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Block mechanics... Is this really intended?
shredmonkey
Posts: 60 Arc User
Ok, i generally understand how block mechanics work. There's a tell. Then the check for blocking the knock or hold comes slightly earlier than the check for the damage. I get it. I can play with decent success as is, so this isn't meant to be a complaint thread.
My question is why does it work this way? Why can't there be one check at the end if the tell like every player would naturally assume is the case upon logging in the first time?
It smells like an unintended bug that just never got fixed. The veteran players just adapted to while newer players just think "that's BS, I blocked that! Why use block if it doesn't work?"
I think fixing this bug/feature so the mechanics work the way people expect, along with adding a lot more tells so people can better take advantage of this mechanic, would make the game a lot more user friendly and fun.
From a business perpective, the tell/block mechanic itself is a differenciator against much of your competition. Most games don't have the tell/block mechanic and it is a good concept that adds to the combat expirience. It would be, good for the game to get this mechanic working well and use it more frequently as a selling point potential customers.
My question is why does it work this way? Why can't there be one check at the end if the tell like every player would naturally assume is the case upon logging in the first time?
It smells like an unintended bug that just never got fixed. The veteran players just adapted to while newer players just think "that's BS, I blocked that! Why use block if it doesn't work?"
I think fixing this bug/feature so the mechanics work the way people expect, along with adding a lot more tells so people can better take advantage of this mechanic, would make the game a lot more user friendly and fun.
From a business perpective, the tell/block mechanic itself is a differenciator against much of your competition. Most games don't have the tell/block mechanic and it is a good concept that adds to the combat expirience. It would be, good for the game to get this mechanic working well and use it more frequently as a selling point potential customers.
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Blocks are powers, and have activation times.
I must say, however, I have found myself explaining this to newer players many times. It always feels like I am apologizing, or explaining how to deal with a bug. The timing is a bit weird, and not quite what a new player would expect.
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Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
Maybe it'd be possible to just have different colored tells/wireframes for the checks for secondary effects - such as knocks, holds, etc....so that the early check is differentiated and if the newer player misses that then they understand what happened and can improve their timing instead of being bewildered.
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1: It's not very conducive to high level play if you have internet that isn't... Well, great. I have to pick and choose cosmic fights based on the block timing, because it's not a reflex thing. It's that the cues and check happen too quickly, when graphically they really don't seem to play out like they should.
2: New player retention is kinda hard when such a basic mechanic has hidden checks or rules that need to be explained or felt out. New players won't see "there's a skill there you gotta learn", all they'll see is "block in the game is buggy, wtf" and it can be off putting.
And I'm not even saying "they should lengthen the block times" because no, they're fine. But expectation vs reality is kinda important. If I'm blocking when the boom hits, I'm blocking. This is the kinda simple **** (that's probably hard to fix) which is pretty off-putting for a lot of people. You literally get your block as the very first thing, it should probably work as advertised.
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Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
Silverspar on PRIMUS
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Silverspar on PRIMUS
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There is nothing to block during the DPS check so I would advise to just be smart, be a team player, survive between checks and save your massively awesome DPS for when it actually matters.
Silverspar on PRIMUS
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1.5 seconds may be "plenty" of time, but just a few hundred ms of latency can still be a significant impact on game play. Anyone can see it for themselves in an action game with world wide server locations in less than an hour of playing.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
The post I meant to respond to specifically said they block the CC and eat the damage.
I take this quote from a review that I agree with.
"customisation is so linear; everyone is after the optimal dps:survivability ratio with 0 reliance on other players = autonomous gameplay... Players don't need each other anymore... which in my opinion is a bad thing."
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
There is no game where blocking consists on just holding down a key and all your problems dissapear. Or if there was, it died long ago for being so boring.
Games either use a Block/Perfect Block mechanic (fighting games like Street Fighter), a stamina bar mechanic (like Elder Scroll franchise or MMO, or Dark Souls), or both (like TERA, where holding block drains your stamina, but timing a perfect block completely refills it or gives access to powerful comboes)
CO falls in the first category with a variant: you can hold down block early till the end of the wireframe/tell and nullify all possible bad effects, or you can learn the timings and just avoid all harmful effects by tapping block at the right time.
Yeah, newbies will have a hard time adjusting to it and they won't be able to make it the first time, but only through practice can you achieve this:
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I agree there should be a learning curve for new players to learn and master the strategies and counter strategies of each opponent. But i find it hard to believe that it was the designer's intent to have the damage check for eido geysers so far ahead of the eruption animation...or for the ape meteor's knockback check be so far ahead of the impact animation.
My issues stem from poor internet connection causing me to miss the first block check 90% of the time unless I was already blocking before the tell popped up or managed to hit block at the exact moment the tell popped up. Missing the start of the tell by even a fraction of a second tends to result in my block not registering until after the first check. With a lot of Knockback attacks from bosses this causes me to block their damage but still get sent flying across the room... a lot... I've died to Grond's knockback in TA several times due to a combination of this and his tell not being visible on my screen half the time... And if I even attempt to "tap block" like some vets then I will fail to even be considered blocking at all. This is especially frustrating on characters who utilize a lingering block advantage like Force Sheath, as I will often try to tap block to refresh or apply the linger and accomplish nothing. I'll see the linger pop up on my end for a moment, but the instant I move on to attack or anything it drops off instantly, unless I sit there and hold block for a bit.
So even though my issue is caused by my internet connection, the root of the problem is still the timing of the checks... the first check almost always occurs before the server can register that I'm even blocking.
But sure. That 1, just that 1 example disproves my whole argument.
Ok.
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Another way to look at it is that blocking is varied and that each attack requires some learning on the player's part to block perfectly. It would actually be a lot less interesting if blocking actually was literally just "hold the button while the shape is on the screen"... that kinda turns it into a shape learning program for young children. With all these quirks it makes the system more interesting and gives us a bit higher of a skill ceiling - the reason that this variety is okay is because it's consistent, you can in fact learn how to do it consistently.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
That said, I always figured that having activation times on everything was meant as a server stability measure since this game doesn't utilize global cooldowns. A true instant ability with no cooldown could theoretically be used to transmit thousands of activation requests per second, and I don't need to say why that's bad.
Nah. Learning to deal with proper variations in the gameplay is not the same as adapting to inconsistency in application. If you play cricket you expect to face bowlers who can vary the speed, bounce, direction and movement of the ball; but it's unreasonable to expect the batsman to cope with bowlers occasionally using a different ball or a bowling machine, or to play in the rain or snow (even if it would be a test of skill to do so).
I know some uncontrollable variables will make blocking impossible regardless of what Cryptic does... but they can lessen the annoyance of them most of the time by reworking the block system to actually work the way people expect it to in the first place.
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
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Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
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My characters
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
I would like to see proper indications of the block functionality. I gave up trying to get block to work because it only made situations worse (allowed enemy to close distance and didn't stop knock-downs or other status effects) and it never seemed to make a helpful difference in damage taken.
How is this even an argument?