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Considerations for ESO.
Salkand
✭✭
This is long, please forgive me. And please forgive any ignorance I express.
Long ago, when I was younger (For I can't time travel, and therefor could not have been older) I witnessed a trailer for a game that promised mass diversity. This game promised that you could choose your own path, good or evil. That you could choose weapons, armor, or spells. I was excited for this game. I bought this game the day it came out, and I played it and finished it in a few hours. Then, I played it again. It was on this second play through that I came to realize that there really was no diversity. That it did not matter what you chose to do, the game was pretty much the same. That game was fable, and through two sequels, that game has still failed to live up to its promise.
Now, today we have Elder Scrolls Online. A game that meets this promise of complete choice and diversity a lot better than fable ever did. In this game we can chose different armor weights, styles, weapons. We also have access to various skill lines which force us to chose how we want to play and fight. I love the fact that we can only hotkey 5 skills, plus our ultimate. This means that two players of the same race, class, and skills, may very well play very differently. However, when you see a player with a similar build, you often see them using the same attacks and skills.
I would like to propose a few ideas, to which I shall try to keep as vague as possible. All details such as hard numbers, and statistics, etc. Are something the developers can determine on their own. They understand how to balance their game a lot better than I do. So I will not attempt to be critical in number information.
The first thing I would like to address is the animation for fighting. I have studied a traditional Okinawan Martial Art for five years now. Using only my bare hands, I could easily defeat any of our "avatars" in physical combat (Considering some of our avatars are theoretically masters of their chosen weapon). The way they utilize their weapons is in a manner that even a novice might find laughable. So, the first thing I would like to suggest is that as we level up a specific skill (In this example we shall say 2 handed), the animation changes (slowly until lv 50) to a more practical fighting style.
Personally, I would also like to see a realistic change in the numbers too. A lv 50 two-handed user fighting a lv 1 two-handed user (With all stats the exact same) should always win. He should be faster, stronger or whatever. HOWEVER, I believe that just changing the animation and nothing else would add more depth to the feeling of the game (And depth is never a bad thing).
The second thing I would like to address, for consideration. Is the difference between the weapon choices. Right now there really is no difference other than what skills you can unlock, what your avatar looks like, and maybe weapon damage. If you look at most duel wielders, you'll notice that they mainly use their off hand weapon for blocks and manipulations, and they strike with their main hand weapon most of the time (Excluding if you were ambidextrous). A shield user doesn't just block when it suits him, and attacks separately. Realistically he will do both at the same time (Not suggesting that) and will often use his shield to attack as well.
With that in mind, I think it would be awesome if lets say a duel wielder had an X% chance to manipulate their opponents weapon out of the way (avoiding damage), and strike simultaneously. A shield user would have an X% chance to block an incoming attack with their shield, and follow up with their normal attack. A two-handed user may have an X% chance to break through another person's defenses (I'm talking PVE and PVP here). As you level up and (Using the above idea) your animation changes, that X% chance might increase as well (Giving another difference between a lv 1 and lv 50 user).
I know that I have not addressed each weapon, such as bows, staffs, etc. All of these ideas apply to each weapon. But as I said in the beginning, I am just trying to suggest the general idea. All the actual hard information and numbers must come from a developer who will try to balance everything out.
The third thing that I wish to address for consideration. As I mentioned earlier; it is very cool that there are so many different branches of skills. However, you often see the same skills used over and over again. I think it would be awesome if there were then advanced skills. This time I shall use sword and shield as my example.
A player gets to lv 50 with sword and shield. Now 3 new skill branches open up (available only at lv 50 with sword and shield). These 3 branches represent 3 different fighting forms. For the sake of arguing lets say "knight," "Barbaric," and, soldier (Not suggesting those, just using them for the idea). I personally think it would be best if you could only chose 1, and the others were not available to you unless you respect your character, but again, developer choice.
Lets say that you chose Knight. Just like with basic sword and shield, your fighting style animation progresses to reflect that fighting style from knight lv 1, to knight lv 50. Also, instead of new skill sets. Your current skill sets might morph to the knight skill sets once you level them up (Or new skill sets completely, it can go either way). Each style though brings something different. One might be about power and aggression (barbaric), one might be about speed and fluidity (Knight), and one might be the go between and focus on both, but to a lesser extent on each (soldier).
For two-handed it could be berserker in place of barbaric, samurai in place of knight, and . . . soldier for soldier I don't know. Assuming I somehow beat the odds and get a developer to like these ideas. I am sure they will come up with official names and stuff so, for now the names themselves do not matter.
The fourth thing I would like to bring up for consideration is weapons. It would be awesome, in my opinion, if there were also weapons only available to certain classes. So (and now I shall use duel wield as my example (sorry staff users, staffs are harder to example for )). You get to lv 50 as a duel wielder, and you chose the speed and fluidity class (Whatever the hell it is called). Certain weapons become available to you, that are ONLY available for that class. Examples, the Kama (They are sickles, I use them in Karate). The sai (Another traditional okinawan weapon). The soldier class might have the twin hooks (I love the twin hooks), the barbarian class might have, whatever.
Bows might have long bows, compact bows, the Yumi (Japanese bow). There are a limitless number of weapons for each class that can be chosen.
Also, I have heard a million times that people want spears. I personally want the Naginata. I love the Naginata, and would love whatever developer puts that in play. And for example the naginata could be a cross breed weapon. Maybe you have to get lv 50 with 2 handed (Its a 2 handed weapon) and lv 50 with spear. Then you can learn weapons like the naginata, which is a cross breed weapon. This also brings forth the idea of crossover skills. A duel wielder who also goes shield and sword. maybe their advanced skill sets allow them to mix their shield and sword and fight/attack with the shield. This could also apply to other armor styles and things.
The fifth (I am so sorry) thing that I would like to bring up for consideration is instruments. We need emotes for the Banjo (Theres one in the undaunted camp), the Harp, and other instruments. Also, synergy with emotes. have you ever emoted the drum and lute. It kinda goes together until you add the flute, which doesn't mesh. It would be neat-o if when one person plays the lute, and another plays the flute, and one plays the drum, and the harp, and the banjo, and the whatever hell else there is. They sync'd up and played a universal song. I don't know what the server is capable of, so some of these may have to be side-lined for when it becomes possible. Remember, more depth to a game is never a bad thing. It is little inconsequential things like fighting animation, emotes, and stuff that helps to draw people into the ESO world.
Lastly (I am so so sorry). More choices in tabard logo. I am in a guild that requires a tea cup logo, yet there is none. I googled the logos and there is actually a very limited number of symbols to be used. These, and things like these (colors, shape of things etc), should constantly be added. Remember, depth is always a good thing. You can never have too much depth, unless you are on a boat and it is sinking.
I thank you all for reading. I thank you for your patience with me and my long winded post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope more a developer reads it and likes all the ideas and starts implementing them. But please, be gentle.
Edited by Salkand on 8 January 2015 05:20 Long ago, when I was younger (For I can't time travel, and therefor could not have been older) I witnessed a trailer for a game that promised mass diversity. This game promised that you could choose your own path, good or evil. That you could choose weapons, armor, or spells. I was excited for this game. I bought this game the day it came out, and I played it and finished it in a few hours. Then, I played it again. It was on this second play through that I came to realize that there really was no diversity. That it did not matter what you chose to do, the game was pretty much the same. That game was fable, and through two sequels, that game has still failed to live up to its promise.
Now, today we have Elder Scrolls Online. A game that meets this promise of complete choice and diversity a lot better than fable ever did. In this game we can chose different armor weights, styles, weapons. We also have access to various skill lines which force us to chose how we want to play and fight. I love the fact that we can only hotkey 5 skills, plus our ultimate. This means that two players of the same race, class, and skills, may very well play very differently. However, when you see a player with a similar build, you often see them using the same attacks and skills.
I would like to propose a few ideas, to which I shall try to keep as vague as possible. All details such as hard numbers, and statistics, etc. Are something the developers can determine on their own. They understand how to balance their game a lot better than I do. So I will not attempt to be critical in number information.
The first thing I would like to address is the animation for fighting. I have studied a traditional Okinawan Martial Art for five years now. Using only my bare hands, I could easily defeat any of our "avatars" in physical combat (Considering some of our avatars are theoretically masters of their chosen weapon). The way they utilize their weapons is in a manner that even a novice might find laughable. So, the first thing I would like to suggest is that as we level up a specific skill (In this example we shall say 2 handed), the animation changes (slowly until lv 50) to a more practical fighting style.
Personally, I would also like to see a realistic change in the numbers too. A lv 50 two-handed user fighting a lv 1 two-handed user (With all stats the exact same) should always win. He should be faster, stronger or whatever. HOWEVER, I believe that just changing the animation and nothing else would add more depth to the feeling of the game (And depth is never a bad thing).
The second thing I would like to address, for consideration. Is the difference between the weapon choices. Right now there really is no difference other than what skills you can unlock, what your avatar looks like, and maybe weapon damage. If you look at most duel wielders, you'll notice that they mainly use their off hand weapon for blocks and manipulations, and they strike with their main hand weapon most of the time (Excluding if you were ambidextrous). A shield user doesn't just block when it suits him, and attacks separately. Realistically he will do both at the same time (Not suggesting that) and will often use his shield to attack as well.
With that in mind, I think it would be awesome if lets say a duel wielder had an X% chance to manipulate their opponents weapon out of the way (avoiding damage), and strike simultaneously. A shield user would have an X% chance to block an incoming attack with their shield, and follow up with their normal attack. A two-handed user may have an X% chance to break through another person's defenses (I'm talking PVE and PVP here). As you level up and (Using the above idea) your animation changes, that X% chance might increase as well (Giving another difference between a lv 1 and lv 50 user).
I know that I have not addressed each weapon, such as bows, staffs, etc. All of these ideas apply to each weapon. But as I said in the beginning, I am just trying to suggest the general idea. All the actual hard information and numbers must come from a developer who will try to balance everything out.
The third thing that I wish to address for consideration. As I mentioned earlier; it is very cool that there are so many different branches of skills. However, you often see the same skills used over and over again. I think it would be awesome if there were then advanced skills. This time I shall use sword and shield as my example.
A player gets to lv 50 with sword and shield. Now 3 new skill branches open up (available only at lv 50 with sword and shield). These 3 branches represent 3 different fighting forms. For the sake of arguing lets say "knight," "Barbaric," and, soldier (Not suggesting those, just using them for the idea). I personally think it would be best if you could only chose 1, and the others were not available to you unless you respect your character, but again, developer choice.
Lets say that you chose Knight. Just like with basic sword and shield, your fighting style animation progresses to reflect that fighting style from knight lv 1, to knight lv 50. Also, instead of new skill sets. Your current skill sets might morph to the knight skill sets once you level them up (Or new skill sets completely, it can go either way). Each style though brings something different. One might be about power and aggression (barbaric), one might be about speed and fluidity (Knight), and one might be the go between and focus on both, but to a lesser extent on each (soldier).
For two-handed it could be berserker in place of barbaric, samurai in place of knight, and . . . soldier for soldier I don't know. Assuming I somehow beat the odds and get a developer to like these ideas. I am sure they will come up with official names and stuff so, for now the names themselves do not matter.
The fourth thing I would like to bring up for consideration is weapons. It would be awesome, in my opinion, if there were also weapons only available to certain classes. So (and now I shall use duel wield as my example (sorry staff users, staffs are harder to example for )). You get to lv 50 as a duel wielder, and you chose the speed and fluidity class (Whatever the hell it is called). Certain weapons become available to you, that are ONLY available for that class. Examples, the Kama (They are sickles, I use them in Karate). The sai (Another traditional okinawan weapon). The soldier class might have the twin hooks (I love the twin hooks), the barbarian class might have, whatever.
Bows might have long bows, compact bows, the Yumi (Japanese bow). There are a limitless number of weapons for each class that can be chosen.
Also, I have heard a million times that people want spears. I personally want the Naginata. I love the Naginata, and would love whatever developer puts that in play. And for example the naginata could be a cross breed weapon. Maybe you have to get lv 50 with 2 handed (Its a 2 handed weapon) and lv 50 with spear. Then you can learn weapons like the naginata, which is a cross breed weapon. This also brings forth the idea of crossover skills. A duel wielder who also goes shield and sword. maybe their advanced skill sets allow them to mix their shield and sword and fight/attack with the shield. This could also apply to other armor styles and things.
The fifth (I am so sorry) thing that I would like to bring up for consideration is instruments. We need emotes for the Banjo (Theres one in the undaunted camp), the Harp, and other instruments. Also, synergy with emotes. have you ever emoted the drum and lute. It kinda goes together until you add the flute, which doesn't mesh. It would be neat-o if when one person plays the lute, and another plays the flute, and one plays the drum, and the harp, and the banjo, and the whatever hell else there is. They sync'd up and played a universal song. I don't know what the server is capable of, so some of these may have to be side-lined for when it becomes possible. Remember, more depth to a game is never a bad thing. It is little inconsequential things like fighting animation, emotes, and stuff that helps to draw people into the ESO world.
Lastly (I am so so sorry). More choices in tabard logo. I am in a guild that requires a tea cup logo, yet there is none. I googled the logos and there is actually a very limited number of symbols to be used. These, and things like these (colors, shape of things etc), should constantly be added. Remember, depth is always a good thing. You can never have too much depth, unless you are on a boat and it is sinking.
I thank you all for reading. I thank you for your patience with me and my long winded post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope more a developer reads it and likes all the ideas and starts implementing them. But please, be gentle.
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