AoE Placement

[Shougun]

I could necro a thread but w.e


If you dont know what an AoE marker is, its this thing (but not this ugly... lol):

Now I hope to tell you why ARR will be better off with them, rather then without.

First, it does tell you where its going to hit and you probably have or seen an argument like "its too easy".

But that argument isnt fully thought through. Keep this in mind as we go: games are designed with what the devs know you have at your finger tips - this is why some people are against addons, is because it let players play better so devs made harder gameplay but if you didnt use the addon now its unreasonably balanced.

(Except dont use that argument here because I'm saying dev supplied :P)

Ok with aoe markers you can predict enemy location by placing the aoe down in front of you and calculating the time it will take for the enemy to get to you or to whatever location (adding strategy).

Also this means that faster enemy monsters can get out of your aoe zone because you didnt aim right.

You may be more effective and hit multiple monsters this way as well.

Now that the dev knows you can do these strategic actions they will (or should) design content with that expectation in mind. So "its easy" is an inaccurate assertion unless you doubt Yoshida's competence..


The problems I do see is that some people dont like high action combat (because yes "auto lock Firaballs" is the easy stuff, not self targeting), or that the PS3 controller may be a pain to target with. Anyone that has used a marker targeting system on the PS3 speak up . FPS dont count because thats a reticle, need literal "marker" placement.

A thought for making it possible for ps3 users and or people who dont want to aim is that you can cast AoE spells on targets, where it would have a soft lock cursor if you mouse close to the monster or tab onto it will then lock on to the monster and change the aoe marker design to show that its a locked aoe - this means whever that target goes your aoe will pop off. In this way it is a little easier but the most effective combatant would mix it up between these two systems, meaning its still more difficult then before (also this takes away the option of making some spells AoE autolocks like some homing Fire ball but then making others aoe non lock like a giant ice comet).

I hate to add the "everyone is doing it" reason, but .. its true - SE combat system is behind and unless they plan on making it more of a social MMORPG then they should probably beef their combat flexibility and potential.


TL;DR - markers add higher accuracy and allow you to take actions in advance due to predictions, greater variance in abilities*, and it also allows monsters more freedom in their behaviors (extra room for AI).


*If someone could reply about the PS3, that'd help.. lol If you have to add markerplacement with auto target option then the benefit of ability variance goes down - still have better accuracy, being able to predict movements and allowing monsters more freedom though.