate and de-accelerate the swing speed (this creates room for a lot of cool tricks)
3. you have full control of where you character looks, so you have to look exactly at the blade tip to block it, making blocking interesting

of course some weapons have different behavior, but that's the general outline.

EC could implement something like this, and I think it would be fantastic.

Problems:

• to my understanding, its pretty difficult or time consuming to implement. The devs for Chivalry were small, and although the pulled it off, it was and still is not polished and buggy (e.g. bad hit detection). Something like this you want to work well
• it really increases the learning curve for melee combat (e.g. frustrating newbies), but it does make it so much more satisfying and makes it so there's so many tricks and tactics and new things to learn and master even for people who've put in 100s of hours into it
• similar to the previous, people who are good at combat will be able to crush people with significantly lower skill level. I guess that could be a good thing too

Sorry Sir but NO! What you describe is far too technical and would kill melee in the game. This system makes anything other than shooting pointless and inneffficient. I would also like to point out that REAL fights aren't that slow. The problem with some games is just that.. they're games. They slow certain aspects down and make them overtly technical to make it a GAME. We haven't reached the technology mark to make it what people want. We can't plug into our brain and go at the speed of real yet. So, we need to keep melee in the KISS realm. Simple so that it has a chance against all the overwhelming firepower that it out there. Face it. Being in a melee fight in the open is already a death sentence because your going to get focus fired to oblivion. Making it more technical is just going to make it pointless. It doesn't fit into THIS game. I'm not saying the other games that use them are bad at all. But those dynamics are for those games. I wish everyone would go play all the games that have been stated as the modeling points. It would give alot of the posters on the forums a more narrowed perspective on what is and isn't feasable. Play Space Marine, Play Planetside2, Play Dark Souls, ect... In the mass open world shoot fest... Melee will have to be BASIC and POWERFUL.

I've played all three, although very little PS2, and the Chivalry system could be used somewhat. Take the Space Marine system where it's right mouse button that does melee and left for shooting, if I remember correctly. The thing Chivalry did is make different attacks more ergonomic so the mouse does everything. Something simple could be taken from that. Make standard attacks RMB and heavy attacks scroll wheel. Fire with LMB.

How is the Chivalry system slow? You can get pretty fast with fast classes. Eldar speed wouldn't be hard with that system. It's two, possibly three buttons. EC has a bigger and better team than Chivalry anyway.

I know that the gameplay footage was EXTREMELY early, but the melee system showed seemed fine to me. There was a slight lock for melee(if the target was on my left shoulder when I hit attack, my guy would turn and swing into them) but nothing too much, and again, as seen in the video, a rolling dodge is *very* effective at getting out of there. As long as there is a "fast attack" and "heavy attack" system(the latter could stun if blocked) then I'm good to go, for the Emperor!

this, i like this and everything about it, hey devs give us your thoughts on this please and thank you