Everquest had swimming back in 1999. Swimming is the first thing on the chopping block in MMOs these days. The problem is CEOs no longer have a long term greed plan now the only thing that matters is short term greed. So immersion items are the first thing out the door.
I spend all day reading every thread and letting people know this is BETA.
NWN is a great game, but it's pretty stripped down. The art budget only supported a very few skins for each class, the voice acting is poor and the class selection is extremely limited. 'No swimming' is part of the same issue.
Happily, the combat mechanics are excellent. If they can add content at a reasonable pace, this has the potential to be really good.
Everquest had swimming back in 1999. Swimming is the first thing on the chopping block in MMOs these days. The problem is CEOs no longer have a long term greed plan now the only thing that matters is short term greed. So immersion items are the first thing out the door.
My first was WoW since I didn't even have a PC back then.
Looks like just another corporate greed game from 2012, the year of gaming devolution.
Firstly they'd need a reason for characters to swim. An underwater zone or enough swimmable areas in the overworld to make it worthwhile. Because of the style of mapping they went for they can't really do the latter, since it'd be functionally pointless. But they could put in an underwater zone.
So for an underwater zone we'd need.. What? A plot, since all of the zones are plot-centric. We'd need a foe, but that's pretty easy since there are Kua Toa and Sahauguin we could use for some kind of aquatic adventuring. Maybe have a kraken or something be the big zone boss. And an underwater dungeon as well.
They'd also need, of course, the aquatic mechanics up to and including vertical targeting for attacks against enemies floating above and below you. Of course the moment you install those things, ground targeted effects (like the control wizard's Arcane Singularity) wouldn't have a surface to base off of and would stop functioning unless it targeted on an external "Sphere" at it's maximum range in which case it would probably drop underneath the caster, since there's no ground to place it on. Similarly, targetless abilities would be nearly impossible to aim. And you'd have to institute "Down" and "Up" rolls and teleports and dashes and the like which is a lot harder than it sounds, I promise you. Of course this sort of thing would need to be disabled on land to avoid people accidentally teleporting "Down" while still in a red circle and wasting their dodge stamina. So it would be a hell of a lot of game design work for one zone, more or less.
And then you'd have to put it into the game at a level range, either doubling up on areas in one level range or squeezing out another adventuring zone. Maybe instead of laziness or budget costs they simply thought it was too much work for too little reward and chose to put in another overland zone instead of instituting an aquatic zone which wouldn't please as many people as the zones that were implemented.
Stop looking at this game from the view of a contentious player and try to see it from a developmental standpoint. You'll understand things much more clearly.
-Rachel-
Great Weapon Fighter tanks? Who are you kidding? Cleric tanks. They draw -all- the aggro.
I always wondered how those boats got there where the water is less than knee deep.
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thirdeye69Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
I hated swimming. Call me old fashion D&D but to think of a fully plated warrior treading water fighting a sea monster while staying afloat and holding his breath is bad dungeon mastering imo.
I am OK with out swimming. I think it should be outlawed by the UN and the Vatican I despise it so much. Maybe this is a hold over from having my mount despawn from under me in WoW if my horse so much as got a drop of water on it back in the day.
I am playing a sword and board fantasy MMO, not a swimming simulator.
Sorry you guys enjoy it so much and can not in this game but I hear GW2 has great underwater combat. I would swim out of the water faster than a cat in a bathtub and never bothered with it so I can't say.
I always wondered how those boats got there where the water is less than knee deep.
Shallow drafts.
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sasheriaMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 1Arc User
edited May 2013
Swimming would be great BUT do you want "realism" swimming or just have swimming?
"Realism" swimming (I put it in quote for a reason) would be that if a person in heavy armor or carry a lot of stuff (burden for those D&D fan hehe) you won't be swimming or swim very long (more than likely sink and drown)
Swimming would be just like other MMO where you just do swimming motion from point A to B.
Advance swimming would be interesting. NWN currently is not "coded" for 3D combat. The ground targeting would be an issue, but it could easily be solved by making all ground target spell to be "target activation in a sphere format"
I always liked it when swimming was a bit of a pain. Not as fast as land travel and you run out of breath and die if you stay down to long. But, there are classes that can cast breathe under water and walk on water. I like the utility, fun spells.
I liked the underwater combat in GW2, but that's not realistic here. I think some hidden underwater areas that you need a buff or potion or something.
Anyone remember Veksar in EQ1. When I first went there it was a really cool feeling.
"Realism" swimming (I put it in quote for a reason) would be that if a person in heavy armor or carry a lot of stuff (burden for those D&D fan hehe) you won't be swimming or swim very long (more than likely sink and drown)
DDO had that, i think they changed it though, underwater action and breathing items were rare back then also. People in more than robes would take off armor because they would run out of breath way too quickly. It could be annoying, but really reminded me more of D&D.
Side note, am i the only one who saw the graphics option here that said something like "underwater view"? I kept waiting for it to be used, but never came across a point it would be put to use.
I remember those nice quests in Wetlands where you had to swim through water to get the hidden chest at the bottom of a wrecked ship. Also Blackfathom Deeps did it right, small sections of passable water gave fantastic immersion. Like that boss in Maraudon that was sitting in a pool of brilliant water at the bottom of the caverns waterfall.
I laughed at SWToR being a poorly reskinned WoW when I walked into water and it was all knee high, no swimming there either.
You don't need an entire water zone to add swimming.
They have your money now and have built most of the world so nothing of this type will be added to the game because that's what people "expect". Everything in an MMO set in stone during the vanilla release. Bad design preying on people that are happy to lap up mediocrity and not innovate or improve games.
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hipolipolopigusMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero UsersPosts: 0Arc User
They have your money now and have built most of the world so nothing of this type will be added to the game because that's what people "expect". Everything in an MMO set in stone during the vanilla release. Bad design preying on people that are happy to lap up mediocrity and not innovate or improve games.
Actually, they don't have any of my money, nor are they likely to get any. And. mediocrity? For not having swimming? Can we call other games mediocre for not having a foundry?
I hated swimming. Call me old fashion D&D but to think of a fully plated warrior treading water fighting a sea monster while staying afloat and holding his breath is bad dungeon mastering imo.
This and also the long post before it. Remember guys, this is Dungeons and Dragons. This is not World of Warcraft or standard MMO #3. You have to think of it in the point of view of a tabletop. Do you really tell your dm "I'm going to swimming in the water"? You probably don't.
Also as the long post said, you need a reason to swim. We currently have none. I don't know about you, but I'd rather stay on land and be 100% dry than to go swimming for 5 seconds and be completely soaked. (Which grants negative effects in D&D when we played tabletop)
Whenever people start talking about underwater zones, I think of when WoW added Vashj'ir. I HATED that zone.
Judging distance without ground cues is nearly impossible.
All the AOE target areas have to become volumes instead of circles.
You can get attacked from way above or below, outside our field of view.
The map UI is designed to convey 2d information, and doesn't do so well when your objective is directly above or below you.
Any sort of maze-like system becomes 1-dimension harder to navigate.
It's just yucky. So, I'd be very happy to never see an underwater zone again.
This and also the long post before it. Remember guys, this is Dungeons and Dragons. This is not World of Warcraft or standard MMO #3. You have to think of it in the point of view of a tabletop. Do you really tell your dm "I'm going to swimming in the water"? You probably don't.
Also as the long post said, you need a reason to swim. We currently have none. I don't know about you, but I'd rather stay on land and be 100% dry than to go swimming for 5 seconds and be completely soaked. (Which grants negative effects in D&D when we played tabletop)
also in D&D, you need swimming skill (I don't think in 4.0 but I remember earlier edition you need to take it as a skill until 3.5 which now is stat related.
I hated swimming. Call me old fashion D&D but to think of a fully plated warrior treading water fighting a sea monster while staying afloat and holding his breath is bad dungeon mastering imo.
Amen! I fell in one of the water caves last night and died. At first I was pissed, then I was like, "Well I am wearing all this armor and this big @ss sword. Eh. Makes sense!". And moved right along. I guess that's the roll player in me though.
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zpuckiMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 5Arc User
Amen! I fell in one of the water caves last night and died. At first I was pissed, then I was like, "Well I am wearing all this armor and this big @ss sword. Eh. Makes sense!". And moved right along. I guess that's the roll player in me though.
The roleplayer in you should demand for swimming, because that's one sort of activity a person does from time to time. Not in armor but you know, you could take that of while RPing in the water. It's really a basic thing to do. ^^
I don't really care. Swimming in games is usually confusing with the added demension (attacks don't have a 4th axis, they attack to the front, not UP or DOWN) and is usually sluggish (movement reduced to 60%, etc).
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whiteravin308Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 7Arc User
edited May 2013
two words to show that water based dungeons, maps and mechanics suck Water Temple
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astaziaMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 51
edited May 2013
The engine supports swimming and underwater zones. See Champions Online, and Lemuria. It's not a tech thing they they decided not to add, it's something they deliberately "turned off" and stayed away from.
Comments
probably a bit of both
Say what you want about GW2, it had the best swimming in any mmo ever. I agree, more games need this, it adds depth... literally.
Happily, the combat mechanics are excellent. If they can add content at a reasonable pace, this has the potential to be really good.
My first was WoW since I didn't even have a PC back then.
Looks like just another corporate greed game from 2012, the year of gaming devolution.
Firstly they'd need a reason for characters to swim. An underwater zone or enough swimmable areas in the overworld to make it worthwhile. Because of the style of mapping they went for they can't really do the latter, since it'd be functionally pointless. But they could put in an underwater zone.
So for an underwater zone we'd need.. What? A plot, since all of the zones are plot-centric. We'd need a foe, but that's pretty easy since there are Kua Toa and Sahauguin we could use for some kind of aquatic adventuring. Maybe have a kraken or something be the big zone boss. And an underwater dungeon as well.
They'd also need, of course, the aquatic mechanics up to and including vertical targeting for attacks against enemies floating above and below you. Of course the moment you install those things, ground targeted effects (like the control wizard's Arcane Singularity) wouldn't have a surface to base off of and would stop functioning unless it targeted on an external "Sphere" at it's maximum range in which case it would probably drop underneath the caster, since there's no ground to place it on. Similarly, targetless abilities would be nearly impossible to aim. And you'd have to institute "Down" and "Up" rolls and teleports and dashes and the like which is a lot harder than it sounds, I promise you. Of course this sort of thing would need to be disabled on land to avoid people accidentally teleporting "Down" while still in a red circle and wasting their dodge stamina. So it would be a hell of a lot of game design work for one zone, more or less.
And then you'd have to put it into the game at a level range, either doubling up on areas in one level range or squeezing out another adventuring zone. Maybe instead of laziness or budget costs they simply thought it was too much work for too little reward and chose to put in another overland zone instead of instituting an aquatic zone which wouldn't please as many people as the zones that were implemented.
Stop looking at this game from the view of a contentious player and try to see it from a developmental standpoint. You'll understand things much more clearly.
-Rachel-
I am playing a sword and board fantasy MMO, not a swimming simulator.
Sorry you guys enjoy it so much and can not in this game but I hear GW2 has great underwater combat. I would swim out of the water faster than a cat in a bathtub and never bothered with it so I can't say.
Shallow drafts.
"Realism" swimming (I put it in quote for a reason) would be that if a person in heavy armor or carry a lot of stuff (burden for those D&D fan hehe) you won't be swimming or swim very long (more than likely sink and drown)
Swimming would be just like other MMO where you just do swimming motion from point A to B.
Advance swimming would be interesting. NWN currently is not "coded" for 3D combat. The ground targeting would be an issue, but it could easily be solved by making all ground target spell to be "target activation in a sphere format"
Please review my campaign and I'll return the favor.
I liked the underwater combat in GW2, but that's not realistic here. I think some hidden underwater areas that you need a buff or potion or something.
Anyone remember Veksar in EQ1. When I first went there it was a really cool feeling.
DDO had that, i think they changed it though, underwater action and breathing items were rare back then also. People in more than robes would take off armor because they would run out of breath way too quickly. It could be annoying, but really reminded me more of D&D.
Side note, am i the only one who saw the graphics option here that said something like "underwater view"? I kept waiting for it to be used, but never came across a point it would be put to use.
I laughed at SWToR being a poorly reskinned WoW when I walked into water and it was all knee high, no swimming there either.
You don't need an entire water zone to add swimming.
They have your money now and have built most of the world so nothing of this type will be added to the game because that's what people "expect". Everything in an MMO set in stone during the vanilla release. Bad design preying on people that are happy to lap up mediocrity and not innovate or improve games.
Want to know why Neverwinter is so laggy? Check out the "Latency" section in this thread.
Actually, they don't have any of my money, nor are they likely to get any. And. mediocrity? For not having swimming? Can we call other games mediocre for not having a foundry?
This and also the long post before it. Remember guys, this is Dungeons and Dragons. This is not World of Warcraft or standard MMO #3. You have to think of it in the point of view of a tabletop. Do you really tell your dm "I'm going to swimming in the water"? You probably don't.
Also as the long post said, you need a reason to swim. We currently have none. I don't know about you, but I'd rather stay on land and be 100% dry than to go swimming for 5 seconds and be completely soaked. (Which grants negative effects in D&D when we played tabletop)
Judging distance without ground cues is nearly impossible.
All the AOE target areas have to become volumes instead of circles.
You can get attacked from way above or below, outside our field of view.
The map UI is designed to convey 2d information, and doesn't do so well when your objective is directly above or below you.
Any sort of maze-like system becomes 1-dimension harder to navigate.
It's just yucky. So, I'd be very happy to never see an underwater zone again.
Perhaps the MMO industry has recognized how silly it is to let players swim in full plate armor. just sayin!
also in D&D, you need swimming skill (I don't think in 4.0 but I remember earlier edition you need to take it as a skill until 3.5 which now is stat related.
Please review my campaign and I'll return the favor.
Amen! I fell in one of the water caves last night and died. At first I was pissed, then I was like, "Well I am wearing all this armor and this big @ss sword. Eh. Makes sense!". And moved right along. I guess that's the roll player in me though.
The roleplayer in you should demand for swimming, because that's one sort of activity a person does from time to time. Not in armor but you know, you could take that of while RPing in the water. It's really a basic thing to do. ^^