Posted April 16, 2014
First, I would like to thank Niels for preparing new update with a new combat system. Still, I get a feeling that this change was not properly tested before the release. It is good to bring some variation into the system, but there are some important issues to mention:
1) The combat seems to last longer than previously, so the gameplay is not as dynamic as it used to be.
2) The random component makes it hard to execute 'combos. For example, capturing a ship has become a bit of a nightmare. Chance of successfully performing EMP + Boarding was quite low (relatively high miss chance) and now it is even worse, because a player needs to get lucky with getting these 2 abilities in succession. Recently, I had 3 EMP abilities to use and no boarding whatsoever.
A possible solution would be to fix some abilities, so that they are always present. Or maybe give player a choice to change 'purpose' of ability fields. For example, a player could say 'I want to have 4 fixed slots for EMP, boarding, target lock and taunt and 3 random slots that can roll new combat abilities'. I think that this would fit quite nicely in the game and (hopefully) should not be too difficult to implement. A few aspects can be considered:
1) We know we have 7 ability spaces. Should a player have a choice on how many are fixed or variable or should it be hard locked in a certain proportion. In this last case, it is convenient to assume that there should be at least 2 abilities fixed and 2 variable in order to allow 2-skill-combinations and give appropriate variability.
2) Should the player be allowed to disable some abilities from being randomly selected? Personally, I have never used 'Flee' (Pirate) or 'Scattergun' (Bounty Hunter) or 'Focus Beam' (Fleet Officer) abilities, but they are obligatory for some classes. It sometimes seems a waste to roll them if we don't use them. Of course, a player should not have a possibility to choose which new (basic) abilities are rolled. Only normal abilities.
If it is not possible to arrange something like above, maybe a solution would be to limit appearance of some abilities to just 1 or work out a proportion of basic / non-basic to be rolled. Something to make combos like ship capture more viable.
Kind Regards,
Solon
1) The combat seems to last longer than previously, so the gameplay is not as dynamic as it used to be.
2) The random component makes it hard to execute 'combos. For example, capturing a ship has become a bit of a nightmare. Chance of successfully performing EMP + Boarding was quite low (relatively high miss chance) and now it is even worse, because a player needs to get lucky with getting these 2 abilities in succession. Recently, I had 3 EMP abilities to use and no boarding whatsoever.
A possible solution would be to fix some abilities, so that they are always present. Or maybe give player a choice to change 'purpose' of ability fields. For example, a player could say 'I want to have 4 fixed slots for EMP, boarding, target lock and taunt and 3 random slots that can roll new combat abilities'. I think that this would fit quite nicely in the game and (hopefully) should not be too difficult to implement. A few aspects can be considered:
1) We know we have 7 ability spaces. Should a player have a choice on how many are fixed or variable or should it be hard locked in a certain proportion. In this last case, it is convenient to assume that there should be at least 2 abilities fixed and 2 variable in order to allow 2-skill-combinations and give appropriate variability.
2) Should the player be allowed to disable some abilities from being randomly selected? Personally, I have never used 'Flee' (Pirate) or 'Scattergun' (Bounty Hunter) or 'Focus Beam' (Fleet Officer) abilities, but they are obligatory for some classes. It sometimes seems a waste to roll them if we don't use them. Of course, a player should not have a possibility to choose which new (basic) abilities are rolled. Only normal abilities.
If it is not possible to arrange something like above, maybe a solution would be to limit appearance of some abilities to just 1 or work out a proportion of basic / non-basic to be rolled. Something to make combos like ship capture more viable.
Kind Regards,
Solon
