242 replies to this topic

[velourfog]

Resources are not an interesting or fun game design.  Running out of mana means you're out of the fight, and managing it ends up being your primary focus rather than the encounter itself.  All it does is force you to take a break to replenish it while leveling and In PvP, and limit your potential in PvE.

Cooldowns, however, are a great way to play and actually serve the same purpose as a resourse.  Rather than deciding if you should use a spell or not because you don't want to waste the mana, you must decide if it's the right time to use a cooldown or if you'll need it later.  This means the only time you'll be unable to do something at a crucial moment is because you used an ability at the wrong time, not because you failed to properly micro manage your profession for 10 minutes.

Besides, mana only matters for healers.  With no healers in GW2, there is no reason to hinder an elementalist with mana while allowing a thief to endlessly dps with melee attacks.

Edited by velourfog, 21 May 2012 - 06:35 AM.

[Goldenrice]

spamming works until you play a real team.  Then you'll start crying about how overpowered buffs and dmg reductions are.

just wait.  Tournaments are coming.....

And people think tera's combat is better and less spammy? wat in the........

Edited by Goldenrice, 21 May 2012 - 07:08 AM.

[Bodyshot Hero]

in any case, if you do think that GW2 combat is entirely spamming and mashing buttons whenever, that's not the fault of the devs in not implementing a resource system. I thought that the combat was very complex and situational, and GW1 was the only MMO i seriously played.

As one example, i spent about 20 minutes trying to fight through a tunnel filled with dredge in the 15-25 norn area, while another event was going on that spawned more dredge. The dredge were all level 23-24 and i was level 21, they still weren't the hardest enemies on their own (certainly not spam-worthy) but when i had no choice but to aggro 2 or more of them at a time, combat got a bit sticky. The dredge play the bongo drums, which i'm not sure, but i think that it makes them hit harder, and being a squishy elementalist, i knew i would be in trouble if i got caught. when fighting 2-3 dredge at a time, i would have been toast if i misused shockwave, gust, unsteady ground, frozen ground or burning retreat, i would be caught and destroyed. I had one other player with me, but he had his hands full as well.

Point is, any solo or small group play after the beginning zones becomes very complex and very reaction oriented. You can't simply turn off your brain and go on a typical MMO grind, in fact, i found it difficult to even find a rotation with the 4 atunements and 4 utilities i was managing. Ground targeting also adds a layer of depth, considering that tossing down a geyser by your enemy, and an ice spike on yourself can seriously put you in danger in any semi-difficult content.

The only MMO i've played with a resource system was Aion which i played for ~3 months before leaving due to boredom. The only thing that changed was the fact that you were forced to sit down between battles or waste your stock of precious potions. Neither one led to an increase in intensity, quite the contrary in fact.