I Was Mistaken About Global Cool Down
(Please note: I'm not saying it's bad. It's very clearly a tremendously huge change, though. But that's all it is. I'm already adjusting to different expectations in the game.)
(Another pre-note: This is a separate thread, because I think these are different points and they lead to specific or general suggestions that don't involve removing GCD.)
These are the three mistakes I made:
- I had assumed, with a little calculation, that it wouldn't make much difference in overall skill output
- At worst, I thought the game would be a little harder
- I had assumed Spacetime would re-balance the game to adjust for the changes
I was wrong on all points.
To the first point: For the enchantress, the math showed that over a given 30 second period, I should be able to trigger the same number of spells. As such, that meant the only real change was in the first 5-10 seconds.
What I failed to realize is that, with the exception of the one or two bosses and one or two mini bosses in each level, you're _always_ in that first 5-10 seconds of the calculation.
What does this mean? It means that where I could do AO3:CtK in about 4-4.5 minutes solo it now takes about 6-7 minutes in a group of four 50-somethings. I used to be able to fit a single ultra-fast session into a coffee break or some other quick location. That's impossible now, in most cases. This is unfortunate, as one of the best attributes of the game was the mobile oriented ultra-fast gaming sessions that could actually be productive.
The other impact is that it's really swung the damage calculations in favor of weapons instead of overall skill damage. Making sure your weapon is firing is now more critical than ever.
What's the solution to this? Alternate areas that are faster to clear with GCD for shorter, but still full, sessions. Besides, new alternate areas would be nice anyway for a change of scenery.
Another solution would be fewer mob groups that are larger than the AOE max target (5), more AOE effects, and longer lasting effects. Or just fewer, but stronger and more rewarding mobs. Fast mob clearing is a thing of the past, so might as well make it easier to settle in on bigger, longer fights where the GCD hasn't actually had many effects (with the exception that you can't rush-nuke bosses, even as a group, anymore).
Since all current areas were designed to balance without GCD, new areas will be balanced differently for time, difficulty, and so on.
On the second point:
I figured it would take more skill to properly time the button pushing. Turns out, it actually takes less skill. The timing actually comes out such that I end up using fewer skills and am just sitting there waiting for the GCD timer to clear on the next one so I can hit it as soon as possible.
And with the overall speed reduction of clearing areas, there's more time to sit around. This has actually made the game easier. Totally unexpected.
What's the solution to this? None needed, really.
And the extra use of health pots seems to be balanced by the lowered use of mana pots.
On the third point:
STS actually does not seem to have done any balancing. Since everything takes longer, shouldn't the elixirs and other effects now last longer? In CtK, for instance, most folks would use the XP elixirs because they'd last almost exactly an entire run (or an entire run if a part was fast with the keeper). Now they don't (alright, it's one day in, but it's a striking difference already).
Not only does this mean the XP per "hour" calculations are thrown off because the game is slower, it means the XP per "run" calculations are thrown off as well, because elixirs don't last an entire run. Alternately, if you re-elixir, the cost of the runs increases dramatically.
The balance of this is now way off. My back of the head calculations show that leveling rate has nearly halved. There are a couple of ways STS could balance this:
1. decrease xp to level so it takes a similar amount of time
2. increase elixir time
Speaking of time outs, that's the other balance that's thrown way out of whack now:
Because skills are so much slower, the effects of buffs and debuffs don't apply to nearly as many attacks. This means the buffs and debuffs have, effectively, become substantially weaker in overall effectiveness. So much so that some of the really short effects (2-3 second ones) are not even worthwhile anymore.
The solution to this?
Simply: increase the length of the effects proportionally to the decreased rate of skills due to GCD.
Overall, though, I do not think GCD is as bad as most are making it out to be. It is different and is taking some time to adjust to. It also changes the type of game PL is. The speed change makes it almost feel like a turn-based game, though I know it wouldn't feel that way if this had been there the whole time.
And finally...
My one biggest complaint about GCD, though, is simply the UI: the constant animation of all of the skill buttons is nauseating. Ok, maybe not as virtually nauseating as the farts (please give a block option for that so we can individually turn it off). However, it's visually tiring and distracting, like a blinking tag on a web page. Please figure out a new visual indicator, or place the skills into a short queue that triggers every GCD interval instead of the fast animations.
Originally Posted by Conradin
Bookmarks