kanthric- "When you're in combat, it will obviously help if you can point your gun quickly at a target and keep it pointed at them as the two of you move. But your opponent will probably still have time to pull out other tricks to deal with you - using assault packs to close the distance, hauling up storm shields, so your aiming speed and accuracy won't be enough on its own to guarantee you winning in fights. Twitch skills are limited in importance because other things are going to be important too. And some of those may depend on decisions you made before coming to the battlefield." All of your examples are reflex generated gameplay. This is twitch skills. Now the programmers have been super cool and have joined this conversation and clarified that twitch skills in this game are definitely not going to be hampered with game mechanics. I think that the promised land for developers is a game where everyone of all skill levels can join in and have fun. And I also believe that these developers will incorporate more than enough support skills to allow even us older gamers who dont have teenage reflexes to not just participate but to make a difference. You dont lower the skill. You incorporate robust support mechanics.
I wasn't trying to provoke you, or make you out to be an idiot - sorry if that's how it came across. Your posts mentioned limiting skill. Not twitch skill specifically, just player skill. My post was in response to that - and yes, it's now clear that you actually meant twitch skill and understand the point I was making completely. My bad, but I'm not psychic. Captain Obvious or not, the crucial point is that the zero sum trade off between certain types of skill and others means one type can't be more important without making others less important. Whatever balance the devs pick, some skills have, in effect, been limited. Talking about limiting the impact of "skill" in this context will always be somewhat misleading.
In the context of a real-time game, all mechanics have some form of reflex generated gameplay, except completely passive abilities. Twitch generally means highly rapid and accurate responses, whose success is defined by being highly rapid and accurate. Right click to raise a shield isn't in quite the same category, presuming you can hold the shield in place and you don't have only a moment to raise it or die. What you're calling a support mechanic was the point I was getting at with my examples. Anyway, I entirely agree with your point about having effective support mechanics. However, this does have the knock on effect of limiting the effectiveness of certain types of skill (ie, twitch is no longer king).
That mutual exclusivity is the basis of my point. Making a shooter MMO is a big technical hurdle, especially with battles the size they're talking about on a single server. If they can even pull it off right at all, it'll be a big hurdle to overcome. It's also one of their main differentiators from their competition. I don't want to see it wasted by canceling it out with other aspects of the game. If they're going to make it a shooter, physical skill needs to be the most important kind. Otherwise it's wasted effort. A game's design should never contradict itself.
Having read most of this thread, and read the dev's responses and from what I have read elsewhere this is what I have come up with; The TTK is low enough that even if jumped you can still react (twitch) and survive long enough to counter and possibly win. That right there, is where your twitch skills will win or lose the day for you. Where people speak to limiting skill, I take it as: Team work will be far more productive than individual skill. I have dealt with this in the past, as I am sure most of you have. We have all played with the 'allstar' who touts K/D as the only thing that matters. And that is wrong. Taking objectives, and working together weighs far more than a personal K/D ever will. I have had this argument every way possible and my opinion on it won't change. The right weapon for the job. If you want to do cqb with a rocket launcher, you are probably about to fail...hard. Same if you want to attack a tank with a bolter. You are either an Orc, or about to fail. Anyway, I am rambling, the TLDR here, in my opinion is: Skills matter, but team work will be paramount. If you like to be the spotlight ranger, you might not enjoy this type of game.
The devs want to make a shooter that is more strategic than the standard fare. Physical skill isn't going to be ignored, but it doesn't have to be so important that nothing else matters, nor is it inherently required that it be the most important skill. It will always be important, but in an open battlefield with hundreds of players and greater individual survivability, being the first to fire is a lot less advantageous than in your standard FPS. If you just want more of the same ol' shooter then there's already plenty of that available. If it's impossible for the devs to realize their goals in game it'll become obvious very early in testing and they can adjust accordingly. Hampering designers with unnecessary restrictions just cripples creativity.
As I understood it, the game is about skill and massive battle (cooperation). Thus, your weapons will be affected by their type and your TRUE ability to handle that weapon, will be the primary factor in your characters' skill. For example: Aim where you want to fire and shoot. You shoot where you aim... however, if your weapon has a nasty kick and you fire rapidly without giving your self time to line the shot up again, you probably won't hit your target... lol. I think they are going to permit editing of weapons like grips and aim sights which would help augment the weapons. However, the skill factor will depend on the person. Like real life; a persons skill level determines their ability to wield a weapon, however, a weapons usability level aids the user in wielding said weapon, more skillfully, more often...
Oh sweet lord, I will not miss games like that. Nothing is more boring than having to have a hotkey/macro for each movement of your legs, and breathing.
