Client Update 1.7.1 is Live!

[Mr.Wallace]

I don't know if someone already had this idea, but how about an anti cooldown pot? You just pay 5 plat and get 5 cooldown free minutes!
I hope this will never happen...

[xyysw]

My wife and I like to thank Devs for bringing GCD into the game. I found myself holding my wife's hands longer than I touch my Galaxy Tab for today after the patch. Thanks Dev! Love you all..

[skavenger216]

Well, having played a bit and getting used to the gcd I just gotta say......... I still hate it. It would not be bad if buffs and debuffs weren't affected by gcd, but as it is now you pretty much have to forget about buffing and debuffing if you want any hope of healing and doing damage. It really needs to be shortened, I think .20 or .15 would be enough to eliminate multitouching without ruining the flow of combat.Not a single run today have I had any fun playing this game. It turns into me doin a few runs, and then logging out because the gcd ruins the fun. Then ill say " screw it, I just wanna play PL", only to log out again after a couple runs.

I think I'm just gonna keep an eye on the forums until I see its been changed or removed, I really don't think I can handle playing PL with the current gcd anymore

[Pumpkin]

I love some aspects of the new patch - new world map looks great, loving the new faces (although, couldn't you get hands to match??).

As for GCD - the actual delay between casts is more like 1 1/2 seconds than half a second. Why? Every time the GCD kicks in it greys out all my spells and 'wipes' my visual memory for which spells are ready to cast. So when the spells pop back again, I have to re-orientate myself as to which spells are active. The effect? My eye is off of the group and permanently fixed to my spell book. The result? Everyone dies and I'm having no fun ;-/

This feels like the death call for magic based classes i.e. the mage. I'm still playing, but I've switched to my lvl 9 duck, Quackle ;-D GCD has a lesser effect on birds/ bears than on mages.

[On7H3MooN]

This update stopped the game from opening/launching on my Droid X... :/

[Pumpkin]

BTW...am now playing with the sound OFF. Am fed up of the constant farting and puking noises.... ^^ And I have a 55 mage so have been playing game for a while just never felt the need to come post before ;-)

[Maynard]

The last thing I'll say at this point. I like much of the update. The improved marking of quests is a plus. The interface or background or whatever looks good. I don't think adjusting GCD is the answer.We've worked hard to achieve higher levels and gain proficiency. GCD negates that IMHO. My vote (if I had one) would be for repeal. The lag and ping spikes still exist. I'd rather deal with that than being a dashboard monitor.I never saw where multitouching was a problem.
I really do hate to complain. I have thoroughly enjoyed playing and thank you devs for a great game.

[Pumpkin]

And, am in game right now....struck by general lack of anyone around, but most of all that the majority of those people are playing bear and birds - hardly any mages and that says it all really!

[skavenger216]

I also wanted to add, I realize a lot of my posts in this thread have been negative, I am not intending to bash the devs if it seems that way, I think they are a hard working group who strive to bring us the best game that they can. It's just that I love PL and I am truly crushed by this radical change to the games mechanics.

[Plasticuproject]

I just think whatever makes this game fastest is best. It's a pick up and play game. I'm not sitting at my desktop, I'm in the car, waiting for the waiter to bring my food, sitting in the doctors office, on the can. THAT'S what this game was designed for, and speed and fluidity are crucial for that. If I wanted to sit at a desk and get involved in long dungeons, and super strategic game play I'd go buy WoW or play RISK.

[cynic]

its impossible to play a mage with the gcd, it takes aways 80% of the fun in this game.

[Lennnn]

its impossible to play a mage with the gcd, it takes aways 80% of the fun in this game.

thats so true! please remove GCD or lose your valuable players :/

[WILLIAM cmy]

GCD is stupid for PvE. Why would the devs want to implement GCD when there were so many opposing voices in the suggestion & improvement thread?

I remembered at one point the devs said they would review the impacts done to the game balance, and may consider adjusting upward the skills' damage, etc. But I see NONE of these were included in this update.

[Pumpkin]

They can adjust all they like - reducing GCD down-time, adjusting skills, tweaking mob damage....but if you wipe my spellbook clean even for a tenth of a second, I still have to re-learn what's up and what isn't causing a much longer delay in my casting - and TBH the constant strobing grey/colour grey/colour is still an issue as it's visually very distracting.

I am positive this is an improvement for PvP. But I loathe PvP and am only here for the PvE and can only see this as detrimental.

[Lennnn]

you should also bring back the links or world map when u first entered PL. and the store!

[kopi]

Tried login play for abt an hour... I cant take it... My eyes are closing on me, got soooo boring. And i have 8 chars 5 are mages haha, i am done for.

Just wondering, what is the total population playing pvp? More than 50%? or isit PL got too many hardcore players who find the game toooo easy? Lag is still there, my service provider fault. Past frame lag with mobs pulling in stronghold, it goes slow motion, but i am ok with that.

Guess i login and stand in town enjoy scenery :)

[Nahara]

The GCD has DEFINITELY made me put my phone DOWN. I've been sick for three weeks and today I pick up my phone, play for 5 minutes, put it down with a deep sigh. Love the look HATE THE GCD!! I JUST got good at AOE type moves...now everyone dies because I can't stop watching my spell area despite respec'ing and rearranging my spells to keep "what I've already done" in order.

[TEPTEP]

I'm playing PL for 7-8 months now (from time to time), but this is my third visit to the forums... normally i wouldn't be here.
Here's the reason i came here: I SERIOUSLY DONT LIKE two things in yesterdays update.

1. World Map and Store buttons removed from the welcome screen
I was using those to quickly join games/check on friends right from the welcome screen.

2. Global Ability Cool-down
Before yesterdays update i could beat Bandit Boys Hideout on my own.
Yesterday i got killed four or five times there.. on one single run.. with four "super-awesome gear" 55's around me.
I need 2-4 abilities at the same time to successfully kill a group of enemies in the Sewers..
I'm slow and useless without them.. it makes me feel bad and wanna leave the game.

Hope someone notices this message,
cause these two things make me hate and wanna quit PL (i'm no longer having fun... so why stay?)


And btw, whats that small shield people keep asking about?
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/636/img0249wu.jpg

[Skyler84]

Global cooldown in pve is not good. Very bad indeed. Trust me, death counts will go up in maps like catacomb. But pvp is balanced with global cooldown though i am not a pvp fan. I ever heard or maybe seen that they say global cooldown will reduce possibilities of lag spike in game. Seemingly, it does not. So i guess global cooldown needs to be removed from pve and can be detain in pvp. Thanks to this update of global cooldown, most of my friends in my list are offline which usually they woild be on at this time.

[Slush]

how about gcd is removed, but multi touch on tablets is disabled. or maybe a miniscule cooldown to ensure no multi touch. maybe 0.075 of a second
EDIT: on a side note, i dont remember this much reaction since...well never really..12,000 views and counting

[suomaf]

deleted ... moved the post over to general

[Zux]

I like what's happened, alot of people are complaining but if u give it time u get used to it you'll find that 0.5 seconds cooldown isn't too bad, as for the other stuff- new faces, revamped town etc. I like it all, great update guys :)

[Signp]

Unlike the GCD.The skills were mostly dimmed, n have to tap button many times to make sure they are working.The mobs appear to be able to spam their skills rather than us. Can you impose for PvP and not to PvE?

Try dying on top of a fire trap, revive using platinum and die again, u like it?

[Plasticuproject]

Sorry STS, but until the cool down is shortened I will be giving this a one star rating in the Android Market, possibly taking a break/not buying plat and not recommending this app. Please fix this soon.

[kopi]

Unlike the GCD.The skills were mostly dimmed, n have to tap button many times to make sure they are working.The mobs appear to be able to spam their skills rather than us. Can you impose for PvP and not to PvE?

Try dying on top of a fire trap, revive using platinum and die again, u like it?

Wow bro, u rich rich? Maybe buy me coffee la haha

[Aquiana]

I have been told by a lot of players that i have known for a while that they will quite because of the GCD

[markus]

I've already put my 2cents in but why not put another 2cents. As I said b4 I like gcd in pvp. However if it is here to stay for pve then several or all these things need to be brought in game.
Dmg increase
Gcd time cut
Mob hp cut
Mob dmg cut
Buffs and debuffs off gcd
Elixers and buffs lasting longer(everything in general will need revamped for longer play sessions imo)
Money drop increase
Pink drop rate increased
Bosses nerfed or changed to some extnt
New way to link skillz for combos
Or remove gcd.......


In pvp I noticed I didn't kill things very well but I can see it as positve for pvp just needs tweaking,

[Inching]

it sucks for mages who needs to spam spells .... i'm missing combos because of this cool down and i cant keep spamming heal as when i press its cooling down and either my team or myself die.....

it really sucks for mages.. i use to be able to solo AO2 and run through the maps nuking but no more.... basically in a nut shell, mages have to stand back and cannot play aggressive... which sucks.

[Inching]

I've already put my 2cents in but why not put another 2cents. As I said b4 I like gcd in pvp. However if it is here to stay for pve then several or all these things need to be brought in game.
Dmg increase
Gcd time cut
Mob hp cut
Mob dmg cut
Buffs and debuffs off gcd
Elixers and buffs lasting longer(everything in general will need revamped for longer play sessions imo)
Money drop increase
Pink drop rate increased
Bosses nerfed or changed to some extnt
New way to link skillz for combos
Or remove gcd.......


In pvp I noticed I didn't kill things very well but I can see it as positve for pvp just needs tweaking,


100% agree ....

[markus]

And also I feel bad for a lot of my RL friends who arnt really gamers but got hooked on this game because it was fun and spent money and now don't wana play because they do not enjoy it with the gcd.

[sAurol]

Thats it for me
Until gcd is removed Im quitting this game, which really sucks as its the best android game I can think of. Spent who knows how many hours leveling, buying equipment, respecing, learning how to use skills the best - buying platinum to further advance as well as support further development.

The GCD has completely broken the game for me, I couldnt care less about the other changes while GCD is still there. If combos and such is a problem pvp wise this might be a solution, but killing pve like this was a poor decision which I believe will have a bad effect on the future of this game.

I had a lot of fun playing pocket legends, so thanks for that. However, until GCD is fixed I will uninstall and downrate in market and HOPE that STS will wake up and listen to the community - if not, maybe you will stop and think about it when platinum sales starts decreasing. I for one am at least happy I didnt buy platinum recently, and I definately wont be buying any more until pocket legends is enjoyable again.

[kopi]

it sucks for mages who needs to spam spells .... i'm missing combos because of this cool down and i cant keep spamming heal as when i press its cooling down and either my team or myself die.....

it really sucks for mages.. i use to be able to solo AO2 and run through the maps nuking but no more.... basically in a nut shell, mages have to stand back and cannot play aggressive... which sucks.

Now mage is the healer class in dungeon and dragon rule set

[cajunqueen]

Just updated...do not have a world map? Where is it? I am stuck in Oasis and cannot hop around to different towns....Don't like the new cooldown....once the mob gets to me I cannot keep up...(Lvl 45 mage)

[Riccits]

Just updated...do not have a world map? Where is it? I am stuck in Oasis and cannot hop around to different towns....Don't like the new cooldown....once the mob gets to me I cannot keep up...(Lvl 45 mage)

thats the problem of most... u have to press ALWAYS "Enter world" to land in a town, then u can access by ur game menu.
i know its very annoing, especially when u switch between chars...

[skavenger216]

Question for the devs, is the cooldown being on or off, and the length of it, something that can be changed server side, or would it require a client update?

[cajunqueen]

One more comment....the new emotions the farting, burping, etc. has becomes an annoyance....ridiculous...I have to turn my sound off.....I have invested platinum into my character and hoping things improve or I am done with the game.. ..I loved to play it and now not fun anymore.... just my opinion.....

[RueMorgue]

Even if they do adjust mob hit points, etc. Gcd still ruins gameplay, and is annoying to use. I gave it a chance and severely dislike it.

[icantgetkills]

id have to say i gave the GCD a few runs and its ok but it Takes ALOT MORE TIME i wish i got to 56 before this because it will take alot more of my time and i may not even try and get it now

i love every other thing new tutorial and character customization except 1 thing i changed my face to a brown elf then wanted my avatar face back thinking that the old faces were 5 coins each but they were not :/

[srcnix]

A rather serious question that I am very much certain a great deal of avid PL users are thinking: If a game is not what you expect you have the right to take it back and ask for a refund, correct? How does this work in relation to a game completely changing the way it used to work without informing end users of the consequences, just of the change.

I'm all for changes and as a developer I know the hassles that arise with feature additions so I can appreciate where the developers are sitting back and watching the haste of comments. However, as a developer I would somewhat please the masses in order to retain profit over loss within the company (Which will eventually occur).

Turn it off, it cannot be too simple unless the developers hard coded it into the application source which they submit to Apple, if that's the case, here are two things worth noting:

- Good luck pushing Apple into releasing your update sooner than later. It's possible as I have done this myself but while everyone waits please track your revenue/profit intake and share with the world just how much of a mistake this was.

- Developers, developers, developers. Major changes can result in huge issues (This would be evidence of such a case) and should be resolvable as soon as possible.

[Ellyidol]

Question for the devs, is the cooldown being on or off, and the length of it, something that can be changed server side, or would it require a client update?

I have a feeling it's client-side.

Unless they released a newer version because of all the other changes (Log-in screen to character selection screen, all the new character creation types, etc).

[anonymousabyss]

Hi Support/Development,

FYI ... I am on the Android platform and no longer have a world map nor the ability to join games.

Thanks

[Arterra]

it would help out, probably strategically for pvp too, that skills should be separated into at least two different types. each type has its own independent GSC.

example: (using a mage)

-offensive and defensive
while you cant cast attacks like fire or lightning off at once, you can suddenly put up mana shield right after a fireblast, considering how after damage such aggro coming your way should be handled rapidly. same for revive... no matter what attack you just casted at the enemy, you should be able to save the team before you also fall. debuffs count as offensive, so no worries about quick eliminations. this is a survivalist approach. might lead to saving defensive spells for emergencies instead of just part of a sequence, since you never know when sewer gas will cause a almost-wipe.

-health affecting and not health affecting
more subtle IMO, skills that deal with health such as fire, drain hp, heal or rex (brought to life) have their own GSC while the rest, mainly debuffs and buffs, are separate. makes you choose between healing or hurting, weakening the enemy or fortifying your friends.


the general outcome of this is so that you have a slightly more interactive skillset with real time tactics (mainly pve) and so we can have some of the previous pve manslaughter/survival we all love.


edit:
also, for those who think that the GSC is for more strategy in game, i disagree. now, more than ever, i am simply following sequences of spells. having multiple GSC timers could lead to being able to change the strategy mid flow. much harder in our current linear system.



Lol I previously did not want this here because it would get lost and not even be discussed.

[jakaniz]

No world map option sux. I just log on to see if there's a patch to correct the many issues that really need to be changed, until then I will find another game, gcd has destroyed gameplay for me

[drewwillgetyou]

First off I wanna say I love the game it has passed many hours for me. Also I like the new update short of one thing. Im not going to read 52 pages of rwplys but the cool down time ia causing a problem.

Being a lvl 55 archer I can't get enough abilities off in time when im swarmed to stay alive. Most lvls in the sewers I can make maybe dying once and using a few potions. Now im dying 5-0 times and going threw more potions. Basically it's notfun now especially doing the level 56 grind.

Please fix this so the game is enjoyable again.

[Genes]

Did my runs for the first time after the update with a random group of lv50s to 55s while I'm a 56 warbird.

1) gold fever- Int mages and dex birds kept dying. I had to spam healing pots constantly to prevent myself from getting killed. Died once at boss because i was waiting for the cool down to press my buff after I did a focus.

2) king n queen - with similiar team. I asked for permission to do a draw at the opening. Wow, the mages and birds dropped like flies. Good thing is they respawn next to the drawn mob. Else I would have died too because I couldn't spam my skills fast enough to dmg and kill the mob of 15 or more. No more mass mob drawing in stronghold. Died twice later due to pits and a smaller mob because I couldn't spam my skills fast enough to reduce the damage I'm receiving from a mob of 7 or 8.

Most turn of part was killing queen. Took very long to see some hp reduction. 3mins into the fight. Took a dmg pot. Dmg pot ended slightly after queen was killed! And I had actually taken the pot 3mins into the fight. If I were to pot from the start of the fight. Queen would still be standing while I wasted all the effects of the pot! On the whole, took about 10mins (Maybe more) to run stronghold and kill

I don't consider myself a "pro" but neither am I a noob but dying 3 times in 2 games because everyone in the team kept dying or trying to stay alive rather then complementing each other in the run is indeed a joke after the update. And the game play is now so slow and monotonous. In the mind, it just kept reciting 1,2,3,4,5... Indicating the timing to press my skills with respect to the cool down time...

[Lennnn]

Please pl, i did around 10 runs in sewers a while ago and all i can think of is how to convince you to remove gcd. I gave up playing because im so pissed.. It takes forever to buff. My heal ability became useless because id rather wait for fire/ice and thunder to cause damage. It takes 10 years to complete 1 run. Mages are the most affected because we rely on our magic abilities. We have low armor and low damage unlike bear and birds. I used more health pots now than before. If ill use an elixir like the red pot, it wont reach the boss so i need to pot again. Theres no fun in playing pocket legends anymore..*Nyways im a 56pureint mage

[BeardedBear]

Not weeding through the 50 odd pages, but here is some GOOD feedback.

- Dig the new faces, especially the bear ones. Oh and the the duck face? FlyingDuck can finally spread his wings and be a true duck.
- GCD in PVP is good. No more spamming nonsense and button mashing, you have to actually use skill and strategy now. People who are bashing this are mostly likely dex birds. I haven't tried this in end game PVE yet, but I can only imagine how it slows things down.
- Sure, farts are funny, but maybe if we could disable them in town? It's like a damn fart factory no matter where you go. They are pretty fun in PVP though, as someone who just got killed and farted on, can be pretty humiliated.
- I suggest to move the revive for 1 plat button away from the middle of the screen. It will save you guys the headache of people emailing you, asking for a refund because it was a mistake; and will make it easier for us to avoid it.

Edit: oh and please bring add back a way for me to get into my character inventory and host/join map from the main menu. To have to join town every time to do something is not good.

[Vanced]

Ok... Post-Intial thoughts ....

I Played a couple hours last night... and wasted my morning coffee catching up on this thread this morning...

1) I have been playing MMOs before they were called such a thing and even had images thru ascii pictures and everything since, and I have definitely taken notice the STS/Devs really give a crap about this game, its players, the experience, and being pro-active and responsive. Alot of you know GCD has been in the works for a long time and I am sure alot of forsight and planning went into its impact of shifting alittle away from casual to more traditional MMORPG. (As discussed by Logic and others) So all I can do is trust in what I have seen in the past from STS is confine to make the best game as THEY see it for as many of us as they can by considering the voice of the vocal few but thinking of the public as a whole and adapting as fast as possible. And try to remember this whole mobile mmo thing is new... were are making the rules as we go and as technology adances such as tablets and 4G allow for more advanced game play they are walking that balance beam...

2) Now with my brown nosing and PSA aside a couple of constructive comments...
* Buff durations need to be lenghend to accomdate GDC so they can remain a viable part of game play.
* Dmg as a whole should be looked at and would assume it is... not sure what is off but not quite as fluid of a feel between doing dmg/ healing/ and buff & debuff maybe tweek stun and push back skills to allow more time for non dmg activities which would seem in line with your direction of more technique at higher level...
* Combos should be considered for strengthen due to the demand on your in game resources to perform a combo went way up...
* New Faces - Please have elf hands match the color of the skin tone of the face this has tossed me off a bit for a while now..
* Fart pack - Everyone loves a good fart joke from time to time and maybe when the newness wears off this will die down but maybe increase the timmer for this emote pack 1 can be funny spammed get old quick...

Bottom line is now IMHO good to l33t groups are more important and should see little impact other than time and marginal pot use increase ... noob to sub par public group will get waxed or learn. Was painfully part of a group with a couple random 56 and others get pwnd by goldfinger and was obvious they were only button mashers with enough game time to level...

GCD does lengthen the overall game and is a bane to button mashers... my advice to all is tighten up your friends list maybe see true guilds some point in the future ...

That is my worthless virtual 2 gold on the subject...
~Elvix

[LADYHADASSA]

lastnight I went to the new create charecter I have to say I love it! Like a little kid i had to touch all areas of the screen to watch the merry go round effect after a good laugh i selected each charecter to look at the choices available. Excellent job Devs this is great work. :)

[woodfeet]

New cooldown is not that great....as a mage you depend on spells to protect you..but know it has weakened our mages because we cast spells so slow...before I could use spells in sequence.. now you have to wait and you die way too easily...

[Lennnn]

I have spent almost an hour reading feedbacks.. Im really pissed with gdc. :(

[Justbrutal]

Ok where to begin? The update in general is good due to opening for games as a new client and the faces are a plus. As for the globalcool down a straight drop to the bottom of the barrel. These cool downs have made the game horrific for pve and pvp people alike. U as gamers cant be serious that u truly believe that this cooldown is a plus? Cmon guy???as we say in game. Im not a newb. You certainly did well with alot of the differnent aspects. But the cooldown must change. Ive been in pl since last june an have enjoyed it immensely. An believe me have spent my share of platnum and will continue to do so as i have around 8 accts. But im sure your going to lose some very valued players if certain parts of this update arent changed. Thx for listening. Justbrutal justxbrutal xjustxbrutalx. Justxxbrutal onemanwarcrew hellxspawn

[woodfeet]

I totally agree....gcd has destroyed my mages effectiveness....I worked hard to become a level 54...no one helped me lvl and now I die so fast cause mages do not have great armor...we had great powers...plz..plz..plz fix gcd

[woodfeet]

Try being a mage when that's what you rely on to stay alive...i have spent alot of time and platinum and a am pissed...it is no longer fun dying all the time

[Echelong]

I spend a couple of hours last night we a really good group of players, we mostly did stronghold since this is the one people have had the most problems with. At first we ran every dungeon and we did it in a reasonable time but still no where near the 5 min mark. Always took 2 to 3 minutes more than it used too and with a lot more deaths.

We found a few good strategies on K&Q where we would pull them apart easy and we found one to pull the queen alone. We had 3 birds and 2 paladins or 2 birds 2 pallys and 1 int mage. We couldn't do stronghold in less than 5 min and we had to use damage pot to kill the queen or we would only dent her a bit. Damage is significantly reduce with GCD and the ability to survive is also reduced.

Mages got the biggest hit since the need to use all their abilities and now they are not using debuffs as much as they used to and healing is taking a big hit. I always depend on pots for healing but playing as a mage you now have to sacrifice damage to heal the group and it makes the mage more of a chore to play rather than fun.

Why mages? well birds have 2 abilities most of us don't use and bears have 1 or 2 that they don't use that often. But birds have it easier (not too easy though) than the other 2 classes.

My suggestion is to keep the GCD but reduce its time to at least .25 or less and reduce mob damage or health a bit. The flow of the game seems much slower even with elite groups and that is one of the main reasons I love this game for its fast paced action.

PS: We didn't tried rounding up in stronghold maybe we will try tonight but I have a bad feeling about it.

Another thing that needs to be addressed
The revive for platinum I haven't used it yet but I almost hit it every time I died by mistake. It was getting annoying not to hit it, I don't know if it has a confirmation if you really want to use it but if it doesn't it should. Also it could be moved to another area of the screen and not the center where you have to hit respawn or revive. Maybe move it to a corver or on the lower side of the screen.

[markus]

Did rounding up with 2 56s and rest 55........ didn't work so well. Was managable but still usually ended with everyone dead and one or 2 mobs left. After palying some more with the gcd I find I have to stick with main combo and maybe one abilty in bettween unless ii need to rebuff then I lose dps while bffing. The gcd is palyable but cluncky, time and money consuming, but bottom line is it just isn't fun anymore. I think the devs do a great job and I loved this game but until fix comes iam gona have to down rate game in market and put pl on back burner. Couple other games I've been meaning to play on my ipod and couple new mmos comming soon so until something changes weather tweaking of gcd or removal all togeather, I bid you pl farwell! Not a goodbye but a see you later!

If the gcd is something that can't be fixed till next apple submission then I guess it might be a long time.........absense makes the heart grow fonder....?

[Mr.Wallace]

PS: We didn't tried rounding up in stronghold maybe we will try tonight but I have a bad feeling about it.
Tried it a few times yesterday, 2 birds 2 mages and me, all 55+. We ended with 4 wipes and a lot of laughs.
Still, when the group timing was right it worked nearly as before. I needed some more health pots cause the mages couldn't heal enough and I had to stay in the nuke cluster longer than usual before bringing the next mobs.
So I think without a good team where everybody knows what the other one does, roundup is nearly impossible. And I will stop surprising strangers with it in PUGS now :-D

[Zojak]

Definitely keep a cool head about it. Those that know us, know we will keep working on things until they rock. Troll or multiple cries of this sucks can lead to temp (or perm) bans from here. We need level feedback, not drama.

JustG Summed it up pretty well here on page 14. It's called playing an MMO, Sometimes the Devs make changes we like, sometimes they make changes we don't like. So let's give constructive criticism and move on with playing the game. Theres no need to quit and sit here crying about the GCD, truthfully its not even THAT Bad. As JustG and the other Devs stated already, they're watching, reading, AND playing. So lets let them do their jobs, and stop complaining!

[Duke]

After playing for a little while, I have to say that I dislike GCD immensely, especially as an INT mage. It's a royal pain to have to focus on the skills icons to see when they're available to use, losing track of the other action. Plus, everything has become more painfully slow, especially on mobs that are little more than bags of HP (like ice trolls in Frozen Nightmares... seriously, a level 55 mage has to take over a minute to solo a MOB?) Enemies are not properly balanced to the GCD changes if people across the board are complaining that dungeons take 50% longer to run and that death rates have increased because enemy damage hasn't taken into account the delays in healing, buffing, and debuffing.

I would much rather see a rollback closer to the original version of skills, where there were longer cooldowns on individual skills, rather than limit my ability to fire off skill combinations in quick succession when I need to.

I don't think the arguments in favor of GCD really hold water. The idea that it improves strategy is belied by the fact that the more skill-dependent characters can no longer do their jobs effectively -- it's bad enough that soloing has become more difficult, just try getting a PUG together that has the right balance of builds so that the jobs can be split properly. The performance issue I think was overstated. I'm on an iPhone 3GS and only rarely did visual FX cause such issues that the game was difficult to play (and even then, it was usually a case of having too many background apps running). Options to reduce or disable the FX are all that's really needed for performance.

[markus]

Nvrm nothing to see....

[im4broke]

Say whaa? A mandatory positive comment? I don't know if I agree with that, what if I don't have anything good to say about the new changes (just saying). Short negative comments seem to be what's going on now, so the devs will probably address those first, fact is that positive comments will not produce a result.

Change is good, the game did need to evolve a bit (imo). I was starting to get a bit bored with the game. I'm not sure that this was the breathe of life that it needed for me to become involved again, but at least for a while I'll be enjoying the fresh new system.

On a side note, that's a lot of plat to spend on a game that can at any moment make a change that could make or break itself. People spend actual money on plat because of what they feel the game is currently, there is no magic 8-ball that will tell them in a few short months there will be a system that will cause the game play speed to change from that of the hare to the tortoise (yes I know the tortoise won... that's kinda the point I'm trying to make).

Positive comments do produce results! Proper motivation is a key to overcoming obstacles. Yes you can take a whip and get results, but would'nt you rather have someone pat you on the back and tell you "good effort I know you can fix this problem".

[Orilord]

Please give old update this is very bad, world map in menu was great and waiting on magics is bad too, please old update 1.7 PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Elf-Orc-Naga]

hi mr W..I like your analysis! good that we've reached 56 before the update.. even elixir not effective anymore as before ... i meant everything is faster than before... not us but the enemy! LOL

well about update..... first of all i congratulate the dev for their hardwork.... about it? hmmm its challenging!...
but there something smell stinky here... maybe bacause of new "*art pack" emoticon.. hehehe LOL

[Orilord]

Please give old update this is very bad, world map in menu was great and waiting on magics is bad too, please old update 1.7 PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Junside]

Please give old update this is very bad, world map in menu was great and waiting on magics is bad too, please old update 1.7 PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please try not to spam. It may have been a mistake, but they will read your feedback. Maybe you can add more details to your second post.

Edit: Second AND third post.

[Elf-Orc-Naga]

Please try not to spam. It may have been a mistake, but they will read your feedback. Maybe you can add more details to your second post.

Edit: Second AND third post.

he's just psychologically upset LOL but I agree dont repeat messages... I undestand your feeling orilord! just buy the "*ART emote icon" and don't play too hard ... OMG is it a good advice? well i think its a nice advertisement for new emote icon... business... LOL

[Mr.Wallace]

hi mr W..I like your analysis! good that we've reached 56 before the update.. even elixir not effective anymore as before ... i meant everything is faster than before... not us but the enemy! LOL

well about update..... first of all i congratulate the dev for their hardwork.... about it? hmmm its challenging!...
but there something smell stinky here... maybe bacause of new "*art pack" emoticon.. hehehe LOL

Thank you Elf! That's why decided to rush to 56 last weekend - my hands still hurt from a 15000 xp day - wanted to be through before the update. Even if most of the effect just needs some getting used to it, still, it will be harder to level now. And the already shocking 83000 xp look scary with GCD.

But you reminded me while thinking about the dislikes I forgot to say: Thank you for the update, devs, and for all the work done for it!

[j46g629h]

Please keep the GCD alive as you said it's really really good thing to have

Do Not remove it because many people are complaining

[Pumpkin]

So I've spent the last hour playing my lvl 11 bird. I am not feeling a major problem for GCD when playing the bird if I am completely honest. However, my 55 mage plays completely differently and the effect of GCD is so huge that I don't want to play her any more - can't even solo simple levels like Boss Brawl without dying any more so farming has gone out of the window as a way of earning the money to buy my MM Bracer and I am left to ploughing endless Stronghold groups in the hope that it drops. I've invested a lot of time in levelling and getting decent gear like many people and feel quite sad that with this one change I don't ENJOY playing a mage any more and tbh feeling even sadder that I've invested so much time in her when she is now no fun to play.

But then, giving players an option to revive themselves on the spot full health is reducing the need for a mage anyway ;-/ So, IMO, I am certain now that it's mages who are worst hit by all of this but am not entirely sure what the benefit is of this to the vast majority of players. If it ain't broke don't fix it?

I would like to see GCD as a PvP feature only - I am speculating that the reason it hasn't been limited to PvP is because people will hop backwards and forwards between PvP and PvE and it would make PvP seem like the poor relation if you were playing two different ways side by side. Now PvP has been improved at the expense of PvE....levelling the playing field?

[sabermage]

As a mage, i dislike the GCD. It makes it difficult to keep the buff/debuff's on. And if i need to heal, i can't because i'm trying to cast the other damage spells. There are just too many spells normally being cast at the same time prior to GCD that this causes a huge issue of keeping up with being able to do a lot of damage to kill mobs.

[CanonicalKoi]

Last night, my choice in Stronghold was: do I cast Thorn Wall to protect the Mage or do I try for a maybe-works-maybe-not combo and try to keep from dying. Hmmmm.... Hardest time was as a Mage--goodbye Lightning/Ice/Fire nuke. As my baby Mage told the group it was running with, "I can spam heal or help with attacks. I can't do both." Very close in difficulty was as my bird main. It went from a game of being creative to a rote "bear Beckons into wall. One bird fires Thorn Wall. Other bird combos. Mage casts lightning. Repeat." (i.e. Mindless button mashing.)

On another note, as several someones have pointed out, on the iPad one row of skills is brighter than the others. It makes those others look greyed-out and unavailable.

ETA: now that I've had more time to play with it, I really like the new Oasis town. Really nice. The new map is nice and less cluttered. The change to having to enter world before hitting the store and whatnot doesn't really affect me much. The "join" issue is a problem, but the devs are working on fixing it as quickly as possible. The new faces I can take or leave, but more options are always nice. The fart/vomit emotes are really, really annoying and ignore is really not much of an option. Being able to turn off emote sounds in options would be wonderful, as would getting rid of the screen shake effect. Currently, I'm playing with the sound turned off and its likely to remain that way. The constant spinning around to face enemies is distracting and, if I'm tired, starts to make me nauseous (insert vomit emote here). Eventually, I'm sure that'll wear off. The change to King and Queen? Meh, just back to doing what we did before the "exploit" was discovered. The GCD thing? Annoying, slows gameplay down, doesn't lead to better cooperation, leads to arguments about who should've done what and when when everybody dies and leads to play-by-rote/lack of creativity.

[Echelong]

.

I laughed so hard when I read this that I got all teary. "Easier"? Really? Last night, my choice in Stronghold was: do I cast Thorn Wall to protect the Mage or do I try for a maybe-works-maybe-not combo and try to keep from dying? Hmmmmm.... Between choices like that and dying from terminally staring at the skills screen to see what was available when, it wasn't a whole lot of fun, nor was it particularly easy. Trying different chars out, the easiest time I had was as my bear--good enough armor to withstand attack while waiting for skills to cool down and the Beckon-Stomp combo wasn't really any different. Hardest time was as a Mage--goodbye Lightning/Ice/Fire nuke. As my baby Mage told the group it was running with, "I can spam heal or help with attacks. I can't do both." Very close in difficulty was as my bird
main.

I was playing on my mage(56) and bird(55) I am not saying they are as easy to play as they where before the GCD but in comparison they are easier than mage and warrior. Int Mages drop faster than ever before healing takes aways to much dps. I played last night mostly with my bird and it was far less annoying than the mage. This is true to all players in our group.

Please read what I wrote better and don't make assumptions of what I didn't mean. My bird is a pure dex bird with Full RR set just in case you think it is a warbird.

[Elf-Orc-Naga]

Thank you Elf! That's why decided to rush to 56 last weekend - my hands still hurt from a 15000 xp day - wanted to be through before the update. Even if most of the effect just needs some getting used to it, still, it will be harder to level now. And the already shocking 83000 xp look scary with GCD.

But you reminded me while thinking about the dislikes I forgot to say: Thank you for the update, devs, and for all the work done for it!

Ow Mr W you're really clever! You expected that so you rushed your exp! really nice calculation! hope your fingers and youre phone are okay hehehe LOL

See you somewhere in town or dungeons.. pink!!!!! though I still need to level up my wave skill!

[superss]

I've seen that lots of people including myself are REAL MAD about the GCD so i might have a solution that would make everyone happy... in the options you could have a setting bar for a "skill launch interval" that you could set from .0 to .5 seconds then the people who like it can keep it and the people who don't like can turn it off. it also doubles as a difficulty option! for people who like it just not as long they could set it at like lets say... .3 seconds... than it would be a bit harder but not too much harder.

[Redbridge]

Folks, can I suggest an additional tact, to assist the Dev Team?

I think there is, almost, global agreement that GCD hasn't been the best, and that whilst the rest of the update has been very much welcomed there are a few tweaks, we would like. All that to one side.....

In order for the Dev Team to get some really good, constructive feedback, how about we all have a go at answering the following question, as I suspect it may allow them to be armed with a more rounded approach to solving/progressing the GCD issue.

If GCD was to stay in its current format, what other changes would you like to see to the game to make it work.....?

A few people have started to touch on this in previous posts, but I have a feeling that the community's answers to this may throw up some other alternatives which could help balance things and meet what they are trying to achieve.

So, I'll go first shall I. If the reliance on skills is going to continue to be reduced, I'd like to see more balance brought to weapons and their effectiveness. Increased weapon damage and/or Mob/Boss reduced armour/health.

Anyone else got any thoughts? Please don't say get rid of GCD. Constructive suggestions on what changes would be required to make this new GCD work better..

[CanonicalKoi]

Please read what I wrote better and don't make assumptions of what I didn't mean. My bird is a pure dex bird with Full RR set just in case you think it is a warbird.

ETA: I was responding to this statement: "But birds have it easier (not too easy though) than the other 2 classes." (bolding added)

And if you'll note, I went back and edited my post because it seemed harsh on you and I didn't mean to be. I am not saying that mages don't have a hard time--I did runs with my 51, my 32, my 22 and my 15 just to see. I also did runs with my 50 bear and mostly with my main, a 55 bird and with my 54 bird. Perhaps I see more of a problem with bird since that's what I mainly play. My bear had the easiest time of it, mainly due to higher armor. Both my mages and birds had a much, much harder time trying to stay alive, help others and actually do something to the enemies. My 2 cents.

[Pumpkin]

I've seen that lots of people including myself are REAL MAD about the GCD so i might have a solution that would make everyone happy... in the options you could have a setting bar for a "skill launch interval" that you could set from .0 to .5 seconds then the people who like it can keep it and the people who don't like can turn it off. it also doubles as a difficulty option! for people who like it just not as long they could set it at like lets say... .3 seconds... than it would be a bit harder but not too much harder.

Great idea! That would please all of the people all of the time :-D

[Pumpkin]

Folks, can I suggest an additional tact, to assist the Dev Team?

If GCD was to stay in its current format, what other changes would you like to see to the game to make it work.....?

Anyone else got any thoughts? Please don't say get rid of GCD. Constructive suggestions on what changes would be required to make this new GCD work better..

I appreciate the sentiment and this is a thoughtful and constructive approach. However, it assumes that getting rid of GCD is NOT an option. Why not? It's always going to be an option and on this basis needs to be thrown into the mix, surely? Having said that I think Superss slider bar idea is the best thing I've read all day...

[Duke]

If GCD was to stay in its current format, what other changes would you like to see to the game to make it work.....?

I'm not sure I'd concede the point that it should stay in its current form (or nearly similar). Nonetheless, working under that assumption, the main change would have to be to nerf enemies. As of now, they are too strong, fast, and durable for the decrease in DPS, buffing, healing, and debuffing that GCD imposes. Enemy HP, armor, damage, and weapon speeds need to be tweaked to provide the same relative challenge and reduce the amount of time to run a particular dungeon back to pre-GCD levels.

Taking the Sewer bosses as an example -- each of them requires a unique strategy, but once you're using the right strategy, it has always been a case of simple attrition and basic teamwork. There's no reason any of these boss fights have to drag on as long as they do, and certainly no reason to prolong them even further due to nerfing player skills. Armor/damage potting should not be required to handle main dungeon bosses for level-appropriate players.

[GrandmaBear]

If gcd were to stay, along with your other suggestions, please slightly lengthen time allowance between one skill to next to achieve a combo. They're not impossible but are much rarer. It's already hard with so many people unaware of combos with other classes, now, even when I do find someone else that knows them, still tough. I MISS THOSE VOMBOS.

[Lesrider]

I appreciate the sentiment and this is a thoughtful and constructive approach. However, it assumes that getting rid of GCD is NOT an option. Why not? It's always going to be an option and on this basis needs to be thrown into the mix, surely?

They stated pretty firmly that it's here to stay, but will be tweaked (or "iterated"...).

[CanonicalKoi]

Gah...so I don't edit my post and change anything--perhaps it's a difference in playing style. If a bird is primarily a back-row/kiting kind of player, they may not see much difference. If you're a get-in-the-middle of things sort, you'll see a big difference. Both are equally valid styles, I'm just not a kiter, with the exception of Gurgoxx. ;)

[Echelong]

ETA: I was responding to this statement: "But birds have it easier (not too easy though) than the other 2 classes." (bolding added)

And if you'll note, I went back and edited my post because it seemed harsh on you and I didn't mean to be. I am not saying that mages don't have a hard time--I did runs with my 51, my 32, my 22 and my 15 just to see. I also did runs with my 50 bear and mostly with my main, a 55 bird and with my 54 bird. Perhaps I see more of a problem with bird since that's what I mainly play. My bear had the easiest time of it, mainly due to higher armor. Both my mages and birds had a much, much harder time trying to stay alive, help others and actually do something to the enemies. My 2 cents.

Yeah read it hehe didn't mean to sound mean or anything I never do really. I am tired of making English my excuse but I do have to rethink every word I write and sometimes change a whole sentence because I have no clue how to continue it. Spanish is my first language but my English is not that bad; still its a barrier I have to overcome.

I am more of a front row player on mage or bird but it is harder now than it was before mostly because mages are healing a lot less than they used to and debuffs are becoming a thing of the past.

[Redbridge]

I appreciate the sentiment and this is a thoughtful and constructive approach. However, it assumes that getting rid of GCD is NOT an option. Why not? It's always going to be an option and on this basis needs to be thrown into the mix, surely? Having said that I think Superss slider bar idea is the best thing I've read all day...

I agree GCD going is an option but.... Whats your suggestion if it stayed? How would you re-balance it?

[Nahara]

[QUOTE=TEPTEP;259795]I'm playing PL for 7-8 months now (from time to time), but this is my third visit to the forums... normally i wouldn't be here.
Here's the reason i came here: I SERIOUSLY DONT LIKE two things in yesterdays update.

1. World Map and Store buttons removed from the welcome screen
I was using those to quickly join games/check on friends right from the welcome screen.

2. Global Ability Cool-down
Before yesterdays update i could beat Bandit Boys Hideout on my own.
Yesterday i got killed four or five times there.. on one single run.. with four "super-awesome gear" 55's around me.
I need 2-4 abilities at the same time to successfully kill
a group of enemies in the Sewers..
I'm slow and useless without them.. it makes me feel bad and wanna leave the game.

Hope someone notices this message,
cause these two things make me hate and wanna quit PL (i'm no longer having fun... so why stay?)


--yep! Exactly! I NEVER play PVE, am a lvl 53 Mage and also lvl 40 bear so, as much as I love this game, as a Mage it us now completely INTOLERABLE with the GCD! Still have lag and ping depending on where I'm playing so it's just frustrating to have to deal with that AND try to guess which spell is coming back first AND deal with the distracting flashing of the spells. Despite trying I feel completely ineffective and embarrassed in a well developed party--forget the awesome group effort if the "pied piper" bear leading a merry chase back to bird and Mage---all the Mage does is die--can't "nuke a room" and heal effectively to help my party. The enemies are hard enough playing as a pure Mage--especially while teaching newer players their roles--to have list the additional couple seconds to put together a combo...I'm mashing my keys like a nad woman praying I can hit them at "just" the right time-not paying attention to anything else because you just can't, thenm, SPLAT!!! Drat I'm dead and so is my party!
And forget paying plat to then "revive" from there! We STILL have to start over with the mob so we may as well recover fully anyway!
I've NEVER played an MMORPG before. PL, which I love love love, is my first, and I've spent more money on it than ANY other personal RPG on PC...well beyond $200. All well worth it. But now I don't even want to pick it up and play!
I DO LIKE THE OTHER UPDATES though I've not used the Offerboard or whatever it is.
Please please PLEASE ditch the GCD for PVE GAMES!!! I really WANT to play--not only am I well now, but also officially on vacation, but now? Nope no desire to play. Sigh...
And look...only my 2nd post.
Thx guys for always looking forward for us...I just truly feel this is a step back.

And p.s. Mr Wallace rocks!

[Redbridge]

If GCD was to stay in its current format, what other changes would you like to see to the game to make it work.....?

What if the overall length of time that Buffs/Debuffs was extended drastically to allow casting before a mob/boss? Doubling, trebling of maybe even 1-2mins in length? It may bring focus back to primary weapons and make skills secondary tools during combat...

[Pumpkin]

I agree GCD going is an option but.... Whats your suggestion if it stayed? How would you re-balance it?

I don't know, is the short answer. I've tried playing my two diff characters in the hope that it'd give me some insight. Perhaps the answer is to revamp the mage, who has until now been a master of magic damage and heals. Maybe if GCD stays it is no longer going to be possible to have a class that both attacks and heals and we need to think more about a wizard / cleric distinction like in so many other games of this kind. That would allow mages to concentrate on one or the other - no-one expects a wizard to throw heals and revs. No-one expects a cleric to do serious magic damage.

[FluffNStuff]

So I have been pondering this, and the best solution I can think of would be to increase the maximum points in a skill to 8. The reasoning behind this is the GCD really makes using skills a trade off decision. If we are going to be using less skills, why not make the ones we use better. This way we can move points to better customize our players. An example would be the slashes on a bear. Right now, using all three slashes would be inadvisable because that takes time away from using other skills. So why not be able to move more points to the slash you prefer? Same for birds. There are so many damage skills, but using them all becomes a waste.
Just my $0.02.

[XRAX]

First and foremost, thank you to everyone at STS for really bringing to the market one of the best mobile mmorpgs to date. Been playing for over half a year, and have had a hard time putting it down.
Every update you have brought has been a major success, including this one, except for one main aspect that has at least 95% of the community roaring – the GCD.
The greatest appeal for GCD was simply to control for multi-touching. In particular, the majority of us were given the impression that GCD will explicitly control for the ability to hit more than one skill (or all skills) together AT THE SAME TIME. In my opinion, and many others with whom I have spoken with, GCD implementation has taken a lot away from its fun, excitement, fast paced game play, definite unique qualities that made PL so special, and many, many, other things. To completely alter the mechanics of the game play in which so many people have invested in is a little extreme.
My suggestion would be to either dramatically reduce the cool down from 0.5 seconds (which seems like an eternity especially in PVP) to AT MOST 0.075-0.1 seconds, or completely remove GCD and give PL its Uniqueness back ;). Although the latter suggestion would make the community happier, i think any of these options, or any changes you make or take into consideration at this point is better than the current GCD.
Again, Devs, thanks for a great job and for listening closely to us in these drama rich posts.

[Pumpkin]

Has GCD just not created more problems than it solves? Just pondering aloud...

[Echelong]

So I have been pondering this, and the best solution I can think of would be to increase the maximum points in a skill to 8. The reasoning behind this is the GCD really makes using skills a trade off decision. If we are going to be using less skills, why not make the ones we use better. This way we can move points to better customize our players. An example would be the slashes on a bear. Right now, using all three slashes would be inadvisable because that takes time away from using other skills. So why not be able to move more points to the slash you prefer? Same for birds. There are so many damage skills, but using them all becomes a waste.
Just my $0.02.

you do realize that having skills to 8 would mean mages get an 80% crit for 20 seconds with a 30 sec cd. But yeah there are some skills that are not been used mainly heals and debuffs.

[chappy]

All I know is GCD reduces server and computing consumption. If it stays then it is due to an STS capital issue. I enjoy the pre 1.7.1 user activity but post 1.7.1 I can take it or leave it as now other activities are more enjoyable. To rationalize changing the gaming environment to support this new user activity (waiting between taps) to make the game play better is fine to discuss, but my activity will still be the same. Results will be different. Changing my activity I do, is a serious change and is independent of the game itself. STS needs to realize this and focus less about the game rather than the actual user experience at the time of play. I don't care how long a run takes, I don care what I get for drops, if every eye and finger action to the screen must be timed in controlled increments, then I have lost the freedom I so enjoy. There will be other activities that mimic pre 1.7.1. I am not sure if it will still be an STS product.

That saddens me.

Oh well. We can only post, hope, and then move on one way or the other.

[xyysw]

if the GCD is going to stay for good and the CD time is > 0.5 sec, i'd hope dev team will introduce Plat trading system.. i will give away all my plats..

[Elnendil]

Said it before but will say it again and add to it since doesn't look like 500 post about it going change it don't like the gcd needs to be lowered .05 or.1 if this is not going happen u need to think about making spells that do two things like crit buff and DMg or crit and dodge one spell to cut down on time or heal over time for mages or hate to say it since this was a fast pace game but maybe dots.... I play a 55bird and my play style was to steamroll as it's been called I run though mobs *** fast as possible Comboing everytime it's up and spamming DMg skills as much as possible letting the grp behide me attack them while I was aready at the next grp this is already hard and used alot of pots so not notice a diffence in pot usage really just noticed I can't keep buffs up and keep mobs on me as well because having to wait on gcd to cast more spells btw I'm dex not str dex just plan old dex also would like to hear some post from the devs not seen anything hear from them in a while saying anything

[jthomas]

After months of just reading the forums, you actually got me to create an account just so I could give my feedback on the changes.

I have been playing PL for several months, and while I may be a more "casual" gamer than some of the people listed here, I think I have gotten pretty good at the game. Last night after the update I played for around an hour, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I only play PVE, and I really hated the GCD. From reading through these boards I'm sure there is some way to play the game with the GCD, but i certainly couldn't figure it out. I used to load up PL on my breaks at work to play a quick level or two, but I really can't do that anymore. The game is simply not fun anymore.

I logged in again today just to see if the GCD was still there, and when I saw that it was I logged back out. It looks like hundreds of other players have also stopped playing (based on the number of players shown on the initial screen). I would bet that they stopped playing for the same reason I did - it's just not fun.

I have really enjoyed my time playing PL, and would hate to stop playing, but with the GCD in place I don't see how I can continue.

Here's my two cents: Make the GCD optional. Maybe players who have the GCD enabled get more XP, while us casual gamers can keep playing the fast paced game we enjoy and level up at a slower pace? Just a thought.

[superss]

After months of just reading the forums, you actually got me to create an account just so I could give my feedback on the changes.

I have been playing PL for several months, and while I may be a more "casual" gamer than some of the people listed here, I think I have gotten pretty good at the game. Last night after the update I played for around an hour, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I only play PVE, and I really hated the GCD. From reading through these boards I'm sure there is some way to play the game with the GCD, but i certainly couldn't figure it out. I used to load up PL on my breaks at work to play a quick level or two, but I really can't do that anymore. The game is simply not fun anymore.

I logged in again today just to see if the GCD was still there, and when I saw that it was I logged back out. It looks like hundreds of other players have also stopped playing (based on the number of players shown on the initial screen). I would bet that they stopped playing for the same reason I did - it's just not fun.

I have really enjoyed my time playing PL, and would hate to stop playing, but with the GCD in place I don't see how I can continue.

Here's my two cents: Make the GCD optional. Maybe players who have the GCD enabled get more XP, while us casual gamers can keep playing the fast paced game we enjoy and level up at a slower pace? Just a thought.

exactly my thoughts... ive posted this before but people need to see my logic... "I've seen that lots of people including myself are REAL MAD about the GCD so i might have a solution that would make everyone happy... in the options you could have a setting bar for a "skill launch interval" that you could set from .0 to .5 seconds then the people who like it can keep it and the people who don't like can turn it off. it also doubles as a difficulty option! for people who like it just not as long they could set it at like lets say... .3 seconds... than it would be a bit harder but not too much harder."

[Gluttony]

So I have been pondering this, and the best solution I can think of would be to increase the maximum points in a skill to 8. The reasoning behind this is the GCD really makes using skills a trade off decision. If we are going to be using less skills, why not make the ones we use better. This way we can move points to better customize our players. An example would be the slashes on a bear. Right now, using all three slashes would be inadvisable because that takes time away from using other skills. So why not be able to move more points to the slash you prefer? Same for birds. There are so many damage skills, but using them all becomes a waste.
Just my $0.02.

Great suggestion! This would accomplish so much, it would also encompass Pumpkins idea of splitting the mage class into either a dmg or heal type. Each mage would have the option of focusing on whatever they wanted.; it could revolutionize how people decide their builds. I don't know how everyone has their skills mapped or anything, but I know that most classes max pretty much the same skills while ignoring those deemed useless. I have a bird and when I first started I took restore and meditation to the max; I figured I could save some gold on pots (boy are those skills useless now). I can't remember the last time I saw a bird use either of those skills. I also notice the issue of not being able to use my mana fast enough to even make a dent it in (like the bandit Queens' health w/o dmg pots). Increasing the skill cap would cost more mana per skill and I would actually feel like there is a point to the mana regen stat.

[Redbridge]

if the GCD is going to stay for good and the CD time is > 0.5 sec, i'd hope dev team will introduce Plat trading system.. i will give away all my plats..

If GCD did stay what would be the thing(s) you would change in game to rebalance it again. I'm not suggesting it will stay in its current form but I reckon they probably won't fully remove it either, so I'm trying to gain some ideas from people on what would make GCD more balanced and bearable.

[xyoz]

Hi, my name is Xyoz.

I have been playing PL for probably around 3-4 months now, maybe 5. I think its a great game and has been constantly improving. My main character is a mage. It is lvl 55 and i loved to pvp on it. However after the update, i am sorry to say, i have been very disappointed. Pvp for me was always a challenge, since there has always seemed to be a huge amount of archers high level pvping, i died alot. But after training and talking with a few mages, and a little tip off a great mage pvper, i learnt how to kill birds in 1v1.

Although people were really upset about birds using multitap and kind of cheating. I enjoyed it. It gave a great challenge to try and make them misjudge the range and fire their whole arsenal of attacks into open space.

Pvp for me was about perfect timing and judging distance. Now pvp seems about who has the most damage and armor. I have changed from my mixed stats to just full int, for dmg. I find this pretty disappointing that everyone will change to full int because its best, and not have to fiddle around finding the right mix of other attributes. Now mages also feel totally overpowered. I can kill a bird in one hit.

There is no more need for making up combos to 1v1 anymore. Global cooldown takes care of timing the combos, like with ice and fire, before you had to mentally time it before you hit fire so that the ice sticks to your target, now you can just hit the ice button and spam the fire button until the global cooldown does the job for you, and you instantly have a combo. This i find takes the fun out of pvp. It makes it alot easier for people to be good at pvp when before there was a select group that seemed to be able to dominate every match.

It feels like the general public, including me doesn't like global cooldown. If someone could clarify the actual reasons why they added global cooldown and exactly how it benefits us, i will be willing to listen even though i may not agree. However i do like a few of the updates, but not all. The new emotions are funny, and the faces are cool. Also i like how you always face your target if you are in range, that could be a very useful utility. I like the look of the new homepage but i dont' like how the only option you have is to go into a town, you cant go straight into your menu anymore. I also think they should have an option to let it still work like the last time the join button worked on a private match. To only let friends of the players in the match to join.

Space Time Studio's i hope you will take my suggestions and feedback constructively and not as criticism.
Thank You
Xyoz

[Gluttony]

exactly my thoughts... ive posted this before but people need to see my logic... "I've seen that lots of people including myself are REAL MAD about the GCD so i might have a solution that would make everyone happy... in the options you could have a setting bar for a "skill launch interval" that you could set from .0 to .5 seconds then the people who like it can keep it and the people who don't like can turn it off. it also doubles as a difficulty option! for people who like it just not as long they could set it at like lets say... .3 seconds... than it would be a bit harder but not too much harder."

This may be a decent suggestion, but it could only really be feasible in PvP as some type of handicap system. In PvE on the on the other hand, who would choose to do this to themselves? What kind of incentive would one have to choose to be the most useless toon in the team? Imagine any scenario where you actually seem productive to those who are not using the GCD system (let alone new players who don't even know it's an option). This would be a quick way to get yourself kicked from a game/added to ignore list with blazin' speed. One could suggest that the host has an option to make create a map with GCD, but who would join. Giving those who choose to use it extra xp is a nice idea, but when you're maxed out on levels what's the point then. It basically comes down to trying to please those for and against is almost impossible in PvE.

[CanonicalKoi]

Yeah read it hehe didn't mean to sound mean or anything I never do really. I am tired of making English my excuse but I do have to rethink every word I write and sometimes change a whole sentence because I have no clue how to continue it. Spanish is my first language but my English is not that bad; still its a barrier I have to overcome.

Hey! I started it! :) It sounded a lot nastier than I intended when I went back and read it. And your English is terrific, not to mention speaking Spanish. My choices are English, bad English and a small amount of French.

New problem: I did two Wyldwood quests with my 22 Mage this morning--spiking skulls and Ring of Fire. I did not get the quest rewards for either one. Not a big deal--I already had the wand and I have a better staff than the one given, but a problem for lower-level players who may need the equipment.

[Lesrider]

Great suggestion! This would accomplish so much, it would also encompass Pumpkins idea of splitting the mage class into either a dmg or heal type. Each mage would have the option of focusing on whatever they wanted.; it could revolutionize how people decide their builds. I don't know how everyone has their skills mapped or anything, but I know that most classes max pretty much the same skills while ignoring those deemed useless. I have a bird and when I first started I took restore and meditation to the max; I figured I could save some gold on pots (boy are those skills useless now). I can't remember the last time I saw a bird use either of those skills. I also notice the issue of not being able to use my mana fast enough to even make a dent it in (like the bandit Queens' health w/o dmg pots). Increasing the skill cap would cost more mana per skill and I would actually feel like there is a point to the mana regen stat.

Except there's no way to tell what skills a player has. So you'll start having parties with no revivers/healers. Or you'll have to ask before people join to see what skills they have. And then you'll have people yelling "rev" or "heal" at dps mages who don't even have those skills.
They would need to actually break the class into two in order to lessen the confusion.

But personally, this is the only game I've ever played where Mage ended up being my favorite class to play. And it's because I didn't have to choose between healing and nuking. I would never EVER choose to be a cleric/priest/healing class in any game. I like to be able to attack. But usually mages in most games are too flimsy to survive, so they die all the time. The only reason I like playing Mage in PL is bc they can dish it out AND take it. If I have to choose between one or the other, I'd likely go back to playing my bird or bear.

[Kindread]

GCD is going to stay because it makes sense. Everyone has basically been playing with a hacked character or a character with a cheat code to be able to fire all you skills at once. There is no game that allows you to do this. The problem is that we've all been playing this way and have gotten used to having l337 characters that can solo maps and mages that can run into a group of 10 mobs and nuke everything and not even worry about dying. We've all been playing with a cheat basically. Now that GCD is implemented, everyone's mad because their characters aren't super l337 anymore.

GCD is a step in the right direction. They just have to perfect it now. I'm not saying it's great as it is because it's not. It needs to be lowered a bit. Technically it may be 0.5s but in practice it's more than 0.5s. I think if the cooldown was sped up some more it would help quite a bit. It should not be removed completely however because that's a step backwards to remedial PvP mechanics.

[xyoz]

pvp is about speed and teqnique, now all it seems is who can do the most dmg and not die. i dont mind gcd in pve which is wierd, but keep it out of pvp

[PatsoeGamer]

Dislike GCD

[Redbridge]

If GCD was to stay in its current format, what other changes would you like to see to the game to make it work.....?

Thinking some more about this.... I'm now gutted I've been taking the scenic route to 56. It's gonna take me ages now on all three classes. How about they also consider rebalancing XP to allow some of us non-56 players to catch up at the same speed we would have pre 1.7.1?

[Gluttony]

Except there's no way to tell what skills a player has. So you'll start having parties with no revivers/healers. Or you'll have to ask before people join to see what skills they have. And then you'll have people yelling "rev" or "heal" at dps mages who don't even have those skills.
They would need to actually break the class into two in order to lessen the confusion.

But personally, this is the only game I've ever played where Mage ended up being my favorite class to play. And it's because I didn't have to choose between healing and nuking. I would never EVER choose to be a cleric/priest/healing class in any game. I like to be able to attack. But usually mages in most games are too flimsy to survive, so they die all the time. The only reason I like playing Mage in PL is bc they can dish it out AND take it. If I have to choose between one or the other, I'd likely go back to playing my bird or bear.

Another valid point, so perhaps a split is in order. I understand that the mage is quite versatile, but it is very much against the norm of any RPG (mmo or otherwise) that I know of. Sure this would turn people off, but it is happening now (mages aren't healing or reviving), and with good reason. Only downfall would be who actually picks the healer (I mean come on they suck).

[Maynard]

GCD is going to stay because it makes sense. Everyone has basically been playing with a hacked character or a character with a cheat code to be able to fire all you skills at once. There is no game that allows you to do this. The problem is that we've all been playing this way and have gotten used to having l337 characters that can solo maps and mages that can run into a group of 10 mobs and nuke everything and not even worry about dying. We've all been playing with a cheat basically. Now that GCD is implemented, everyone's mad because their characters aren't super l337 anymore.

GCD is a step in the right direction. They just have to perfect it now. I'm not saying it's great as it is because it's not. It needs to be lowered a bit. Technically it may be 0.5s but in practice it's more than 0.5s. I think if the cooldown was sped up some more it would help quite a bit. It should not be removed completely however because that's a step backwards to remedial PvP mechanics.

No, we've been playing the game as it was presented and enjoying it. I don't have any interest in what other games are doing. That's why I play this one. Just my humble opinion. No offense meant to anyone in what I have posted on this thread.

[shanmarie33]

There are many good points made on this thread about gcd. The point which should really jump out to the devs is: pocket legends PVE just isn't as fun because of gcd. The other stuff may be annoying, but not player gaming experience changing. I like the new graphics, but can you guys turn the lights back on in a03 please?

55 pure mage 52 tank bear. 47 pure bird. 33 dex mage

[Sterist]

GCD is going to stay because it makes sense. Everyone has basically been playing with a hacked character or a character with a cheat code to be able to fire all you skills at once. There is no game that allows you to do this. The problem is that we've all been playing this way and have gotten used to having l337 characters that can solo maps and mages that can run into a group of 10 mobs and nuke everything and not even worry about dying.

oh really... no other mmo requires control layout to be on-screen. keeping an eye on the spell area is very distracting. its different on consoles for the fact that controls are off screen and is a secondary thought process.

plus this takes extra CPU cycles and causes more lag and unresponsive commands.

this game went from "fun" to "tolerable" overnight.

oh and I don't take too kindly a paid-revive advertisement in the same update that makes you die twice as often.

sincerely,
ster~
my first post :)

[Lesrider]

Ahh I love the good ol' exploit argument.
First, rushers were exploiting.
Now EVERYONE playing the game was exploiting.

Next we'll be told that the only people NOT exploiting are the Elite Immortals because they restart after dying.

People play a game because the enjoy it. Sure, it may change, but don't blame people who had been playing the game the way it was introduced to them, for not jumping on board when their game is changed drastically from what they fell in love with.

And to those saying people acclimate and get used to changes. No, I still can't find even a fraction of the enjoyment I got from the game back when ao3 was first introduced. And I know many people who feel the same and have also lost interest. So people have every right to be concerned when they see the game changing so drastically.

[Snakespeare]

* Updated New Player Experience! Improved player flow from application launch to entering the world, especially for new players.
* New Character Creation! You now see your character as they will appear in game while creating your character. You are now allowed to select from a variety of faces and armor colors when creating a new character.
* New Tutorial! The improved tutorial will better teach new players the basics of how to play Pocket Legends.

I tried this out and it was fun. I like the carousel and the randomize button. I made a random character and went into the new player experience. The walkthrough was very clear. But ... the old walkthrough did things like explain about going up a level and assigning points to stats. I didn't see that. When I went to 2nd level all I saw was an arrow pointing at the new skill and an instruction to tap the skill to use it. Meanwhile, again yesterday in Forest Haven I met a player who thought you are supposed to apply the points to the stats evenly. In the old walkthrough you could get an item and if you knew right away that you had to apply the points to your stats enough to equip the item you want to use. I did think a level 1 darkbolt blaster was cool, so I stashed it before deleting the character.

* Added Emote Pack 3: Kiss, Back Flip, Clap, Point
* Added Emote Pack 4: The FART PACK!

I passed on pack 4, but I like pack 3. I will give myself a pat on the back about the kiss, knowing that I emailed that idea back in February but it didn't get implemented for Valentine's Day. I'm glad it made it in.

* New Faces are now available for purchase at the Magic Mirror!

I like the new faces. I bought a red elf. Nice work.


* Oasis Towne has been completely revamped. Players can now walk into the Oasis pond and heal their health and mana! Daily quests have been added to receive additional Mystery Weapons, Armor, and Helmets.

The watering hole at the Oasis is nice. I am glad for additional quests, but haven't tried them, yet. But on that topic, I have been testing the quests system and found a big hole right there in Oasis towne. I finished my Swamps quests by level 32 and went on to do my AO1 quests early. They were done by the time I was level 33. All that remained were quests in AO2 and beyond, yet Snakespear (no final e) is still only level 34. So AO1 has a lack of quests. I'll go back in over the next few days to see if there are more for me to do, but otherwise, I have to level up ten levels or so before I can quest again.

* Account Verification has been removed. You can now Purchase Platinum, access the Offer Wall, and Buy All Content without registering your account. Registering your account gives you the ability to log in on any supported device, and grants you access to Dark Forest for free.

I don't understand the fine points here, so I'll leave it without commenting.

* A Global ability cool down timer has been added. Firing an ability causes all abilities to be on cool down for half a second.

This works fine for me. I played my characters in the campaigns that I am currently enjoying and I found that it was, admittedly, a little irritating at first. But over time, I got used to it and started figuring out which skill was most important to use at any given time. My bird has had a mana shortage until now, but with this change that problem went away. I now use more health pots and fewer mana pots. As for the change in the pace, I actually like it.

* Character deletion now requires the characters name be entered rather than just typing "delete".

Tried it and I like this. It's a better idea than typing delete.

* Players can now purchase a revive for full health at the position of death for 1 Platinum.

I don't like this change. It doesn't bother me, though. But if I ever get left behind because a mage doesn't rev, expecting me to spend plat, then I will certain add that player to my iggy list. I like that mages had a monopoly on revving. It made people want to have members of all three classes in their group.

What about soloing, though? Will the boss get all his health back after he kills me? Or will I have a grace period in which I can rev myself while his health is still what it was when I died? If the latter, I will actually like this change.

* When turning in a quest to an NPC, if they have a new quest available it will be immediately offered.

Good idea.

* Added new Balefort Sewers equipment set bonuses!

I've been hoping and expecting this. Thanks.

* Vyxnaar Helmet of Hate has a new appearance

LOL! since noone has ever seen one, it's kind of a moot point.

* Joining games hosted by friends through your friend list now require a password if one has been set. Previously, you could join your friends' password-protected games without giving a password.

Well, since this is the change that happened with the Join button, I'm sure any feedback is belated. But for what it's worth, it's a good change. I never had to boot a friend, but I have had to stop farming and explain the relation of character level, map level, and drop level in order to not be rude and boot a friend.

* Empty lines no longer appear in the crafting display

Looks good.

Overall impression: an excellent update. I do feel some things got lost in the new character experience, but I love the new mechanism. Mainly, for noobs, I would like to see instructions on applying stats based on equipment, and a little bit of instruction near or around FH:IV Meathead telling them how to work together as a team. GCD takes some getting used to, but it is good.

[CanonicalKoi]

Morawk, I don't care about having a "1337" char, but there are times when I have to solo on level-appropriate maps for my lower-level chars because no friends are on or when I hit "go to" on a quest, I'm dumped in an empty room. I'd like to be able to do that without dying eleventy-billion times. I was always cautious before, pulling one or two enemies instead of rushing in. Now even that frequently results in death, so it becomes "Char Roulette"--enter world, hit quests, hit go to, nobody there, hit next quest, same deal, go to next char. If I run thru the list without finding a group to run a level with, well, I guess I can work or read, or clean the house. Or something other than playing the game.

[Kindread]

oh really... no other mmo requires control layout to be on-screen. keeping an eye on the spell area is very distracting. its different on consoles for the fact that controls are off screen and is a secondary thought process.

Err, this is a touch screen game on a mobile phone platform. The control layout on screen is a necessity.

[xyysw]

If GCD did stay what would be the thing(s) you would change in game to rebalance it again.

Seems like Int Mages(Healers) are affected by this GCD the most.

Heres my wish lists:
1. Drop GCD time to <0.5 sec, and most importantly..
2. Make Revive and Heal not affected by GCD.

[FluffNStuff]

Except there's no way to tell what skills a player has. So you'll start having parties with no revivers/healers. Or you'll have to ask before people join to see what skills they have. And then you'll have people yelling "rev" or "heal" at dps mages who don't even have those skills.
They would need to actually break the class into two in order to lessen the confusion.

But personally, this is the only game I've ever played where Mage ended up being my favorite class to play. And it's because I didn't have to choose between healing and nuking. I would never EVER choose to be a cleric/priest/healing class in any game. I like to be able to attack. But usually mages in most games are too flimsy to survive, so they die all the time. The only reason I like playing Mage in PL is bc they can dish it out AND take it. If I have to choose between one or the other, I'd likely go back to playing my bird or bear.

This would not really be heal/rev or damage/debuf issue. 1 point in rev and x points in heal would still be there. The decisions would be AOE vs Single Target damage and buffs vs debuffs.
AOE vs Single Target:
Taking points from frostbite and drain life and moving to Storms/ Lightning for more AOE, or moving points the other way for higher hitting single target skills.

Buffs vs Debuffs:
For Solo, +1 damage buff = +1 armor debuff, and +1 armor buff = +1 damage debuff, so a Solo mage would focus on buffs, where a group mage would focus on debuffs, since the +1 armor debuff = +1 damage buff for entire group.

[todoparamicelular]

My last thread was accidentally deleted. Let me give you my honest opinion, about global cool down. In my opinion is the worst failure, since the game hit the market. The change is so radical that players like myself that have been playing the game since almost the beginning considerate it unfair. Because, I do try to gain XP yet, but is impossible. I'm being killed even in swamps, aliens, and skelleton dungeons. Cant even pass the front door with Galactic Dungeons. I do understand that is a multiplayer game. But in time to time I do love to play just on my own. And I do have to choose between armor (shield, healing, bluff) or Attack. And I'm adding deads to my characters profile, I was being so careful, but now I'm startting not care any more.

Who was the brain, behind these idea? Please let him know, that our lifestyle now is pure suffering, and boring... because I cant gain xp, so I don't care. What's the point? Everyone its uppset, and let me tell u one more thing.
I love, these game, my thought till yesterday was, this is the best market game I could ever have spent money on, because I do know what money is it worth... but now I don't see the good investment. Sorry, its true. I have 3 character one of each race, and now I'm not playing with any... just chatting with friends.

Great job about the game it self... its really fantastic and unique, but you should probably care about you faithful players, and at least listen to them.

You will see a global discontent, about cool down, but we are afraid of speaking, talking or even mention it. Because the threat of being banned for life... is to real. I do understand... the special cases... but the word is out, and you should listen to it.

Keep up the good work, love new crafting and bone weapons... will be here to read the forum

Yours, almost to the end,

Beatifuly
enchanting as always...

[totumdependeate]

Morawk, I don't care about having a "1337" char, but there are times when I have to solo on level-appropriate maps for my lower-level chars because no friends are on or when I hit "go to" on a quest, I'm dumped in an empty room. I'd like to be able to do that without dying eleventy-billion times. I was always cautious before, pulling one or two enemies instead of rushing in. Now even that frequently results in death, so it becomes "Char Roulette"--enter world, hit quests, hit go to, nobody there, hit next quest, same deal, go to next char. If I run thru the list without finding a group to run a level with, well, I guess I can work or read, or clean the house. Or something other than playing the game.

amen!

most maps there are no groups to even join. Most of us have real lives rather than spend waiting for hours around townes for a group to show up. It's a game on a mobile device. Meant to be "on the go". I'm done. Thanks pl for the fun, before.

[Furyteddy]

I wonder when the next update will be....

[Kindread]

People play a game because the enjoy it. Sure, it may change, but don't blame people who had been playing the game the way it was introduced to them, for not jumping on board when their game is changed drastically from what they fell in love with.

And to those saying people acclimate and get used to changes. No, I still can't find even a fraction of the enjoyment I got from the game back when ao3 was first introduced. And I know many people who feel the same and have also lost interest. So people have every right to be concerned when they see the game changing so drastically.

I never said people should just be content with the changes; I just want them to see it from a different perspective. Change is always hard and uncomfortable because we're creatures of habit and when we're used to something, it's hard to get us to change. But you have to understand that one of the greatest benefits of this game is that the Devs rock and they update release new content faster than any other game I've seen. Now if you guys just stop looking at the small picture (the now) and look at the big picture (the future), you'll see that this benefit of fast content release is also their downfall if things stay stagnant as they are and the game doesn't evolve.

They can just keep adding new maps and raising the level caps. With new maps come newer weapons that are more powerful. With more new powerful weapons they have to scale the bosses up to compensate. Make a few new graphics on weapons and bosses and voilà, new content. We finish all the quests, we hit the level cap, we obtain all the new stuff and then realize, there's nothing to do so we look to PvP and its broke. As overpowered as we are, with the gear scaling up with new content and no change in the game mechanics, PvP would be more broke than ever. The game HAS to evolve. That's the great thing about this game. The Devs are players too and they want to make the best game possible and to do that, they game has to evolve.

[Plasticuproject]

I know a lot of you will view this as complaining but I have a genuine problem. I have a shoddy 3g connection on my old android phone so I usually have a little bit of lag most of the time, but up until now I've been able to manage. Now with the gcd it seems I have ABSOLUTLY no idea when I can hit the skill, when it will take effect or even when it will finish cooling down. I simply CANT play anymore. It's not even up to me, it just doesn't work like this. So because I live in a semi rural area and don't have the cash for a new phone I can't play anymore. So yell at me for complaining but how would you feel about this update if it totally rendered you unable to play a game that you really enjoy? I hope the devs somehow get this under control so I can play again. If not I guess have no choice but to quit.

[Snakespeare]

... there are times when I have to solo on level-appropriate maps for my lower-level chars because no friends are on or when I hit "go to" on a quest, I'm dumped in an empty room. I'd like to be able to do that without dying eleventy-billion times. I was always cautious before, pulling one or two enemies instead of rushing in. Now even that frequently results in death ...

I wonder why my experience is different from yours, Rauen. I have been soloing a lot just because I like to pause a lot. Yesterday, I did a few Sewers runs to see how GCD worked in groups, and found that people are not done learning how to get the most from their characters yet, which made for a lot of deaths. So I went soloing and I liked it. Maybe it's the rythm. The music I listen to has andante as well as presto and adagio, and I think it has slowed down from molto andante to andante moderato, is all. I didn't die more because I used the health pots more, but I used the mana pots less, so it evened out for me. Or maybe it's my bird. I have had mana shortages since they revised all the weapons back in AO2 (when our full Thoth gear turned into useless items, remember?). Now I seem to maintain the blue level in my mana for much longer, and I like that.

I will try my mage tonight. Perhaps then I will experience what you have described.

[Justg]

We'll put out an iteration today that gives you more feedback on when you actually have fired off your skills (instead of waiting for the server to verify it). Hopefully it makes a difference in the way it feels.

[Kindread]

We'll put out an iteration today that gives you more feedback on when you actually have fired off your skills (instead of waiting for the server to verify it). Hopefully it makes a difference in the way it feels.

Thanks for the update JustG. Will let you know how it feels...with level feedback. :D

[Zeus]

We'll put out an iteration today that gives you more feedback on when you actually have fired off your skills (instead of waiting for the server to verify it). Hopefully it makes a difference in the way it feels.

Thanks JustG. Sounds promising.

[xyoz]

justg, i hope you and the STS have listened to all our opinions, and i would like to know what the main reasons were for adding global cooldown

[Echelong]

We'll put out an iteration today that gives you more feedback on when you actually have fired off your skills (instead of waiting for the server to verify it). Hopefully it makes a difference in the way it feels.

I will test that out later and see. Main problem I think goes to mages debuffs and heals are not been used now. Mages use all their 12 skills while birds use 9 or 10. Debuffs expire to soon for them to be effective now and its easier to spam pots than to heal too.

[Hullukko]

If GCD did stay what would be the thing(s) you would change in game to rebalance it again. I'm not suggesting it will stay in its current form but I reckon they probably won't fully remove it either, so I'm trying to gain some ideas from people on what would make GCD more balanced and bearable.

It'd still be a compromise to the wrong direction for the wrong reasons.

Slowing it down is not what I want at all. Any change to that direction is only a question of threshold. The 0.5 is enough for me to stop altogether, .25 might still be sluggish and would drive me away just a tad slower. Making it shorted than an average latency and queue up those presses on skills that aren't blocked by individual cool down and you get pretty much exactly my android experience so far and you'd get rid of the multipressing. But... This was something very much different from prior major changes and I'm afraid multipressing was just an excuse.

I'm a SW developer, I work in the same field as STS. I know why decisions and changes like this are made. Money talks and the prospect of a larger user base form low end devices leave little room but those not accepting it to just walk.

I'm cool with that, their game, but don't, don't, think that I like it. After having enjoyed the game for six months daily and now being forced to look into something else will leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

Just my 2 cents.

[Lesrider]

I never said people should just be content with the changes; I just want them to see it from a different perspective. Change is always hard and uncomfortable because we're creatures of habit and when we're used to something, it's hard to get us to change. But you have to understand that one of the greatest benefits of this game is that the Devs rock and they update release new content faster than any other game I've seen. Now if you guys just stop looking at the small picture (the now) and look at the big picture (the future), you'll see that this benefit of fast content release is also their downfall if things stay stagnant as they are and the game doesn't evolve.

They can just keep adding new maps and raising the level caps. With new maps come newer weapons that are more powerful. With more new powerful weapons they have to scale the bosses up to compensate. Make a few new graphics on weapons and bosses and voilà, new content. We finish all the quests, we hit the level cap, we obtain all the new stuff and then realize, there's nothing to do so we look to PvP and its broke. As overpowered as we are, with the gear scaling up with new content and no change in the game mechanics, PvP would be more broke than ever. The game HAS to evolve. That's the great thing about this game. The Devs are players too and they want to make the best game possible and to do that, they game has to evolve.

Morawk, were you here when ao3 was introduced?
It was challenging, you had to be fast on your feet, every class had to do their part. Before ao3 came out, you didn't really need to know how to play your chars -- I was proof, bc I got all the way to 45 with my bear, not even knowing what "aggro" was or that beckon/taunt were useful skills (I had maybe one point in each, if that.) and I did NOT powerlevel. I played through all the campaigns, not really even watching my xp. Just killing things.
But ao3 changed that. Myself and some other friends made sure to max out all three classes so we could all swap out to whatever class was needed. There was real strategy involved, and it made us completely obsessed.
Then, some people complain it was too hard and they nerfed it (all mobs became easier to kill). They also rebalanced everything, making weapons weaker/slower in order to focus the game more on skills. Now they're going backwards and making skills take the backseat. And you're saying that this back and forth makes it more interesting???
They had a good thing going back then and many people enjoyed it. Now many of those same people do NOT enjoy it (even before GCD). Now they introduce something that doesn't make the game easier or more challenging, just slower. So doesn't appeal to casual players or elite players (except maybe for you).

Change for change's sake is not necessarily a good thing.

[Plasticuproject]

We'll put out an iteration today that gives you more feedback on when you actually have fired off your skills (instead of waiting for the server to verify it). Hopefully it makes a difference in the way it feels.

I hope that makes a real difference in feel and timing. I know you guys are working hard to make this work. I just hope its works out well enough for the both of us to be satisfied.

[Plasticuproject]

We'll put out an iteration today that gives you more feedback on when you actually have fired off your skills (instead of waiting for the server to verify it). Hopefully it makes a difference in the way it feels.

I hope that makes a real difference in feel and timing. I know you guys are working hard to make this work. I just hope its works out well enough for the both of us to be satisfied.

[Dartagnian]

We'll put out an iteration today that gives you more feedback on when you actually have fired off your skills (instead of waiting for the server to verify it). Hopefully it makes a difference in the way it feels.

I hope that means just the shading on the skill rather than just visually enhancing the GCD. If it's a visual enhancement to help us see how good and great the current duration is, then it will be a disappointment to see that after 12k views and 60+ forum pages of suggested fixes or alternatives, actual constructive ones, that this would be the "fix" to all the uproar about the GCD.

Please go back through the posts and look at other suggested fixes. I'm begging you.

[Sterist]

Err, this is a touch screen game on a mobile phone platform. The control layout on screen is a necessity.

precisely. this makes an exception to the mmorpg standard of having GCD. you cant paint all platforms with one brush.

[Laviticus]

Just a note: let's say mages did get divided into dmg and priest. How could a healer pvp? Bad idea, let's just hope for a timely update and fix to all our cool down woes.

[CanonicalKoi]

I wonder why my experience is different from yours, Rauen.

Oh, yeah, I remember the nerfed-Thoth-angst all too well. ;) Worse, I remember pre-nerf AO3 mage auto-target/one-shot. Thankfully, that one got changed, but not before I gave up on mage-ing until recently. No, I'm referring to lower-level chars--in this case, level 15 and level 22 mages. Level 15 was trying Balefort--not pretty. I can tell you this much: my-so-far level 31 Immortal bird? Staying in dry-dock until this settles out one-way or another. :)

[Mothwing]

i just played a run with gcd and i quit because i couldnt take it any longer. it COMPLETELY ruins the flow of the game ESPECIALLY for mages. i am very disapointed and i wish ypu giys would take it away altogether. dont shorten the time, dont tweak it, TAKE IT AWAY.

[Snakespeare]

OK, I'll try my level 19 pally tonight, then. Let's see if I can still solo the goblin stronghold. :)

Pally may be the answer...

[drewcapu]

No more tutorial levels, so I'm gonna miss selling those L2 wands and bracers. lol

I'm not going to comment much on gcd since I only had a chance to do a handful of runs yesterday. In the few runs I was in though, I didn't mind the slight slow-down. It made me really pay attention even more than usual to what everyone else was doing, especially versus bosses. You can see who tries to complete combos which require two different classes. You can see which elves are trying their best to time their heals. There's good reason to perhaps trying a shorter gcd interval, but I think gcd will be something we can get used to. Remember when weapons speed got adjusted?

Emotes are nice. I'm gonna repeat something I mentioned in chat yesterday: It would be cool to have emote combos! Even better if certain emotes/combos/etc made certain enemies (especially bosses) react differently. ie say something different, or even attack/perform differently. With gcd, we actually have more time to use emotes while playing. LOL. I'm kinda curious to find out what gestures are left after the diagonal 3-finger gestures are assigned (presumably to Emote Pack 3).

[Kindread]

precisely. this makes an exception to the mmorpg standard of having GCD. you cant paint all platforms with one brush.

I dunno. This doesn't seem like a strong or relative comparison. The control layout on a touch screen is a physical necessity. There's no choice in the matter. *shrugs*

[Sterist]

I dunno. This doesn't seem like a strong or relative comparison. The control layout on a touch screen is a physical necessity. There's no choice in the matter. *shrugs*

i am not making an argument of where the controls should be. i am simply saying BECAUSE the controls MUST be on the screen, certain standards with these types of games must be forfeit to cope with the limitations of the platform or the player experience goes downhill (>_<)"

[lilbyrdie]

Since it's been pointed out several times that this is the "only" place for feedback on 1.7.1 (despite it being in the announcements and not the feedback forum), here's a link to my post in the feedback forum: http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?23450-I-Was-Mistaken-About-Global-Cool-Down

Several positive comments on that thread. And no, it's not a rant about GCD. I've taken the approach that GCD is here to stay and we should provide feedback on how it's affected game play and how the game can continue to be improved now that we know how GCD feels for ourselves and have, hopefully, had some time to actually use it and see what it does for real, rather than in theory.

On some other aspects of the update:

Pay platinum for revive? Awesome! Thanks. :)

Farts? Disgusting, immature, rude, unpleasant. Please let me block them so I don't have to see or hear about them. (The "gas" effects are nice; the graphical implementation was done well. There's got to be some other way to add some humor. The "whoa" emote has a humorous look. Maybe other silly stuff like that?)

New map? Can't wait to see how the extra space is filled!

Lack of direct map button on login screen? Disorienting, and it means I will always pop in somewhere before going to my real first destination. But it is more streamlined for first-timers.

Lack of quick-play button? Never used it; don't miss it. :)

The new shield buff/debuff icon when my mystery armor is on? Confusing. No idea what it's trying to tell me.

Better support for my 1280x800 tablet screen on the Xoom? Nice. Looks better.

An auction house full of folks whining (and farting)? Sad (and disgusting).

The join button goof? Hope Apple approves the fix ASAP, and unfortunate because now more than ever large groups are better.

The earthquakes on some emotes? Neat effect, but annoying in towns where there are constant earthquakes. And it's tiresome on the eyes. Would like to see it optional.

[Kindread]

Men can be men now with farts. What's wrong with that? Prove your manliness and let her rip! Btw, lvl55 pink Raid Roach Replacement Trousers on CS for 1 million if you happen to rip a hole in your pants with a big one.

[Dyclonious]

Why a global cool down?

1) It doesn't balance anything, because it applies to everybody.
2) It makes combos nearly impossible.
3) Plenty of other ways to buff/nerf things.
- (PvE) Increase the hp, dmg, and defense of mobs & also add new def/offensive abilities. Add de-buffs to players when entering a more difficult encounter.
- (PvP) Make it easier to farm high quality gear. Adjust dmg output scaling. Add vulnerability after x amount of time/kills.
4)All spells & abilities are instant cast, add in latency, throw in GCD, and you have a headache.
5) A GCD on buffs? Takes a mage a good 3 or 4 seconds to buff. Which by that time his whole party just died & or he lost the duel.

Conclusion:

A GCD mostly forces users to button mash their touch screens so they can get off an ability as soon as its ready. Before, it was a battle of quickness of mind, combo decisions, split second buffs! Reaction times were everything, and it was exhilarating!
Now, one spends more time on tapping their touch screen than they do on actual game-play. Or to even enjoy the game, the environment, and community...
To be honest, I feel confident that these problems will be addressed. It would be pure negligence otherwise, and I have faith that these Devs aren't like that. They did make a freakin' awesome game, remember...

[Sterist]

morawk did you catch my last post? :rolleyes:

[BlazeMystic]

I haven't really had a lot of time to try out the game since 1.7.1 went live and forgive me if this comment has been made before. I tried out a lower level dungeon to see what all the GCD fuss was about and yes I can see that the game is slower. However I noticed that in addition to the GCD, skills still have their own independent cool down time's on top of this as well. So if my mage casts firestorm, GCD kicks in and no skills can be used for that 0.5 secs. But when that is over although the skills become active again, firestorm is still undergoing its own cool down time so it can't yet be used. What would happen if that part of the cool down was removed and just the GCD of 0.5 sec or whatever it is, is kept in place. If any of what I've said makes sense lol.

[vol]

We'll put out an iteration today that gives you more feedback on when you actually have fired off your skills (instead of waiting for the server to verify it). Hopefully it makes a difference in the way it feels.

I don't have a problem knowing when I fire my skills. My issues are the speed with which skills are fired off. It doesn't seem like this iteration is going to help mages, but I guess I should wthhold my judgement. :)

[Doubletime]

I have now spent several hours playing through all the sewer boards using all three character classes. Overall, I am still not entirely happy with the effect GCD has had on the game play experience. But I have learned to deal with most of the issues related to game tactics. However, there are a couple items that I think are beyond simply adapting to tactics in game play and go more towards features of the game that were implimented prior to the GCD.

First, I want to make one general comment on how GCD has effected my ability to play the game. Prior to the GCD I was able to pick up my phone during any five minutes of free time and run a board in just about any PUG with pretty high success. While I am pretty hardcore about playing, and do so a couple hours a day, the GCD currently has caused the game to lose some of its casual appeal. Party make up is important currently. Not any old game will do, unless you are lucky enough to get into a well balanced group. I miss that part of the game because, even as someone who plays a lot, it is now difficult just to pick up the game in your spare moments and run a board, regardless of party makeup, with a high rate of success and within a realitively short amount of time.

Second, I will mention are elixers. Prior to GCD, there was a lot of comfort in using an elixers, were it for XP, damage, tank pot, etc., because most boards could be finished or mostly completed prior to the expiration of the elixer. It was never really a problem having to use multiple elixers on a level unless there was a death or it truely was an elite level dungeon such as the Shadow Caves. Now, however, because of the additional time being added to game play due to GCD and a reduction in party speed, I am finding it common for elixers to expire with a significant amount of a board remaining. I hope that the time a pot last is re-examined to see if the current slower game may warrant some additional time. I don't mind purchase pots, and honestly those little red damage pots are one of my favorite features in the game. However, I would hope that pots were originally introduced with the expectation that those pots would last for most, if not all, of a board in a proficient party. I don't know that this is currently the case due to slower game play on a whole.

Third, is the difficultly I had as both a mage and bear using my skills effectively, because of the different functions these skills serve and the roll that each skill plays in a group. It is currently difficult to buff, debuff, and attack without a coordinated plan. I think these goes back to the casual nature of the game and the fact that such coordination doesn't normally exist outside of players that play together on a regular basis. As a bear, self buffing prior to engaging the mobs is fine. However, by the time debuffs are executed, the offensive skills are often less effective because they cannot be fired in rapid succession. Similarly, the mage doesn't seem to be able to execute healing, debuffing, or buffing while trying to effectively deal damage to mobs. It is almost as if you have to choose whether to help your party stay alive through health, or to try and help in mob damage. Unless there are multiple mages in a party concentrating on a specific role, it simply isn't possible to do all the things that mages were meant to do as the game is currently set up. My archer seems the least effected by the change. Mostly because, other than rapid fire kill shots using skills, the skill set requires use only in certain situations. Therefore the need to rapid press those skills is just not as prevelant in game play.

I would hope that the solution is a reduction in the cool down period. This would likely deal with many of the game speed issues and skill usage issues without the need for a major rebalance. It would also still effectively eliminate the multitap problems and hopefully be able to address the client issues caused by so many instantaneous skills being used during game play. At this point, I can just say that the game feels very different to me and I have lost some of the enjoyment that I use to have from the ease of play and casual nature of the game. I hope there is a way to balance all of these things so that a happy medium can be found that works from both a client stand point and a player stand point. It is still the best mobile game I have ever played and I can't wait to see what you devs will come up with next.

[Dyclonious]

6) Also, adding a GCD is never as simple as BAM! 0.5 seconds for all abilities!
The reason it works for other MMO's is because their abilities have cast times & a KEYBOARD!

You just can't incorporate a GCD into a touch screen game... a touch screen game with all instant cast abilities... its driving us crazy.

7) If your dead set on the GCD, than please make it 0.2 seconds at maximum. If all your trying to do is prevent an ability spam then that would do the trick.

[Gluttony]

We'll put out an iteration today that gives you more feedback on when you actually have fired off your skills (instead of waiting for the server to verify it). Hopefully it makes a difference in the way it feels.

Has anyone suggested an action cue? Hit shattering scream followed by blast shot to put the action into a cue bank, GCD would still be in effect and the in cue action would fire after the 0.5 second cool down. I've seen other games like this (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), I know its an old game reference but it's what came to mind.

[Mothwing]

Just take it away lmao

[Dyclonious]

Ok new idea! Keep the GCD, reduce it to 0.2 seconds, & add a ability queue.

Example:

My enchantress casts lightning, the GCD starts but I hit Firestorm before it is ready. Firestorm is put in a queue and initiated imediatly after the GCD clock is up.

Ability Queue, plain and simple... run with it.

[Dyclonious]

lol Gluttony we both just had same idea

[Gluttony]

Ok new idea! Keep the GCD, reduce it to 0.2 seconds, & add a ability queue.

Example:

My enchantress casts lightning, the GCD starts but I hit Firestorm before it is ready. Firestorm is put in a queue and initiated imediatly after the GCD clock is up.

Ability Queue, plain and simple... run with it.


lol Gluttony we both just had same idea

It's a decent idea I think. Devs said it's here to stay so we should all think of a way to modify it and make it something we can all be happy with. A cue would allow people to keep combos in line, allow people not to have to stare at the skills all the time in anticipation of the cool down period to be over. The only issue is that mages won't be able to effectively heal at the appropriate time, there would have to be cancel or only one to two skills in cue at a time.

[drewcapu]

skill queue is fine with me as long as there's an option to disable it.

i tend to try to finish combos. but if i see a combo get finished before my gcd is up, i'm going to want to do a different skill than one which is queued.

[Mothwing]

No, its not a decent idea. I will NEVER get used to it. Stop this talk about reducing the time. JUST TAKE IT AWAY!!!!!

[cynic]

is gcd here to stay?
Is that confirmed?
if so there goes my lovely game.
i state if the gcd stays im done with it, bye spend money bye game. im totaly pissed, i tried and tried playing like this (never finishing any run), i cant play like this and havin fun at the same time. it gives me a splitting headache due to the fact i need to look at the skills all the time.
the game is so slow, there is no more action.
I really loved this game, but with 1 patch all that got lost.

Not playing anymore untill they fix this and if not bye all

[drewcapu]

Try playing zoomed in

:)

[Gluttony]

No, its not a decent idea. I will NEVER get used to it. Stop this talk about reducing the time. JUST TAKE IT AWAY!!!!!

Oh, so we're going to start flaming up in here... cause I can flame with the best of them *flame on* So I have a bad idea because I'm trying to work with what the devs have given me, but I could do so much better if I came up with such winning ideas as "Just take it away" the God Mothwing has spoken, and it shall be done! C'mon the devs want it, they will work on it and have stated that they are not planning on getting rid of it. Not sure who you are, how old you are, but perhaps you have not learned in life yet that yelling and throwing a tantrum won't get you everything you want (no matter how much fun it may be).

[Mothwing]

is gcd here to stay?
Is that confirmed?
if so there goes my lovely game.
i state if the gcd stays im done with it, bye spend money bye game. im totaly pissed, i tried and tried playing like this (never finishing any run), i cant play like this and havin fun at the same time. it gives me a splitting headache due to the fact i need to look at the skills all the time.
the game is so slow, there is no more action.
I really loved this game, but with 1 patch all that got lost.

Not playing anymore untill they fix this and if not bye all

+10 mothballs I SO AGREE! I will quit devs and ive put a lot of money into this game so youve just lost a great customer

[BlazeMystic]

Ok new idea! Keep the GCD, reduce it to 0.2 seconds, & add a ability queue.

Example:

My enchantress casts lightning, the GCD starts but I hit Firestorm before it is ready. Firestorm is put in a queue and initiated imediatly after the GCD clock is up.

Ability Queue, plain and simple... run with it.


Perhaps I'm being dense but I cannot see how a queue like system will make a better playing experience. You still have to wait for skills to cool down and on top of that I think it would be annoying if skills stack up and you just have to wait until each is cast. What happens if you changed your mind after pressing that skill and it goes into a queue and you didn't want that skill to stack after all? You might press a number of attack skills, which go into a queue only a while later you may realise that you in fact needed to heal instead but can't because the other skills would have to come first. Instead, I think either the GCD times could be reduced a bit or each individual skill cool down time that occurs in addition to GCD be reduced as I've mentioned earlier.

[Mothwing]

Perhaps I'm being dense but I cannot see how a queue like system will make a better playing experience. You still have to wait for skills to cool down and on top of that I think it would be annoying if skills stack up and you just have to wait until each is cast. What happens if you changed your mind after pressing that skill and it goes into a queue and you didn't want that skill to stack after all? You might press a number of attack skills, which go into a queue only a while later you may realise that you in fact needed to heal instead but can't because the other skills would have to come first. Instead, I think either the GCD times could be reduced a bit or each individual skill cool down time that occurs in addition to GCD be reduced as I've mentioned earlier.

Thank you.

[Gluttony]

Lmao at this post. Im so pissed at GCD i am willing to quit if they dont fix it. It's completely ruined this game and thats really too bad. Would you rather stick with GCD with reduced time but still affects our play? Or go back to the good ol' days and have a regular gameplay thats comfortable to the players. And whay difference does it make what age i am? Lmao

I believe your age matters because perhaps it is showing just a bit here. We all get that YOU are upset over the GCD system, and YOU are going to take your business elsewhere if YOU don't get what YOU want. Fact is that it's been proven time and time again that the devs are here for us and work hard to get the job done. They are going to take constructive criticism and work it into something we can all enjoy. So, unless YOU have something useful to say perhaps YOU should wait and see how this plays out.

[BeardedBear]

I dont think skill queuing would be a good idea. Pretty much takes the strategy out of everything, as well as timing. You might as well set auto-attack to automatically attack anything in range for you too. :)

[FluffNStuff]

A que system would make it worse. What happens when you have skills qued up and the mob is dead?

[Justg]

We've already seen much better loop times. Combat feels more paced to us that have been playing with it for a few days. It is much more strategic in PvP. It is here to stay, although we may tweak timings, mechanics, and the balance implications of it, particularly with regards to the rate of content consumption. We have an update coming this afternoon that gives you much better feedback on when something has been fired so you don't have to repeatedly tap it.

[Wrap]

Sweet! Just got to some wifi and updated to 1.7.1. Looking good =D

[Gluttony]

I dont think skill queuing would be a good idea. Pretty much takes the strategy out of everything, as well as timing. You might as well set auto-attack to automatically attack anything in range for you too. :)

Isn't that what the people are complaing about losing? Losing the ability to spam and auto-attack at will?


A que system would make it worse. What happens when you have skills qued up and the mob is dead?

Usually when there isn't a target, the que cancels out.

[Cinco]

I'm not a huge fan of queueing skills. I've done it in other MMO games and the features that evolve from a basic queue system don't maintain a very strategic or challenging experience.

[Gluttony]

I'm not a huge fan of queueing skills. I've done it in other MMO games and the features that evolve from a basic queue system don't maintain a very strategic or challenging experience.

Ouch, shot down by the man...

[Mothwing]

I believe your age matters because perhaps it is showing just a bit here. We all get that YOU are upset over the GCD system, and YOU are going to take your business elsewhere if YOU don't get what YOU want. Fact is that it's been proven time and time again that the devs are here for us and work hard to get the job done. They are going to take constructive criticism and work it into something we can all enjoy. So, unless YOU have something useful to say perhaps YOU should wait and see how this plays out.

Other than me, quite frankly not many other people are too happy with it either lmao

[BlazeMystic]

I'm not a huge fan of queueing skills. I've done it in other MMO games and the features that evolve from a basic queue system don't maintain a very strategic or challenging experience.

As a Brit, we are used to queues - we queue for everything, in fact I'd go far as to say we are drawn to them like a moth is to a light. Queues are never fun. lol

[CanonicalKoi]

OK, I'll try my level 19 pally tonight, then. Let's see if I can still solo the goblin stronghold. :)

Pally may be the answer...

Might well be, Snake. I've never run a pally, so I can't say. I haven't tried my baby bear yet either, just the 50. My baby birds die with great frequency soloing appropriate levels. :(

[Major]

One thing i don't like about the gcd is when you click your spells, all of the spells go black then fill back up like it would normally for using a spell, it can get a bit confuzing this way not knowing what spell you just used. They should all just go shaded rather than shaded and fill up...if this makes any sense lol.

[bravemenrun]

When the GCD was first announce a month ago I responded that I would wait and see, that it might barely be noticable. I've already spoken my opinion on the implementation. But I'll add this, if you guys can find a balance between avoiding lag while maintaining as close to the original feel as possible, that might work.

[budtugley]

I like everything about the update except for the censorship and the global cooldown. I can understand and deal with the censorship, but the global cooldown has really hurt the gameplay experience for me, especially for my mage character. I used to vary the speed at which I casted spells depending upon the relative strength of the monster being battled. It was also a fun challenge having to manage the mana drain with rapid fire spell casting. Now I feel like a metronome casting a spell every second. And because of my high mana regen, casting a spell every second no longer drains the mana as fast. So now spell casting is boring and monotonous. And I have to agree with other users who say that it is much difficult to kill bosses without having full control of spell casting with global cooldown. And yes, I am very aware of what each spell does and when to use each spell. In the Alien Oasis it took me over three minutes to kill a boss when I was only able to cast one spell at a time. As I said before, this particular melee got VERY boring and monotonous. One spell a second means 180 spell casts for 3 minutes. Blech... Makes me want to use the new Puke emote over and over again....

[Sterist]

We've already seen much better loop times. Combat feels more paced to us that have been playing with it for a few days. It is much more strategic in PvP. It is here to stay, although we may tweak timings, mechanics, and the balance implications of it, particularly with regards to the rate of content consumption. We have an update coming this afternoon that gives you much better feedback on when something has been fired so you don't have to repeatedly tap it.

GCD has in part been implemented to promote the consumption of platinum and generate revenue with the new full-revive that cannot be hidden.

Confirm or Deny? :p

cannot deny that this causes more deaths, so that's what it comes down to ^^^^^^

[Vanced]

... another thing dawned on me after playing a little since my last post and this may be what is being addressed today, but how about a simple color change instead of the all greyed out from skills on recharge vs. GCD .... might help , dawned in me watching buff bar more to see what was still active.

Free extra virtual 2 gold...
~Elvix

[Stephnee]

Ok new idea! Keep the GCD, reduce it to 0.2 seconds, & add a ability queue.

Example:

My enchantress casts lightning, the GCD starts but I hit Firestorm before it is ready. Firestorm is put in a queue and initiated imediatly after the GCD clock is up.

Ability Queue, plain and simple... run with it.

i already had this idea and posted it 30 pages ago and no one commented on it so i thought that no one agreed that it would be a good idea o_O..glad someone else is on the same page as me:)

[Blayzn]

Folks, can I suggest an additional tact, to assist the Dev Team?

I think there is, almost, global agreement that GCD hasn't been the best, and that whilst the rest of the update has been very much welcomed there are a few tweaks, we would like. All that to one side.....

In order for the Dev Team to get some really good, constructive feedback, how about we all have a go at answering the following question, as I suspect it may allow them to be armed with a more rounded approach to solving/progressing the GCD issue.

If GCD was to stay in its current format, what other changes would you like to see to the game to make it work.....?

A few people have started to touch on this in previous posts, but I have a feeling that the community's answers to this may throw up some other alternatives which could help balance things and meet what they are trying to achieve.

So, I'll go first shall I. If the reliance on skills is going to continue to be reduced, I'd like to see more balance brought to weapons and their effectiveness. Increased weapon damage and/or Mob/Boss reduced armour/health.

Anyone else got any thoughts? Please don't say get rid of GCD. Constructive suggestions on what changes would be required to make this new GCD work better..

I have never really posted before this change as I typically lurk. This change has changed that. I agree, Devs need constructive criticism, however, what you are suggesting is that we try to fix the problem we now have, which was to fix a problem (in my opinion) that didn't exist. I used an analogy in a previous post for old timers like myself of "New Coke." What did they do when people went through the roof? They brought back "Coke Classic" and eventually dropped the new formula and went back to regular Coke. That is what I believe needs to happen here. Granted, this is a great game with really involved Devs...we are only human, and sometimes good intentions have bad results. I strongly feel this way about the GCD.

Don't try to fix the broken fix. Just remove the problem.

If I understand correctly, people (iPhone, iPad) could hit skill buttons at the same time and oneshot kill in PvP. I did not know that as I run on a Droid. Also, I could care less about PvP. if that was a problem, surely there would be a way to disable this feature or implement a cool down so minuscule that it would render that option ineffective. The gaming experience has changed and why you see so many (admittedly non-constructive) posts that say something like "Remove GCD, it bleh, bleh, bleh" is because it has emotionally affected so many and changed the thing they loved... me included. Just because some can't articulate why, exactly they don't like it, should not dismiss the criticism. I have seen many, many first time posters who feel so strongly that they have come to the forum to post something...even if it is a flame.

Maybe I don't know enough of the reasons for why the change was needed, I'll admit that. Maybe things needed to change for some technical reasons, I'll admit that too. But the indisputable fact remains: PL as most have come to know (and love) it, has changed and every single post both for and against should be considered. The fact that most are against is telling... Even more telling are those old-timers like myself who have been disillusioned in the past (with other changes to games) who have given up and said "so-long"... I don't want that to be the case here, it is too good of a game...which is why I keep posting my opinion in various forums (hopefully I have the right one this time).

[lilbyrdie]

We've already seen much better loop times. Combat feels more paced to us that have been playing with it for a few days.

Loop times? What do you mean?


It is much more strategic in PvP. It is here to stay, although we may tweak timings, mechanics, and the balance implications of it, particularly with regards to the rate of content consumption. We have an update coming this afternoon that gives you much better feedback on when something has been fired so you don't have to repeatedly tap it.

Looking forward to it!


I'm not a huge fan of queueing skills. I've done it in other MMO games and the features that evolve from a basic queue system don't maintain a very strategic or challenging experience.

Are you saying it's challenging now (PvE, not PvP)? I find I just sit there and watch the GCD bar move up and tap as quickly as I can when it's cleared. Feels more like Whack-a-Mole than strategy or challenging (though, now that I mention it, it's not that different than before -- but before there was usually only one choice opened up at once, now there are often several). I've advocated for a queue system before, but done right it's probably overly complex on both the UI front and the back end. I haven't convinced myself that a queue would be better in all circumstances, just some.

That said, before the GCD, it was like a queue -- just not visual. You could mash out a bunch of stuff, but the order in which it came out was a bit unknown. At least now combos seem very reliable! :) (Just guessing, but I'd say that my skill output, although much less, is far more efficient.)

But the point of the queue would be to be able to switch your focus over to the weapon, party stats, or even the main screen to watch. But that focus on the skill buttons isn't a GCD issue so much as it is the style of game that we have now. The skill buttons have always been the primary focus. I think I have to pay more attention to them now.

I suspect that if skills could go higher in level or if there were more skills such that at whatever the max level is you could only have about half of the total skill points allocated, there would actually be a more clear route to using just a subset of skills. Currently, I think everyone (of a high enough level) is trying to us all skills. The focus on having all available and usable may be part of the issue. If everyone had to pick their top 5, GCD would be taken very differently, I think. (But don't get me wrong; I'm not suggesting that change... just giving it as a counter-example explanation of some behavior.)

[StompArtist]

For the people who are struggle with the GCD. Try something and see if it helps. I noticed that I had serious issues playing with it until I did this experiment.

Every time the global cool down flashes watch to see if you change direction while moving or stop entirely.
Collapse the skills and see if this will improve your game play. It did improve it greatly for me.

If you are a visual person your issue may not be the GCD, it is simply how loud the GCD indication is and it makes you focus entirely on it for a few moments, just enough for you to get in trouble while fighting.

I believe that a transparency setting on the cool down animation could solve it entirely. When I had my skill collapse I could easily do my combos and the game play was not noticeably affected either. The problem resides in the skill interface not the cool down time!

Try it!

[Hayabusaz]

Devs , please MAKE A SEWER KING SET BONUS !! :'(

[cajunboiz]

I agree 110% about the gcd, I Jus log on to talk to friends. The gcd makes me feel like I'm not making any progress I Jus sit there and watch the cooldown very boring.

[Kindread]

GCD has in part been implemented to promote the consumption of platinum and generate revenue with the new full-revive that cannot be hidden.

Confirm or Deny? :p

cannot deny that this causes more deaths, so that's what it comes down to ^^^^^^

This post is a fail.

[dankndecay]

Devs,
First off, thanks for the hard work and the update. As mentioned by many other members, a large part of the appeal of PL is its fast pace while still having great depth in customization and advancement. I'm grateful for the intention of adding the GCD to improve performance and game play, but as you've seen from the many comments, the current implementation is somewhat antithetical to the original intent. I'm sitting on 5 lvl 55 and I'm dreading the time it will take to level them to 56 with the new GCD. I have faith and high hopes that you will find a good solution to the GCD issue.

I have some of suggestions as to possible modification that may help.

1)Add items that can reduce the GCD. Or maybe allow weapon speed to affect the GCD.
2)Make GCD triggered by mana through put instead of single spell. You have a window of 2-3sec to spend say 50 mana then GCD kicks in. This way we can still have burst but not go hog wild and use up all our spells in one chain/insta cast.
3)Use the first person shooter energy weapon model, fire too long or too fast your weapon over heats and you sit on a super long GCD. This will force player to use control over button mashing.

That's all I've got for now. Hopefully I can come up with some other ideals for you guys. Thanks again for all your work.

[Akaee]

Hayabusaz is right sewer bonus should be in. Promised was à set with THE 56 helmet, since that is coming from prince it matches well with sewer king etc.

[Kindread]

Devs,
First off, thanks for the hard work and the update. As mentioned by many other members, a large part of the appeal of PL is its fast pace while still having great depth in customization and advancement. I'm grateful for the intention of adding the GCD to improve performance and game play, but as you've seen from the many comments, the current implementation is somewhat antithetical to the original intent. I'm sitting on 5 lvl 55 and I'm dreading the time it will take to level them to 56 with the new GCD. I have faith and high hopes that you will find a good solution to the GCD issue.

I have some of suggestions as to possible modification that may help.

1)Add items that can reduce the GCD. Or maybe allow weapon speed to affect the GCD.
2)Make GCD triggered by mana through put instead of single spell. You have a window of 2-3sec to spend say 50 mana then GCD kicks in. This way we can still have burst but not go hog wild and use up all our spells in one chain/insta cast.
3)Use the first person shooter energy weapon model, fire too long or too fast your weapon over heats and you sit on a super long GCD. This will force player to use control over button mashing.

That's all I've got for now. Hopefully I can come up with some other ideals for you guys. Thanks again for all your work.

Now this is what I call good feedback. Stated concerns, feelings, and offered suggestions and alternatives which are pretty friggin good. Very nice!

[ardonemis]

please remove gcd !! I loved this game.. until the patch. I tried some levels and was very frustrated.
I dont think i will play longer with this gcd in place. PLEASE CHANGE!

[Rhudien]

I'm confused, why did they implement the gcd? Some say it's froma problem on the iPad, some say it's because players were complaining about getting killed too fast in pvp(which seems like a stupid reason to me). Which is it?

[Justg]

GCD should feel much snappier now, give it a try and let us know here: http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?23491-1.7.1-Content-Update-%2857007%29