Another Darkside thread: Black Flames are LOVE!

[Ditto]

tl;dr

We would like the Black Flame visual that was displayed in the ability preview trailer back. Fix whatever you seem to think looks unnatural about it.

-Optional-
Use the aura your other half has in the 50 Drk job quest as the needed visual that Walking Dead triggers once it activates. It makes sense Drk story wise, seeing as that other half is suppose to attempt to take control once you're weakened. How more weakened can you get than hitting 1 HP?

So seeing as the other topic was only about having the aura effect obey the visual effect setting, allowing it to be hidden, I guess we need one specifically for the visual effect itself to be changed. Though I'm sure there is another one out there, going to use this one to sum up what people seem to want.

The dev. team is currently looking into an option to hide the visual effects of Darkside.

They've already confirmed the Aura will at least obey the settings and hide with everything else, but that doesn't solve the problem where overall, the aura is just ugly. During the ability preview video, we were shown a red/black flame effect that seemed to be attached to the Drk's legs, and even left a trail of flames when they moved, which quickly vanished afterwards.

https://youtu.be/kbvv0rgrT4k?t=4m54s



If you look at the video linked, that is what the visual effect for Darkside was shown as. As you can notice, the large red aura is still there, but we no longer have the flame effect, which was essentially the focal point of the aura itself. And one of the most visually pleasing looking effects Drk had. The fact that it was suddenly missing was seriously disappointing, but why it was missing, was explained:

Greetings,

We've been getting a lot of questions regarding the black flame aspect of the Darkside effect that was shown off in the job actions video and how it changed for release. The first thing to note is that the video showcased graphics and animations that were still under development. While the black flame animation looked great while standing still, it began to look very unnatural in many other instances, such as moving or while mounted, and so on. As such the dev. team decided to remove this aspect of the effect.

Personally, I don't see why they couldn't have just fixed whatever they thought looked 'unnatural' about it and let it by. I mean lets not act like Warriors Wrath visual doesn't just slide with the character, and even hover when mounted. Nothing looks completely perfect, and lets be honest, a lot of people were looking forward to having that flame effect as part of their character. Be it for RP, or just to look cool, it was one of the largest visually appealing things they've shown with Drk.

Now personally, I just want the black flames we were displayed with. A lot of people have suggested that at the very least we should have the aura that your other half has during the level 50 Drk job quest.

(To see it moving, also sorry whoever originally posted these, cant find your names to give credit)
http://gfycat.com/FlawlessBetterGoosefish



However, I feel this aura would be MUCH better suited as the visual effect Walking Dead so desperately needs. It would also make sense, seeing as your other half is in you, waiting for you to lower your guard in order to take the reins. What lower could your guard possibly go than being at 1 HP? It would make sense to have this aura, along with the red eyes both Frey, and your other half seem to have, to pop up the immediate Walking Dead is triggered.

And not to mention, while the Aura is visually nice, it's very dense. I see a problem with it cluttering visual detail on certain sets of armor, honestly. The black flames were only emitted from your legs, thus the only problem would be clipping on longer coat like armors, however, they're flames, the clipping would look more as if the coat itself is on fire to an extent, which is part of the appeal. It works both ways.

Also judging by this http://strawpoll.me/5000689/r

And the various posts of people both on the official forums, reddit, and just about anywhere else, many are displeased with the change the effect underwent before it was released. Even if the vocal amount is a minority, it's still the bulk of the vocal Dark Knights who are displeased with it, as well as many in the game itself who aren't as vocal. Hell even people who don't play Dark Knight have spoken up against it too.

So my suggestion:

Make the red aura your 'other half' has the effect for Walking Dead. With or without red eyes. That way your other half, which for some reason suddenly stopped existing after the level 50 job quest is seen a little more, and actually feels like it's still there.

And then fix whatever you think is unnatural about the black flame effect Darkside originally had, and add it back to Darkside.

Sure if you have both of them going at once, you'll be a walking lava lamp, but what better way to yell "HEY LOOK AT ME I NEED SOME HEALING HERE" than to turn into a dark ball of death for 10 seconds? (Or less if they never change Walking Dead fading on the HP threshold being healed)

So, could we have some clarification of whether or not this subject even has developer attention?

UPDATE 8/23/2015

So, this topic was finally given some attention again, though it wasn't the kind of attention people seemed to have wanted.

Regarding the dark knight "Darkside" effect from the job video

Originally there was a dark flame-like effect added to the feet of the dark knight while under "Darkside," and while this was a cool effect, unfortunately while testing in various situations, such as while mounted, it looked unnatural and we adjusted it to what it is currently. However, when we add in new actions we may add this effect back in.

As quoted from the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part XXIV update thread. And I believe stated by Yoshi.P himself during the 14 hour livestream. Now while clarity that they at least acknowledge that we want the visual back is nice, the problem still remains that Darkside's aura is just hideous, it's an empty half of what it originally was, and they seem to be dancing around that subject. But why? Well according to the JP side of the forum, the only reason it hasn't been changed is because Yoshi.P likes the way it is now. I don't have a direct quote on that yet, and if I did, it'd be in Japanese anyway, but even they do not agree with this at all. There is a 10 page long thread on the topic of Darksides visual over there as well. Not quite as many as the amount on this side, but the JP community doesn't seem to be as vocal with the forum, and they keep to relevant topics instead of making multiple topics or posts that say the same thing. Now I don't know if this was simply a misunderstanding, or a slip up on Yoshi's part, or what, but I'd currently take this with a grain of salt.

So what now then? Do we give up and hope to see the effect added back, probably on a different skill in the future? I for one really wouldn't like to see the visual wasted on a short, temporary buff skill, or anything other than an actual Aura you can keep going.

Perhaps they should redesign Drk from the ground up, like they should really do anyway, and change the way the job plays? At the moment it's a Gladiator who got rejected from the Paladin club, and decided to instead go the route of darkness. Except it also kind of wants to be a Warrior, so it lugs around a giant sword and higher damage. Yet at it's core, it's still a wannabe Paladin that doesn't stand out in absolutely any way, even when it comes down to doing what SE and team thinks they designed it for; magic tanking. There was so much possibility, yet they instead went the route of creating a homogenized tank that just doesn't have an identity.

Perhaps in that rework, they should look into a core mechanic Drk can work under other than Dark Arts (Which is hard to call a mechanic to begin with). Such as gathering Darkness, and unleashing that Darkness for defense through absorbing, turning heavy hits into DoT effects, blood shielding, etc. I'm sure SE and their team can think of something. What they should of thought of before they even released the class.

Or the easiest solution for the visual problem: Put the black flames back on Darkside, and just make it so the flames disperse themselves when you mount up, and reignite when you dismount.

3.07 PATCH UPDATE 8/25/2015

And so 3.07 did a ninja adjustment to Darkside. Reduced it's opacity so it's hardly noticeable now under certain lighting, and it looks as if it were reduced in size.

Which is good and all, but now our aura is even less of what it use to be once again.