1.7.1 Content Update (57007)

[asommers]

Global Cool Down: Added immediate activation indicator (instead of waiting for server verification).
Fixed players not being able to respec skills if they have 0 Platinum
Added World Map button (globe icon) to Enter World screen
Added friends list button (friends icon) to Enter World screen
Removed Earn Free Platinum from Enter World screen and hooked up Tapjoy dialog to the Earn Free Platinum button in the Platinum Store
All of the 'Fart Pack' sound effects now have significant fall-off so that distant players hear a much softer sound effect than close players.
'Puke' sound effects are now much softer at distance from the puker.
The camera shake on the "Big Breakfast" emote has a much shorter fall-off range so that it does not affect the cameras of distant players.
The mysterious 'shield' icon (that appeared on the HUD when wearing certain armor and shield combinations) no longer appears.
Players now splash-down in the Oasis Towne healing waters (when arriving via the Map).
Added text to the My Account screen that describes the benefits of registering an account for unregistered accounts
Fixed account registration problem when using upper-case letters in the email address
You can now purchase the translated Mystery Weapon recipe of your choice once you have completed the first run-through of the untranslated Mystery Weapon quest chain.
iPad: Fixed dark skill issue on hud

[Akaee]

First, ty for update!

[Doubletime]

All good stuff. Thanks for the quick fixes. And seeing you in town was funny. After two seconds I couldn't see you any more because of the giant hoard on top of you. Funny stuff.

[Junside]

Yay! Maybe less rage quitters now.

[Redbridge]

GCD feels quicker.....???

just received a system message;
"SYSTEM: Please give GCD another try... It should feel much snappier

[Justg]

GCD should feel much snappier... let us know.

[CappinClutch]

Bout to find out...

[Kalielle]

Thank you for adding the world map and friends list icons! This is perfect - those are the two places I usually go to when I log.

Jumping straight into the pool in AO town is funny. But the sound effect of the healing is a little distracting - especially because it seems to repeat like 10 times for every person who joins the town. I'd vote for removing it and just leaving the splash and icon next to the user's name as indicators of the healing power, they should be enough.

Not sure I understand what's different about cooldown now - I guess the fix was to make the buttons feel more responsive? Doesn't seem much different to be honest but I'm off to run a map to try it out.

Still quite a lot of farting noises in Balefort CS area... :/

[Durnam]

GCD feels about twice as fast....

[CappinClutch]

Nope...GCD seems no different...until I can t-t-t-tap my skills, still major fail. IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT!!! shoulda left well enough alone...

[Corpser]

Thank u devs

[Olli Walli]

Feels better. I can roll through my skills now. Not perfect, but better.

[xyoz]

i still think it needs to be like 0.25sec quicker, then i would be happy with the compromise, it has really made birds suck, and since i am a mage all of a sudden i feel overpowered, i want there to be less mages about and more birds, because i enjoyed the challenge

so maybe having the gcd faster would mean birds are stronger but still unable to multi
thanks
xyoz

[StompArtist]

I noticed a big improvement when I collapse my skills to 4. If they are expanded the cool down animation is very distracting to me and causes me to struggle while fighting. Would it be possible to have a transparency option / setting for the shading on the GCD indication or to disable the fill effect on it? I think that would help a lot, I am convinced that a lot of people complaining about it stems from how "loud" the animation is, it grabs too much attention since it is bolder and darker than most the environment or skill effects.

Thank you.

[Artemis]

GCD feels even longer. Not by much but surely not slower.

[Junside]

Nope...GCD seems no different...until I can t-t-t-tap my skills, still major fail. IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT!!! shoulda left well enough alone...

It is faster. If not, it may be your device. Sit in town and try it out. Buffs GCD-affected cooldowns feel faster than active skills.

[Pandamoni]

Can't wait to get home and try it out!

I appreciate the addition of the buttons to the enter world screen.

I've been been withholding my opinion about the GCD because I want to really give it a chance but I did get pretty bored playing yesterday. I'm hoping that this fix makes it less clunky. I was able to execute combos and such but it was so slow going that I just couldn't stay focused. I'll be back to comment after I've played a bit with this change.

[LADYHADASSA]

Much much better thank you all..

Offers more advil...and a pillow...

[Blayzn]

I have to say, there are so many cool things about the update. Really. The "feel" of the game, graphics, all very awesome. BUT... Just ran Plasma Pyramid (which I can do almost in my sleep...and have done in fact once or twice). My point. I know it, inside-out. I know how to run it, when to fire spells, etc. Solo. (this is not to say I am in anyway an expert player, just that it is the only place I really farm for gold -- in fact, I'd probably be laughed at if you could see me run it, which is why I have it locked)

GCD still had me off my game (I actually had to use healing potions) and bosses took much longer. I don't want to flame. Really and truly. But is the GCD really necessary, and does it need to be tweaked to fix it!? What exactly does it fix? Maybe that would help me understand and if it has to stay, offer some type of constructive suggestion(s).

[ardonemis]

It is no fun at all.. GCD still is pure PAIN -- Nothing else !!! No FUN !!
I had to use the double amount of elexirs !! In a group with 4 Mages LEVEL55 + 56
Are you doing this for your money only? Why this "update" ?

[FluffNStuff]

The main effect is half a second is now actually half a second, not half a second + server delay. Much more snappy ;)

[Rhudien]

Nope...GCD seems no different...until I can t-t-t-tap my skills, still major fail. IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT!!! shoulda left well enough alone...

I agree 100% PL is(maybe was) my favourite game of all time. And one of the best parts was the fast paced action, and being able to cast my aoe spells and then mana shield right after to stop me from dieng. Which I simply can't do anymore. The world map and friends list icons are great in the main menu. Those are what I always used when I logged in, so tyvm for that. But with the gcd, sewers is painfully tedious, and bandit stronghold is significantly harder because I guess you can't pull just 1 of them anymore. Everything else in the update I absolutely love except for the gcd. I guess you guys made it faster? But there really seems to be little to no difference. I spend half the time playing staring at the cooldown to make sure I can use my next spell, and that takes away a lot of fun. Playing the game kind of seems like work now.. Luckily I'm a paladin, so I don't die very easily, otherwise I would, from having to look at the cooldown constantly. I'm sure other classes have a much harder time. My favourite thing was being able to run headfirst into a room of baddies and blow them away with spells like a nuke. And it just isn't the same..

[Kindread]

Wow, this change made a night and day difference. I really like the GCD in this incarnation. It is much smoother now. Thanks for the quick update!

[Rhudien]

Oh and another thing, why do we even have to have the gcd? I just don't understand, and even though it's a little faster, it's still extremely tedious to play now.

I appreciate the hard work you guys at spacetime have put into this game, and you've never disappointed me before, only amazed, but now I gotta say I'm a little dissapointed =[

[Siejo]

Could the GCD time be device specific? I am playing using an iPad and it feels fine to me. I don't feel a difference in spell casting. Then again my iPad is only using 3gb of the 16gb hahaha. Just trying to help narrow it down for the Devs. Post what devices you are using so they can get an idea exactly who is being affected by long times.

[Kindread]

I agree 100% PL is(maybe was) my favourite game of all time. And one of the best parts was the fast paced action, and being able to cast my aoe spells and then mana shield right after to stop me from dieng. Which I simply can't do anymore. The world map and friends list icons are great in the main menu. Those are what I always used when I logged in, so tyvm for that. But with the gcd, sewers is painfully tedious, and bandit stronghold is significantly harder because I guess you can't pull just 1 of them anymore. Everything else in the update I absolutely love except for the gcd. I guess you guys made it faster? But there really seems to be little to no difference. I spend half the time playing staring at the cooldown to make sure I can use my next spell, and that takes away a lot of fun. Playing the game kind of seems like work now.. Luckily I'm a paladin, so I don't die very easily, otherwise I would, from having to look at the cooldown constantly. I'm sure other classes have a much harder time. My favourite thing was being able to run headfirst into a room of baddies and blow them away with spells like a nuke. And it just isn't the same..

You can still have that experience of running into a pile of mobs and nuking them to hell. Just go to Glumdoll Cemetary and farm Vyxnaar and nuke those bastards!

[Phoenixking]

Oh and another thing, why do we even have to have the gcd? I just don't understand, and even though it's a little faster, it's still extremely tedious to play now.

I appreciate the hard work you guys at spacetime have put into this game, and you've never disappointed me before, only amazed, but now I gotta say I'm a little dissapointed =[

Same here i gave it a try but it was such a bore for me so i came here it did get fatser but i got to admit.....i prefer to have no gcd at all

[AnotherAzi]

Really appreciate the prompt response by the Devs. GCD is definitely better but still not quite there yet. Feels like a small tweak (shorter cooldown) would satisfy most people. Change to have only live skills flash gcd definitely helps.

[Kindread]

Oh and another thing, why do we even have to have the gcd? I just don't understand, and even though it's a little faster, it's still extremely tedious to play now.

I appreciate the hard work you guys at spacetime have put into this game, and you've never disappointed me before, only amazed, but now I gotta say I'm a little dissapointed =[

Cinco answered your question in a thread regarding the need for GCD.

[darkerelf]

It seems a little better, but you should make it .25 faster. A side note, you should change to the color of GCD so it does not distract the eye. My true opinion which I played the game day in and day out, and I haven't missed a day yet is please literally take away GCD. I use to think i was a decent pure dex bird pvp player but I'm getting owned by mages left and right now. I had little problems with them before, now it almost seems impossible. I still hate it please just take it out, no GCD..

[Lesrider]

I still find myself staring at my skills. Before GCD, i could see each skill's CD out of the corner of my eye, so didnt need to stare at it the whole time. Not the case now. And my finger wants to tap skills, but I have to stop it. Just does not feel right.
And that's just in town...

I think if skills are going to be cut back like this, our weapons need to be much more effective and/or add passive skills so we're not completely relying on these active skills to get through a dungeon.

[Yvonnel]

The GCD still seems a little excessive. While I can manage effectively (after several play throughs) it is just slowing me down. I have tried to do my normal log in run plasma one time and log out. Generally easy to do in less than 6 mins to clear solo. The best I can do now is about 8.

I am working to try and get comfortable with it. Anyways no worries on my part. You guys rock and you will get it sorted out.

[Kindread]

There's no point in requesting for it to be removed. They've already stated that it's here to stay. Start adapting to it while they're tweaking it and rebalancing the mechanics. You'll be back to owning people in no time.

[darkerelf]

Nope...GCD seems no different...until I can t-t-t-tap my skills, still major fail. IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT!!! shoulda left well enough alone...

No GCD, very well said. Please just take out GCD, I believe it is a fail.

[Phoenixking]

Whaaaaaaaaat GCD to STAY if its like this i would rather just quit

[Kindread]

I still find myself staring at my skills. Before GCD, i could see each skill's CD out of the corner of my eye, so didnt need to stare at it the whole time. Not the case now. And my finger wants to tap skills, but I have to stop it. Just does not feel right.
And that's just in town...

I think if skills are going to be cut back like this, our weapons need to be much more effective and/or add passive skills so we're not completely relying on these active skills to get through a dungeon.

It will take awhile for your muscle memory and timing to sync up with GCD but it will happen. You can't just try the new update for a couple runs and then say it doesn't work. I really do believe we can adapt to this latest iteration. I went through a few runs and it actually feels really good. Once I got the timing, it started to feel as if I was rolling into my next skill without having to stare at the skill map. I like it.

[xyoz]

gcd still needs to be 0.25 sec instead of 0.5 second, would make a huuge change and still stop the multitap people, it will also feel alot less restricted and make people more focusing on timing instead of spam tapping a skill waiting for gcd

i still prefered it without one, but if it has to have one then atleast make it 0.25 seconds

[darkerelf]

Whaaaaaaaaat GCD to STAY if its like this i would rather just quit

If that is the case I think I'm right behind you. Just take off GCD! Recent update stated it helped out GCD, and a in game note from the dev asked us to please give a try. How can anyone do combos with this, it was fine the way it was before. I am barely holding on to this game honestly, I honestly enjoyed it {before}. Good luck with GCD, i believe it is a big fail.. Take everyone here's opinion into consideration. It is a pocket game, meant for fast past not slower pace. You might have to take few steps backwards only to go forward. Last words NO GCD!

[FluffNStuff]

If that is the case I think I'm right behind you. Just take off GCD! Recent update stated it helped out GCD, and a in game note from the dev asked us to please give a try. How can anyone do combos with this, it was fine the way it was before. I am barely holding on to this game honestly, I honestly enjoyed it {before}. Good luck with GCD, i believe it is a big fail.. Take everyone here's opinion into consideration. It is a pocket game, meant for fast past not slower pace. You might have to take few steps backwards only to go forward. Last words NO GCD!

I must be new, because I can Shatter scream, drop a thorn wall, then blast shot, and it says 'combo', and I can do that with GCD. So I must be confused on what a combo is, can you please explain?

[Barbamitsos]

Gcd is very good now! Gj gj and ow ye GJ!

[darkerelf]

I must be new, because I can Shatter scream, drop a thorn wall, then blast shot, and it says 'combo', and I can do that with GCD. So I must be confused on what a combo is, can you please explain?

Great great you are just too awesome, but on my end using an htc evo I'm not able to do that. No no you like GCD and there must be a reason, but I don't. I believe it does not help any.

[Kindread]

I must be new, because I can Shatter scream, drop a thorn wall, then blast shot, and it says 'combo', and I can do that with GCD. So I must be confused on what a combo is, can you please explain?

A combo is all that plus large fries and a coke. You sir did not have a combo.

[SUPAPRODIGY]

i think GCD should be removed plz i begg u plz remove it

[Moogerfooger]

Great great you are just too awesome, but on my end using an htc evo I'm not able to do that. No no you like GCD and there must be a reason, but I don't. I believe it does not help any.

Actually, I don't like the GCD, or at least the 0.5 sec delay (I still think it needs to be tweaked down to about 0.25-0.35 secs personally), but like Fluff...I am finding I can land my combo even easier now. The GCD forces me to wait to do Blast Shot after Shattering Scream the right amount of time in order for the combo to register.

And when I am on my mage, I can pull off Hot Flash every single time for the same reason.

Saying "I can't land combos" is a matter of skill, not the GCD making it impossible. I don't believe this "I can't do it on my phone" either because I just borrowed a buddy's HTC Evo, downloaded PL and ran 30 seconds of Plasma Pyramid and could hit my combos. Practice makes perfect :p

p.s. this is not a pro-GCD post, before you start yelling that. I don't like it as is...makes gameplay too choppy in PvE, but I have not been able to test this latest patch yet for more than 30 seconds to see if it is "snappier" :)

[darkerelf]

I must be new, because I can Shatter scream, drop a thorn wall, then blast shot, and it says 'combo', and I can do that with GCD. So I must be confused on what a combo is, can you please explain?

By casting that it may pop up combo, but I will tell you previously before this (annoying) GCD, you would be dead before you knew it.

[cynic]

first of all good job on the quick respond and another patch!
i still dont like the gcd concept, its givin me a headache, just watching the skills.
that makes the game less fun, i look at my char then skills then char then skills
so what time it gets 0.5 ,0.25 whatever its still the same.

Ill wait for an update that brings back the fun i had playing this game, cu u guys when that happens!

[Hullukko]

Tried it. I still hate it. I'm sorry, but there's little to be constructive about that. I mean, I'd like to help and make suggestions that could be useful, but in this topic all I can just say is that everything about it is a step in the wrong direction for me. I like fast games, I like that skill factor that speed offers. This game was just that, there was nothing wrong for me and now it's broken. Selecting my moves at that pace a skill factor? I don't think so, I move faster and snappier in nethack.

I don't mean to sound like a whining kid, I have two such of my own, but what else can I do but wait, hope and voice my resentment towards this change in here?

It's definitely a little less awful than it was yesterday, but nowhere near enough to make it playable for me. Cinco said he wanted to force us to choose which spells to use and so that all of them can't be used all the time. I get that, it's their call. The spell selection probably might need a little touch. I told him it's a good idea for a new game and a dangerous move for one with an existing user base. Sadly, that forcing implies a gcd longer than what I'm after or what I might be willing to adjust to.

Thanks for all the enjoyment and that goes out equally to STS and all those other players that also in their part made the game for me for what it was. Crossing my fingers for further update, but until then I gotta find something else. Good suggestions are welcome.

[darkerelf]

Actually, I don't like the GCD, or at least the 0.5 sec delay (I still think it needs to be tweaked down to about 0.25-0.35 secs personally), but like Fluff...I am finding I can land my combo even easier now. The GCD forces me to wait to do Blast Shot after Shattering Scream the right amount of time in order for the combo to register.

And when I am on my mage, I can pull off Hot Flash every single time for the same reason.

Saying "I can't land combos" is a matter of skill, not the GCD making it impossible. I don't believe this "I can't do it on my phone" either because I just borrowed a buddy's HTC Evo, downloaded PL and ran 30 seconds of Plasma Pyramid and could hit my combos. Practice makes perfect :p

p.s. this is not a pro-GCD post, before you start yelling that. I don't like it as is...makes gameplay too choppy in PvE, but I have not been able to test this latest patch yet for more than 30 seconds to see if it is "snappier" :)

Timing, I guess with more practice I can pull it off and it does sounds good, but there was nothing wrong before GCD came out.

[LordEspe]

Ok just played after today's update! Have not commented yet because I was waiting for updated patches!!
I LOVE IT NOW!!! Gcd is great, if it helps the server!! Very smooth play and did two runs in Hideout, one had pink drop(not mine tho) in the time it took to play three before this update!! Plus I didn't die once! Played on bear than bird!!
Great job and thanks for fast updates!!!!!!

Edit- and a big thanks for the added icons in main screen!! For all the negative ppl, see they do listen and they fix things fast! Get in the game, learn to adapt and the game is back to where it was!! :)

[Suntv]

So this evening I hosted about 30+ Hideout games with the .5 GCD. Gameplay was great and the players actually worked more together. Depending on the situation you actually needed to think what combination of skills would work best and then time your own combo (scream/blast). Because gameplay was a bit slower, mages and birds actually worked together on Nature Strike. And more important: there was actually time to look at what the boss was doing. Dodge? Ok, I throw in a Thorn Root and immediately the crit comes through. You actually saw the results of your actions.

But was it that much slower?

After a few runs our team managed to kill Goldfever within the 5 minute elixer window... and that didn't even happen very often before GCD. Hideout was our only map, so I can't judge on other maps.

But this topic is about the newer patch, shortening the .5 sec GCD.

I didn't think I'd say this but I actually think that the .5 GDC was better :/ After this patch it was like playing like before GCD. Again it's like pressing the buttons in a frenzy. Few thoughts...

What's good is being able to access menus without being in a map/town again.

[FluffNStuff]

By casting that it may pop up combo, but I will tell you previously before this (annoying) GCD, you would be dead before you knew it.

I have been doing some solo runs on Bayou Boss Brawl with my level 55 bird getting use to this, and I can tell you each run gets faster then the last. And not only that, it is getting to point where I am killing more efficiently. The reason is before GCD, I would 'combo' by using shattering scream, roots, pumping in all my damage shots, then blast shot. Now I only use the scream, roots and blast shot, and it is killing groups very well. That leaves the individual damage shots to kill the stragglers, which I would not have been able to do before GCD. Point is, practice it. I know that sounds silly, but by mastering the new system while others are complaining about it, you will have a serious advantage over them.

[Lesrider]

Just to give some examples of other iDevice games that utilize both regular weapon attacks and skills/spells.
They all have regular weapon attacks as the primary damage dealer. You only really use your skills if you're in a pinch (ie. Bosses, swarms of enemies surrounding you). All of these games limit the players to about 3 active skills. Some have passive skills as well.
PL has always been very different from these other games, in that it has 12 active skills and they're meant to be used all the time, not just in a pinch. Bc if you just use your weapons, you won't get very far.*
This has kept PL unique from other games. But if this has to change with things like GCD, then other changes must be strongly considered to balance it out. If you want active spells to take the backseat (for lag or whatever other reasons), give us passive skills and stronger weapons to make up for it. Or whatever other ways you can come up with.*
Anyway, here are some screenshots of other games:

Dungeon Hunter 2:*
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa373/xenacrazy/4e13b07e.jpg
You get a number of passive/active skills to choose from, but only three actives can be on the screen at once. So you must choose wisely. But again, skills are used mostly for bosses. The passive skills help you with the rest of the mobs.

Braveheart:
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa373/xenacrazy/6f5a5cc7.jpg
Again, three skills with longish cooldowns. You rely primarily on your attacks and other bonuses/perks.

Solomon's Boneyard:
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa373/xenacrazy/ab50781d.jpg

You get mainly two skills -- one that activates with the attack button (shoots from your wand), and the other is activated by tapping a button. You can get other skills, but you have to sacrifice the strength of other skills to make room for variety. The secondary skills is mainly for strong aoe attacks when you get surrounded, or teleportation, healing circle, etc. The secondary skills usually require a lot of mana and have long cooldowns. Again, not meant to be used on a constant basis. You focus mostly on the primary skill.

And of course I didn't forget Dungeon Defenders:

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa373/xenacrazy/f8e96bdd.jpg

You have one primary attack button that does not use mana. Then you have two skills/spells that do require mana, and the catch is that they use an increasing amount of mana the longer they're activated. So again, you can't really use them all the time. You must be selective. (I'm ignoring the whole tower defense part here, bc it's not really related.)

And even Infinity Blade makes use of special attacks and magic spells. But they have HUGE cooldowns. They're meant to save you in a pinch. If you really need them in order to win, you have to bide your time until they're ready.*

Didn't mean for this to be so long. My main point is that PL chose its identity a year ago. Players got addicted to it for what it was. Lots of skills/spells and button mashing. But since then, it seems to be having an identity crisis every few months. Choose how you'd like this game to be played, and then stick to it. But if you really absolutely MUST go through this identity change, then look at other games for inspiration on how to make up for what you're taking away.*

[Stephnee]

so yesterday i really tried to give the GCD a chance i played numerous runs and just did not like it..so i was hopeful for today's new update with the "snappier" feel to it, but i really don't see a change at all. In fact, i don't know if anyone else has had this problem..but twice I've had it where my 'blessing of might' button didn't work at all. I would press it and it would stay lit every time and not work( and trying so desperately to make it work pressing it over and over i would lose track of my health and die). Also it seems like I am waiting longer than .5 sec. I will press my skill then i wait for it to work then i have to wait for the CD after that..is anyone else having this problem besides me?

[Major]

Thanks devs you rule. Glad to see the Faded spell issue for the ipad was fixed :)

[Kalielle]

We just did several Stronghold runs, a Catacombs and a Shadow Cave map 5. Skills feel a little more responsive but not significantly faster.

What can I say, I'm still very much not a fan of the concept. Yes the game feels more rhythmic but so does my grandmother's rocking chair. It's rhythmic in a monotonous, puts-you-to-sleep sort of way. I liked the pacing before where you would hold on your skills until, say, the mobs were gathered, then quickly do buffs then dive in with some debuffs and then the spells - then a more quiet period while the spells recharged. Sure there was some button mashing, especially with the damage skills, but it's supposed to be a fun casual game after all, and tapping on all those skills kept us feeling busy while playing.

If the idea was to make us choose between skills then I think it should be done in a different way - maybe completely revamp the skills and make it so that mastery in some areas could take, say, 10 points to accomplish so people would have to choose whether to specialize in just a few skills or have many weak skills instead. This would avoid the whole experience of slowly watching the cool down meter refill.

King and Queen definitely need some re-balancing if GCD is to stay in its current form. We separated them by having two different party members get aggro, so it wasn't very difficult to fight them after that but it just took forever. We were never in any danger of being killed, not even the mages, but we all potted and even so it was very, very slow. A weapon damage increase could be one way to fix it.

Shadow Caves went fine, although many people double potted for it - but then they usually do so it's hard to judge if there was much difference.

[skavenger216]

so yesterday i really tried to give the GCD a chance i played numerous runs and just did not like it..so i was hopeful for today's new update with the "snappier" feel to it, but i really don't see a change at all. In fact, i don't know if anyone else has had this problem..but twice I've had it where my 'blessing of might' button didn't work at all. I would press it and it would stay lit every time and not work( and trying so desperately to make it work pressing it over and over i would lose track of my health and die). Also it seems like I am waiting longer than .5 sec. I will press my skill then i wait for it to work then i have to wait for the CD after that..is anyone else having this problem besides me?

I'm having the same problem.

I gotta say when I logged in and it started patching, I got excited thinking maybe they shortened the gcd. I was disappointed to see that its still essentially the same. I tried it for a few runs, and logged out.

Devs, the problem is NOT the gcd itself, but the length of it. As has been stated before, dropping it to .15-.25 of a second would fix the multitouching problem, and give us back the game we all know and love.

Oh, and I noticed boot reasons are shown to the group now, nice! Also thanks for putting world map and friends back on the main screen, definitely appreciated.

So in closing, I would like to say, devs, please try shortening the gcd, even if only for a day, just to at least try it and see if it works! You never know, this could help appease the masses, while still keeping the gcd. Worth a shot IMO. :D

[darkerelf]

so yesterday i really tried to give the GCD a chance i played numerous runs and just did not like it..so i was hopeful for today's new update with the "snappier" feel to it, but i really don't see a change at all. In fact, i don't know if anyone else has had this problem..but twice I've had it where my 'blessing of might' button didn't work at all. I would press it and it would stay lit every time and not work( and trying so desperately to make it work pressing it over and over i would lose track of my health and die). Also it seems like I am waiting longer than .5 sec. I will press my skill then i wait for it to work then i have to wait for the CD after that..is anyone else having this problem besides me?

I have the same problem too, every other dmg spells seem to work except the bless and sometimes the rev button does not work either..

[sAurol]

Nope, still broken in my opinion. Playing as a warrior, one example could be to beckon an enemy in between you and a wall, then vs-cs-sms-stomp combo which was probably one of the most effective ways for bears to kill enemies. Now, I cant even beckon + stomp fast enough to make a difference, not to mention other and more random tapping when tanking a boss. To me GCD takes away the versatility when fighting in pve, you can no longer make combos, and as a result ANY coolness of a bear fighting is gone as all you can do is tap-----tap------tap------tap potion-----tap and so on. I can only imagine this feels worse on bird or mage......

GCD breaks this game for me, I really wish it would just be ditched ASAP so I can get back to actually playing and having fun. GCD is annoying, mostly because it destroys the FEEL of this game which is pretty much the reason why I am playing it. I mostly play pc games and should care less about this small game for my phone, but until now pocket legends has been stealing more and more of my time due to its feel and coolness.

To me it feels like what you have taken away what really made this game stand out.

I know its hard criticism, but I hope its somewhat constructive too.

[Stephnee]

I have the same problem too, every other dmg spells seem to work except the bless and sometimes the rev button does not work either..

yes ive had this problem now with both the 'blessing of might' and the 'rev' buttons not working..its like when you click them it goes dark while your finger is on them then they light back up after you take your finger off..and no matter how many times you try to press it it doesnt work..frustrating:(

[darkerelf]

I really don't like the GCD, the purpose of this was to resolve the spammers, I believe you really pissed more people off. About 1/3 of people that usually play are not on anymore, won't you reconsider taking it off. I mean 8/10 of everyone that complains is complaining about GCD. What if you just push it for .05 of a second and add a different color for GCD so we can differentiate the spell cool time from GCD. Making it barely noticeable so people can't spam, in addition timing would still be required. If you want my opinion just take it off it does not help any.

[icantgetkills]

MUCH snappier all other updates VERY GOOD dont have to enter town only thing to fix now is joining friends ahh its a pain!

[krazii]

Thanks for the update and continue to appreciate your improvements to the game.

The GCD is still distracting and still a hindrance in the game. One of the reason a lot of us play is the fast paced, non-stop action of this game. IMO it's one of the reasons PL "was" the best Mobile MMO out there, until this GCD implementation. I believe the more experienced players out there didn't just button mash, but had developed a rotation of skills to maximize their character. If you want to stop the button mashing, there has to be a better way and I know you guys will come up with it. I recall Cinco posting something about the GCD being necessary for improved client performance. However, I have never seen a single thread with so many posts about that problem. Contrast that with the 1.7.1 thread with over 600 posts mostly about dissatisfaction with the GCD. What does that tell you?

Again, Devs, please remove it (at least for PVE) and look for another way. It's okay to take a deep breath and admit a mistake.

EDIT: While playing does anybody else feel like their right turn signal is on the whole time?
Kraz

[Elnendil]

Justg seems to be faster now then it was before would still like the gcd to be little faster though having a issue with evade skill on bird right not I click it it darkens under figer but does go off after I tap it some times have to re tap it alot on iPhone To sum it up little faster gcd pls sewer king set bouns plz and issue with spell

[darkerelf]

I have so much to say, how can you put a cool down on-top of another cool down on spells.... ahh I hate it, really frustrating. Think about it, I'm addicted to this game and have invested so much time into it. I have recommended to so many family and friends and we all are disgusted by GCD. I can't recommend it to anyone else anymore, how do you cool down on-top of another cool down.

[Vallist]

yay skill respec are free

[MayhemMonkey]

GCD does feel snappier.
Thank you devs!

[NECROREAPER]

I can't play this game anymore, the GC is too much. I not saying I'll quit, but I surely won't bother to try leveling anymore.

As a bear, it takes WAAAAAAAAY too long to buff, I'm talking like 3 or 4 seconds in which time I'm already being attacked and close to death.
I can't tank anymore since I relied on buffs and now it's pointless to even try and buff before entering a room. Beckon stomp combo is useless too.

I feel like I can't do my job anymore and I hate seeing how much all the birds and mages are dying, let alone how much IM dying....

Please devs get rid of GC, it's quite possibly the stupidest thing you guys have ever done to this game. If you need it stick it in pvp, not PVE

PS: I used 170 hp pots on a captive audience run and I still kept dying, and I was doing the run with TWO mages and a bird. This is crazy. I had over 350 pots an hour ago and now I have about 80 from that one captive audience run and a CTK run. That's right, a CTK RUN!!!! with two birds mind you, one lvl 51 and a lvl 55

Put simply, global cool down is ruining my and thousands of others pocket legends experience. The game isn't fun anymore

[NECROREAPER]

Btw the rating of the game has already gone down one star in the app store since before the update. 99% of the bad ratings are from the update.

Please listen to us this time STS

[tonygmoney]

TY for the fixes..though im still not sure with the GDC is still in the game..no good has come from it..the only players that like it is people who dont have wifi or 3g with and cant play the game the way is suppose to be played. this 1/4 of a second delay is not gonna make a difference in speed. all is gonna cost is chaos cuz of players dying all the time cuz they can active their spells in time..think about thats 1/4 of a second for every spell....there are about 12 spells thats 4 seconds waisted on waiting for gdc, by that time your already dead or getting gang banged by 15 aliens. it happened to me plenty of times trust me..before i use to run them over. now i cant cuz i gotta wait 1/4 of a second for each spell. im sure u guys thought of this but just thought i would remind you why everyone is so upset about this gcd update..my number might be a little off but u understand what i mean i hope u consider this..thank you hope to hear from you soon...

[XRAX]

To all you hard workers at STS thank you for making these efforts to fix things. We understand this is not an easy task.

The following post is a reflection from my experience after playing with an open mind and truly giving it a chance.

Unfortunately i can only speak on my behalf, but i will also represent the voices of everyone i have spoken to. 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.

This update did not change much, and the mechanics are almost identical to how they were since the latest update. I assert that the game play prior to GCD of Pocket Legends is what truly made this game so special and so unique. It differentiated itself from all the other games out there. It used to be fast paced, intense, addictive, FUN, and most importantly Unique. It has affected PVE as well as PVP. It no longer requires skill to PVP. There is no longer a spectrum of difficulty. It is lacking a huge competitive edge, a motivation to keep the players excited and striving to improve to beat the best. When a level 48 or 50 mage with zero kills and zero deaths walk into an arena with level 55-56 pros and performs at the same level if not better than his pro-mage team mates, something is wrong. Learning curve is missing. Last night was the first time I slept since i stumbled across this awesome game.

My only suggestion would be to either to dramatically reduce the cool down (which seems like an eternity still) to AT MOST 0.075-0.1 seconds, or completely remove GCD and give PL its uniqueness back. This used to be the best program and I still have high, high hopes for it :).

I couldn't thank you all enough for the amazing effort you invested in attempt to satisfy the community. Keep up the great work!

[krazii]

Devs,

Could you please include an option to make the quest message at the top of the screen removeable. It's something else that clutters the screen and I (and a host of others) would prefer to play without it.

Thanks for your consideration.

kraz

[sticky420]

Gcd is still horrible I used to b able to solo some boxes and it wasn't easy but doable I just died along with 3 other lv 50+ on king mynas lol hat to see what its like in shadow caves now really not worth spending another dime on and prob not even worth wasting another min of my time either. Very upsetting loved this game now its horrible srry just being honest .

[vol]

Yes this is ludicrous. I'm changing my review to 1 star in both the app store and android market until they fix this issue. I have never seen a dev gimp their game and change their play mechanics like STS has done.

[RahX]

Ok the new gcd is a lot better, it has a decent beat to it so rythym works better. Adding the world and friends icon is very nice. Im very pleased with the new look as a whole, pretty polished looking. The lighting aura around quest npc is sweet. The world map is much more logical on the arrangement, the selectable tic for the maps is a bit odd until you get situated with it though. Maybe make the tic locations more noticeable. The gcd is still a tad slow and my combos only work on occasion. Maybe tweak the gcd a bit further, you guys are definitely getting hot on the gcd timing though. Also, maybe tweak the amount of time you have to land a combo. i noticed i had to be dead nuts on my timing to land any combo. Also maybe make combos hit harder to make up for the loss in spamskill. I was on the verge of ragequit last night but it isnt lookin so bad now.

[JustHelping]

I read all the post above and all i have to say is devs hear what the players that so love this unique game want and i can say that 99% off the people dont want GC. Hope that u do the right thing and make ur customers happy. Get rid of GC.

[shloppyshmo]

I for one dislike the GCD. It makes combat feel slow and leveling takes forever. Also, If you find yourself in a large mob you are in a very sticky situation. What I would like to propose is perhaps changing the GCD to apply only for PvP and allow PvE to remain how it once was. This way you can make your way through levels without an intense amount of difficulties. At the same time PvP skill spammers will be no more. An example of a game that uses a similar tactic is Guildwars. They have created a system in which spells are powerful in PvE and deal a good amount of damage in order to improve combat speed. However, once you enter a PvP area spells are modified to make the experience more pleasurable and last more than .7 seconds. I believe that this will make all players a bit more happy. On a different note thank you very much for the update.

-Shloppyshmo

[Blayzn]

Cinco answered your question in a thread regarding the need for GCD.

Please provide link to explination...i really, really want to understand this. Maybe the reasons "why" got lost in the response...

[Blayzn]

There's no point in requesting for it to be removed. They've already stated that it's here to stay. Start adapting to it while they're tweaking it and rebalancing the mechanics. You'll be back to owning people in no time.

respectfully have to disagree...people are always free to change their minds. I am willing to give suggestions, but if it cant be fixed, why not leave the option open? Call me an eternal optimist.

[RueMorgue]

I'm glad you're trying to correct the gcd issue, thanks for the effort. In my opinion, gcd isn't going to be fixed by shortening cooldown time. Gcd kills the fluidity and fun of the game completely, imho. I love PL. ...so I hope gcd gets the boot and I can keep playing and spending money on it.

[Victorm]

Devs I know you are trying to save resources with this gcd update, but I have to say is bad, now everything is slow, is not fun, sorry to say this but now the game is very boring. I hope u can change it back, get rid of it, because as it is now is just plain BAD, I think I'll quit. Good luck to everyone.

Victor

[Blayzn]

Tried it. I still hate it. I'm sorry, but there's little to be constructive about that. I mean, I'd like to help and make suggestions that could be useful, but in this topic all I can just say is that everything about it is a step in the wrong direction for me. I like fast games, I like that skill factor that speed offers. This game was just that, there was nothing wrong for me and now it's broken. Selecting my moves at that pace a skill factor? I don't think so, I move faster and snappier in nethack.

I don't mean to sound like a whining kid, I have two such of my own, but what else can I do but wait, hope and voice my resentment towards this change in here?

It's definitely a little less awful than it was yesterday, but nowhere near enough to make it playable for me. Cinco said he wanted to force us to choose which spells to use and so that all of them can't be used all the time. I get that, it's their call. The spell selection probably might need a little touch. I told him it's a good idea for a new game and a dangerous move for one with an existing user base. Sadly, that forcing implies a gcd longer than what I'm after or what I might be willing to adjust to.

Thanks for all the enjoyment and that goes out equally to STS and all those other players that also in their part made the game for me for what it was. Crossing my fingers for further update, but until then I gotta find something else. Good suggestions are welcome.

Ditto...cept im not quite ready to look elsewhere...

[Kindread]

Please provide link to explination...i really, really want to understand this. Maybe the reasons "why" got lost in the response...

http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?23472-question-original-purpose-for-GCD-would-be......

[Yvonnel]

Where is Royce? I would like to know what he thinks.

[vol]

http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?23472-question-original-purpose-for-GCD-would-be......

Thanks for the link. I missed that. Nonetheless what STS has created is a very unbalanced game. You can not change mechanics like this and expect it to work. OK they have removed the casual nature of PL. So now one has to devote time to play. Might as well go play WoW or a bunch of different variants. PL stood out, but not so much anymore.

[choco]

update is awesome.....much snappier to the point that i dont notice the gcd anymore. keep doing what u do guys, cause u just made bears relevant again.

thank for all the hard work!

[cajunboiz]

i think the update was great except for gcd. being that i put a lot of money in this game on platinum and time, i believe that yall shouldnt have messed with the gameplay mode. new weapons levels etc yes great for upgrades but changing the way the game is played not cool. but other than gcd love it but i think i will no longer be playing pl as long as gcd is around! just be in and out to chat with friends!

[skavenger216]

Might as well go play WoW or a bunch of different variants. PL stood out, but not so much anymore.

I've been fighting off an urge to reactivate my WoW account all day......... I'm still giving the devs time to fix this first though. I dont know how much longer ill be able to wait before I just get bored and go back to WoW though :( I really don't want to...... I quit playing wow because of PL, and now because of PL I might be going back lol. Oh the irony :D

[choco]

lol....u havent even let your muscle memory adjust. if u cant combo...its not the games fault. if ur running slower...its not the games fault. u need more than 5 runs to get it down. give it a couple days and see what ya think. after 60+ hideout runs, im running faster than prior to gcd.

[skavenger216]

lol....u havent even let your muscle memory adjust. if u cant combo...its not the games fault. if ur running slower...its not the games fault. u need more than 5 runs to get it down. give it a couple days and see what ya think. after 60+ hideout runs, im running faster than prior to gcd.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I've given it more than 5 runs, I've given the gcd more than a fair chance. I can still combo fine on all my toons, although much slower. And about running faster than before gcd, I call BS, no offense.

[Kindread]

Seriously guys. They're still tweaking it and it's day two. I'm running the maps with birds, bears and mages and yes, I see them complaining during the run and huffs and puffs and what not but you know what? We clear the maps, no deaths, and someone got a pink. Did everyone quit the game after that? No, we remade and ran again. So we can't clear catacombs in 3 minutes anymore. Fine, we can still clear it in 5 mins. Not that big of a difference. Maps are still getting cleared, drops are still dropping and bosses are still dying. It takes longer yes. Big deal.

What appears to be the bigger gripe is that people are mad that they aren't as uber as they were two days ago. They can't run into a group of 10 mobs and nuke them without dying. They can't fire off a 5 skill chain combo to end a fight in 10 seconds. Have you guys ever considered that maybe it shouldnt be this easy?

To fix the problem, the Devs could nerf you and your gear but that would cause an uproar or they can boost mobs and bosses like Shadow caves (which is fun) but people would say its too hard and not worth the gold or effort. But they did neither of those things and fixed the mechanics of the game killing many birds with one stone. People can last longer in PvP and no-Multi-touching, people can still finish maps and bosses (albeit a little slower) and you pretty much can do what you did before, you just have to be smarter with your choices. I dunno. It just seems like birds upset that they can't own PvP anymore are crying and mages who own in PvP now but can't own on the maps are crying. It's not that much different. Try and adapt to it. You guys are good gamers. Should be able to own this.

[Stephnee]

Last night was the first time I slept since i stumbled across this awesome game.
lol same goes for me:P

[tifarah]

This has nothing to do with being "uber" it's the fact that I used to be able to play the game in between classes, lunch break, before the car ride home and etc. The whole casual feel for the game is gone. If we are going to have more strategic gameplay we should have less monsters per level, with harder more miniboss type monsters.

[Blayzn]

http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?23472-question-original-purpose-for-GCD-would-be......

Thanks for the link. But i have to say...those are the reasons?! Truly disapointed now...

[cajunboiz]

This has nothing to do with being "uber" it's the fact that I used to be able to play the game in between classes, lunch break, before the car ride home and etc. The whole casual feel for the game is gone. If we are going to have more strategic gameplay we should have less monsters per level, with harder more miniboss type monsters.

Agreed 110%

[lilbyrdie]

Tried the latest update. It does seem better and faster.

I'm not sure if it's just me, but there's an extra flash on the skill when I trigger it. Is that expected? I think it's flashing dark/used, then flashing gray for the GCD, then fading down.

I still wonder if there isn't a better way to show the GCD countdown. it's hard on the eyes, all those buttons animating all the time. Maybe something closer to the bar above the weapon? Right now, it just looks "harsh." (Hard to describe, I guess.)

Regardless, thanks to the devs for tweaking things in response to feedback -- especially the new emote stuff. :)

[tifarah]

What turned me on to this game in the first place was the "pick-up" play for 5 minutes, and feel like I accomplished something. Not having to be glued to the phone/xoom or whatever was a blessing. If I wanted to sit somewhere and be oblivious to the world I would reinstate my WoW account(which I will never do). Sorry just so many suggestions have been made that would make sense, and it seems like they are not even being considered. Kind of like a job, if you don't like it quit feel.

P.S. The update did help it a little, still nowhere where it should be. If we are going to keep GCD we need to change other aspects of the game like monsters per level etc etc.

[Kindread]

No offense to you or anyone but can we stop with everyone throwing around the word "casual gaming". For me, casual means that I can play on the go, on the bus, in the bathroom wherever I want without a computer and just using my cell. I can finish a quest or two or a map on a break and I'm done. That's casual to me. Our runs went from 3-5 minutes to maybe 5-10 minutes. That's still pretty friggin fast and casual for me. It's not like we're doing 6-hour raids in WoW, so I don't know what you guys are talking about in ruining the casual gaming experience. To really be honest, I think casual gamers in PL are few and far between. I think you start off as casual gamers. But when you're investing a couple hours a day to farm a single map in hopes of landing a pink, you're pretty hardcore to me. An extra 2-5 min a run is cake for you.

[tifarah]

Im glad you have no responsibility's in life outside of the game :) I enjoy every single minute I get outside of college/working fulltime/having 3 children and friends.

[Plasticuproject]

Thanks for trying but it didn't do much for me. I still, when I'm lagging (which is always), have the problem of pressing g a skill, nothing happening, pressing it again, turns out the skill did go off, pressing another skill, nothing happens, pressing it again, THEN the skill activates. So when there is even a little bit of lag I'm getting about 1 skill out every 2 to 3 seconds. This results in me dying and my party hating me. Sucks. I hope you guys keep at it so I can come back and enjoy the game like before. If I could get 1 skill out per second with ~300-350 ping I would be happy. Thanks.

[Lesrider]

Morawk, it's perfectly normal for people NOT to be ok with it suddenly taking twice as long to perform a task. Would you be ok if at work your boss took your computer and swapped it with one that was twice as slow? Or if your commute to work was suddenly permanently doubled?
Maybe you would be, but most people wouldn't.

[Doubletime]

After the patch today, there was a noticable difference in the use of skills, at least in my experience. It does feel "snappier" as was the intent. Prior to the patch today I had difficultt landing combos while using what I call the "tweener" skills -- meaning firing off your first skill for a combo, using another skill, and then firing the second skill for the combo. The example is a bird using shattering scream, thorn wall, then blast shot or a mage using frost, lightning, then fire.

Today, I was able to pull this off again. Either the combo que time is longer, or the skills are firing slightly faster. This afternoon we were able to get to the boss, and in Hideout complete the entire run, within five minutes in most of the games played. So game play seems a little faster or people are adjusting to the changes (or maybe a little of both).

I'm still not a big fan of length of the GCD, but that isn't the point of this thread. The patch seems to have accomplished what the devs were trying to do. And I appreciate them trying to work with the players to find a happy medium.

[tifarah]

Im not trying to offend anyone or bash the devs in anyway. I just question, does the GCD fit in with the way everything is currently? No. Honestly, instead of changing MAJOR mechanics, couldnt we be working on, more quests, voice chat, better weapon and armor designs, I could name a thousand other things. Am I saying GCD is totally wrong and never will feel right? No. We have a lot more other issues to deal with than this.

[Kindread]

Morawk, it's perfectly normal for people NOT to be ok with it suddenly taking twice as long to perform a task. Would you be ok if at work your boss took your computer and swapped it with one that was twice as slow? Or if your commute to work was suddenly permanently doubled?
Maybe you would be, but most people wouldn't.

Here's the problem with the analogy that you just gave me. You're talking about work. I'm talking about a game. If it takes me twice as long to clear a map then so be it. I'm still playing a game. It's still for fun. The key thing: I'm not working twice as long. I'm playing twice as long. If you guys are losing sight of the fact that PL is a game and you're not playing it for fun then no amount of discussion is going to work for you.

[Lesrider]

Here's the problem with the analogy that you just gave me. You're talking about work. I'm talking about a game. If it takes me twice as long to clear a map then so be it. I'm still playing a game. It's still for fun. The key thing: I'm not working twice as long. I'm playing twice as long. If you guys are losing sight of the fact that PL is a game and you're not playing it for fun then no amount of discussion is going to work for you.

With that logic, you'd be ok with each run taking an hour, even if the end result is the same (ie. Same chance at loot).

Games can be challenging and take a while to complete (I absolutely LOVED that each Sacred Odyssey dungeon/puzzle took me a long time to complete). But there has to a be a reason and the reward has to be relative to the amount of time and effort put into it. If everything stays the same but the runs are slower, then no, that is not fun (for most).

[Tiliana]

Thank you devs for such quick action in alleviating our frustrations with the first iteration of the update. The GCD is much more manageable now. I do miss the instant skill reaction, but I am not getting hammered quite as hard as I was. Though I wish the buffs and heals could be instant again, I know that I can get used to the way things are now.

Now, if you could just increase the sewer pink drop rates a smidgeon, life would be grand. (It never hurts to ask.) ;)

[tifarah]

I agree with Lesrider, If it takes twice as long to complete it each run, thats half the chance at getting anything worthwhile. Which is why I said other aspects need to change before GCD.. XP, drop rates, elixir lengths... etc etc. I used to love 24 hour fear plane raids in EQ1 but, I just can't do that kind of stuff anymore.

Once it starts to become more like "work" it isn't fun anymore.

[Dartagnian]

Here's the problem with the analogy that you just gave me. You're talking about work. I'm talking about a game. If it takes me twice as long to clear a map then so be it. I'm still playing a game. It's still for fun. The key thing: I'm not working twice as long. I'm playing twice as long. If you guys are losing sight of the fact that PL is a game and you're not playing it for fun then no amount of discussion is going to work for you.

I've followed the thread here, given it a chance and think I can live with gcd, but there's absolutely no reason to deride others opinions or efforts to express them here. If you want to voice your opinion, that's fine, but these other guys and gals have the same right without having to defend every thing.

Simply put, if you've got good suggestions for others to change their gameplay, think about how you word it a bit more, man. I've been here only a day and most of your posts seem like attacks, dude. You do have good suggestions, I've read a few and actually tried some!

Let's get back to the constructive part and ease up on the criticism.

Newbi-ly yours
Dartagnian

[Blayzn]

Last night was also the first time since i first downloaded this game that i slept a full 8 hrs....and iwas sad about it.

[lilbyrdie]

After the patch today, there was a noticable difference in the use of skills, at least in my experience. It does feel "snappier" as was the intent. Prior to the patch today I had difficultt landing combos while using what I call the "tweener" skills -- meaning firing off your first skill for a combo, using another skill, and then firing the second skill for the combo. The example is a bird using shattering scream, thorn wall, then blast shot or a mage using frost, lightning, then fire.


Didn't know there was a name for that!

My input: Before the big update, I'd use that method to space out the skills to land combos.

Yesterday, I noticed several times that I could put 2-3 skills in between and still land combos -- a second or two later. This was surprising, to me, as I thought combos had to be pretty carefully timed. But, my combo landing abilities became almost perfect.

Today, I haven't had enough time to try out the effect on combos.

(Must drag myself away from the forums for some game time!)

[Subterraneous]

I didn't care for the comment on the other thread that if you don't have constructive feedback, you could be banned. I have worked my entire career (now as an exec) in the service industry and making threats to customers who complain about the product/service is the quickest path towards being out of business. If you don't want feedback, then don't ask for it. If you pat yourself on the back about being a responsive Development team then I think you should take stock of the feedback you've received and decide if you're actually being rational or stubborn with your "enhancements" to the gaming environment. Maybe tweaking GCD isn't the right answer, maybe reversing it is?

Hulluko's post said it best, you've slowed down gameplay which was maybe your single largest competitive advantage. You've also caved to childish whims by putting fart/puke emotes into the game...BUT "don't let me catch you cursing or bans are coming"!!! No profanity in this game but fart, vomit and crap your pants all you want. This deviates from a squeaky clean image that I thought PL did a good job of maintaining. Again, I'm not entirely sure what problem you were solving with this patch..."loop time" is developer code speech...I'm not a developer and could care less what that means. As a customer, I can tell you that your improved "loop time" has the counter effect of creating a degraded gaming experience. If that was your goal, good job.

This may sound like a rant post but consider it an implore to take stock in your strategic direction before you lose a lot of fans and customers. You guys were on a good trajectory and seemed to take a random, ill-advised 90-degree turn but seem to have an attitude that the community will simply adjust. Don't be too sure - these changes have radically changed the quality of the game. The halo effect of "loop time" will steadily improve with less players logged on.

[Kindread]

With that logic, you'd be ok with each run taking an hour, even if the end result is the same (ie. Same chance at loot).

Yes (I.e. Shadow Caves). I run that just for the sheer fun of it. I waste a bunch of pots and elixirs doing so and I love it.

[skavenger216]

Here's the problem with the analogy that you just gave me. You're talking about work. I'm talking about a game. If it takes me twice as long to clear a map then so be it. I'm still playing a game. It's still for fun. The key thing: I'm not working twice as long. I'm playing twice as long. If you guys are losing sight of the fact that PL is a game and you're not playing it for fun then no amount of discussion is going to work for you.

That's the problem though, most ppl quite simply arent having fun anymore, hence the complaints and ragequitters

[chafedbm]

I have a bird, mage, and bear and probably spent about $40 on platinum. That being said, GCD has really changed this game for the worst. It is obvious by the above forum posters that no one likes GCD. The only way I can protest is by giving this game a 1 star rating until this unnecessary change is removed. At that point I will give this game a 5 star rating, a rating of which it used to earn.

[Kindread]

I agree with Lesrider, If it takes twice as long to complete it each run, thats half the chance at getting anything worthwhile. Which is why I said other aspects need to change before GCD.. XP, drop rates, elixir lengths... etc etc. I used to love 24 hour fear plane raids in EQ1 but, I just can't do that kind of stuff anymore.

Once it starts to become more like "work" it isn't fun anymore.

From the way you just described your experience right there, it already is work for you. You're not even having fun on your run.

[Blayzn]

This has nothing to do with being "uber" it's the fact that I used to be able to play the game in between classes, lunch break, before the car ride home and etc. The whole casual feel for the game is gone. If we are going to have more strategic gameplay we should have less monsters per level, with harder more miniboss type monsters.

not to apear to be a proponent of less monsters more miniboss...but i agree. In between classes, lunch break, before kids need me....longer is not better and is a big deal. Also, not supposed tobe this easy? Was it easy? Subjective opinion that it was. What it was, was fun. Too many (and some very experienced players) say it is no longer. This should raise some concerns.

[markus]

Morhawk you trying for a shield?

On seperate note, gcd still sucks. Sure it feels faster and smoother but its still to long and game still isn't fun like it used to be. I still think some or all of these need to be brought to game to make gcd not so bad.
Gcd reduced further
Mob hp cut
Mob dmg cut
Xp increase
Dmg increase
Money drop increase
Pink rate increase
Elixer and buffs length increased
Or remove gcd......
Bosses changed in some way to make up for loss of mobilty and dmg
I think there were a few others in my first suggestion post but these hit a lot of them. Not saying all these need implemented but I can see at least 3 of them right off that could help a heap!
Iam still not having fun in game and will not play a game that gameplay feels clunky. I will check back next fix see how it feels but as is gameplay still sucks........ sry devs every other aspect of update I like even free faces when I payed 20plat for my face. But very nice stuff graphics seem pretty and like new questing stuff. Just shame this one thing will be so game breaking and seems like devs are hell bent on having this one aspect of update in game evn though main player base dose not like it!

[darkerelf]

I'm trying to adjust to GCD (still hate it), very choppy needs to be revamped or removed.. But there are glitches where sometimes I have to press a spell 4-5 times for it to execute, and the GCD still executes but no spells are being casted. I don't think I am the only one experiencing thing, please add to it if anyone has other experience. If you can drop the GCD timing to barely noticeable it would help out a lot, not a big fan of it. Oh and others mention a status bar indicating the GCD, I like it the way it is because you can at least try to time it if the spells can execute, but can you just change the color so it is less confusing if you must keep it.

Please just drop the GCD to barely noticeable, or take it out, it would please a lot of people.

[Blayzn]

You make good points Morawk and i understand it makes no difference to you. But the honest dialogue is that a run from 5 mins to 10 mins is huge to me with kids, job, etc, etc..

[tifarah]

Your right :) I am not having as much fun as before the patch, hence the complaints.

[chafedbm]

I didn't care for the comment on the other thread that if you don't have constructive feedback, you could be banned. I have worked my entire career (now as an exec) in the service industry and making threats to customers who complain about the product/service is the quickest path towards being out of business. If you don't want feedback, then don't ask for it. If you pat yourself on the back about being a responsive Development team then I think you should take stock of the feedback you've received and decide if you're actually being rational or stubborn with your "enhancements" to the gaming environment. Maybe tweaking GCD isn't the right answer, maybe reversing it is?

Hulluko's post said it best, you've slowed down gameplay which was maybe your single largest competitive advantage. You've also caved to childish whims by putting fart/puke emotes into the game...BUT "don't let me catch you cursing or bans are coming"!!! No profanity in this game but fart, vomit and crap your pants all you want. This deviates from a squeaky clean image that I thought PL did a good job of maintaining. Again, I'm not entirely sure what problem you were solving with this patch..."loop time" is developer code speech...I'm not a developer and could care less what that means. As a customer, I can tell you that your improved "loop time" has the counter effect of creating a degraded gaming experience. If that was your goal, good job.

This may sound like a rant post but consider it an implore to take stock in your strategic direction before you lose a lot of fans and customers. You guys were on a good trajectory and seemed to take a random, ill-advised 90-degree turn but seem to have an attitude that the community will simply adjust. Don't be too sure - these changes have radically changed the quality of the game. The halo effect of "loop time" will steadily improve with less players logged on.


Thank you. This post bares being repeated.

[Blayzn]

Here's the problem with the analogy that you just gave me. You're talking about work. I'm talking about a game. If it takes me twice as long to clear a map then so be it. I'm still playing a game. It's still for fun. The key thing: I'm not working twice as long. I'm playing twice as long. If you guys are losing sight of the fact that PL is a game and you're not playing it for fun then no amount of discussion is going to work for you.

The key point is that people are saying its not fun.

[Lesrider]

Yes (I.e. Shadow Caves). I run that just for the sheer fun of it. I waste a bunch of pots and elixirs doing so and I love it.

Well that's you. You're in the minority here, because most people like to play on their phone in small bites. As DD maps got longer and harder and next-to-impossible to solo, I lost interest. I'm playing on my phone and don't like to be forced to stare at the screen non-stop for hours. If I choose to do so because I'm particularly engrossed in a game, then fine. But it shouldn't be because I'm going to lose progress, or whatever.

The first day the caves came out, I played through the whole thing bc we couldn't jump into any map -- had to start from the beginning and keep going to get through them all. I spent four hours in there and wanted to gouge my eyes out after. The only time I've been back in there since was one run to look for Vyx with Fluff & Co.

So maybe the GCD isn't as extreme as those caves were(/are?). But people have every right not to simply accept that a game they've been playing for months suddenly requires more of their time to achieve the same result.

[darkerelf]

Its not fun........ Agreed take away GCD!!!

[vol]

You make good points Morawk and i understand it makes no difference to you. But the honest dialogue is that a run from 5 mins to 10 mins is huge to me with kids, job, etc, etc..

i agree. This is a mmo on a phone, hence 5 minute runs are a good thing. It will be interesting to see what this does to the ratings. iOS ratings were around 3.5 and android ratings were around 4.5. Maybe devs will change it back if ratings plummet to 2 across the board. I have done my part

[Vachdaddy]

Well im not into software so the only solution I could suggest is change the game back. I can deal with not playing pocket legends anymore if the game dosent suit the type of entertainment I like. However my issue is that as a consumer ive spent over $200.00 on plat that I now feel was wasted. Ive tried over and over to play after gcd and its just not for me. Ive spent many hours over the past four months of so enjoying pl and was thrilled to find such a great little game to play. I know there are very good reasons for the change made to the game, and thats fine. Had this version been the one I started on I wouldent have continued to play and have more money in the bank. I wish spacetime the best reguards and hope that a change is made to where I can enjoy pl again. I will log in from time to time to see whats going on. Vachdaddy lvl 56 bird/Horicepinker lvl 55 mage/Sparkyluvbone lvl 55 bear.

[Vachdaddy]

I agree ive spent $200.00 plus and feel the same.

[Kindread]

I've followed the thread here, given it a chance and think I can live with gcd, but there's absolutely no reason to deride others opinions or efforts to express them here. If you want to voice your opinion, that's fine, but these other guys and gals have the same right without having to defend every thing.

Simply put, if you've got good suggestions for others to change their gameplay, think about how you word it a bit more, man. I've been here only a day and most of your posts seem like attacks, dude. You do have good suggestions, I've read a few and actually tried some!

Let's get back to the constructive part and ease up on the criticism.

Newbi-ly yours
Dartagnian

Well if it appears that I'm attacking people I apologize. I didn't realize I was coming off that way. I actually enjoy discussing things with Lesrider.

[SoShaan]

Just tried it

no change imo of the update


I tend to "mash buttons" more than I did while perfectly performing combos in the past. Cause I dont know what will be available to me next. They ALL go dark?

as cool down timer comes back, Im having to take my eye off the game just to see what skills i have available, even more frustrating is when they light back up. I find out I hit the wrong skill to start with. Now im toe to toe with the target, expecting to get off the second leg of my combo set and end up having to bail on it and just "mash buttons" to get away.

Im not like 96% of your playerbase who use birds or mages, that can cause damage while running around the room. I have to be within reaching distance of the target to cause damage. This update is a fail for all bears..

but we all know PLDev hate bears anyway, so no surprise there.

[skavenger216]

Well if it appears that I'm attacking people I apologize. I didn't realize I was coming off that way. I actually enjoy discussing things with Lesrider.

Lmao! I sent u a pm like 10 minutes ago saying pretty much the exact same thing :D

[darkerelf]

I have jumped in from time to time and the experience keeps getting worst and worst. I feel that the GCD is by far the biggest mistake the dev has encounter. I can say I use to enjoy the game, but with these last two update the game has simply gone wrong. Honestly I tried to adjust to GCD but it just doesn't feel right. Its like they took fun out of it.

[Skyler84]

only one word to describe the changes in gcd. disappointed. it make no different at all. i believe most of us suggested to remove gcd (at least in pve) but the update was to make it smoother. so what if its smoother? excuse me, we are facing groups of mobs that can damage us as high a about a 100 or more in sewer. with gcd, your attention gets diverted to your skills. and then you have to look out for mobs. and then you have to check your health. what is this? some kind of strategy game where you have time to think and react?

want to keep gcd? possible with this suggestion implemented:
1. higher xp given from mobs (2.5 times more) [gcd slow down the game so increased xp to balance it]
2. lower damage from mobs (50 and below. at least you have time to react) [mainly this allow players to have sufficient reaction time]
3. skill linking time longer for combo skills. [with gcd, its either you do a self combo or team combo. you hardly can have both. the point of having a team is to enjoy the team working together. with gcd, the team now just work together to prevent each other from dying. i don't think team work is only for that purpose]
4. pink drop rate increase [working harder gets more pay. i believe you know what i mean by that]

if the above points i suggest is unreasonable to you then my only suggestion is remove gcd from pve.

[Kindread]

Lmao! I sent u a pm like 10 minutes ago saying pretty much the exact same thing :D

I know right? No hard feelings. Just some friendly discussion/debate. I'm just trying to understand the true basis of the GCD hate. Is it really the casualness (is that a word?) of the game? If so, if GCD remained as is, and there were fewer mobs and easier bosses but you still have the same drop rate, would the majority of people here be happy then? I don't believe so. I may be wrong, but I don't believe so. I think the real reason is that their toons aren't as effective as the were before and people love getting things but hate having things taken away from them.

[tifarah]

Again, it has nothing to do with being "godly" and having it removed. Its more along the lines of the current gas prices compared to months ago. Were paying more for the same amount. It's taking twice as long for the same reward. I like the GCD "idea" just the way its implemented right now is not good.

[markus]

So morhawk, you enjoy longer playtimes, harder mobs, no increase in xp or reward for playtime and enjoy dieing and using tons of elixers and pots..... my only question is are you a masacist or is sts paying you to endorse gcd?

[Skyler84]

I know right? No hard feelings. Just some friendly discussion/debate. I'm just trying to understand the true basis of the GCD hate. Is it really the casualness (is that a word?) of the game? If so, if GCD remained as is, and there were fewer mobs and easier bosses but you still have the same drop rate, would the majority of people here be happy then? I don't believe so. I may be wrong, but I don't believe so. I think the real reason is that their toons aren't as effective as the were before and people love getting things but hate having things taken away from them.

gcd takes away the fun of the game. this is a fast paced game. and i mean fast paced players and fast paced enemies. now they slow down players but the enemies are still fast paced. it just doesn't balance at all. its simply becomes like we are the target and the minions are the players. are we playing the game or being played by the game?

[skavenger216]

Well its not really that I hate the gcd, just its current iteration. I really do think lowering the gcd duration will fix a lot of the problems people currently have with the gcd. .20 seems perfect, it will end multitouching, along with still allowing the combat to be smooth and have a flow to it, as I don't think very many humans could even hit more than 5 skills in a second. Just some thoughts.

[Lesrider]

Well its not really that I hate the gcd, just its current iteration. I really do think lowering the gcd duration will fix a lot of the problems people currently have with the gcd. .20 seems perfect, it will end multitouching, along with still allowing the combat to be smooth and have a flow to it, as I don't think very many humans could even hit more than 5 skills in a second. Just some thoughts.

Anyone start a drinking game yet with the word "iteration?" :/

[skavenger216]

Anyone start a drinking game yet with the word "iteration?" :/

I am now :D. Oh wait...... I don't drink :( but rest assured, if I did drink, I would do that

[AnotherAzi]

Not going to requote Sub's full post again but I agree. I have posted elsewhere that the recent patch is a step in the right direction but only because I have been led to believe there is absolutely no way GCD is going away. Not sure why this is so other than developers' choice. That is certainly their right, just as it is the right of consumers to stop playing a game they no longer enjoy. Having read hundreds of forum posts, it appears GCD will cause many, many players to leave the game. I may or may not be one of them, but I can say I'm not having close to the amount of fun I used to.

[Wbto-Angeluscustos]

Not going to requote Sub's full post again but I agree. I have posted elsewhere that the recent patch is a step in the right direction but only because I have been led to believe there is absolutely no way GCD is going away. Not sure why this is so other than developers' choice. That is certainly their right, just as it is the right of consumers to stop playing a game they no longer enjoy. Having read hundreds of forum posts, it appears GCD will cause many, many players to leave the game. I may or may not be one of them, but I can say I'm not having close to the amount of fun I used to.

yeah your right.. its alot harder.. well longer.. and playing pvp is kind of a waste... cause quick combos dont really mean anything anymore.. same with in game its prety complicated to do combos now.. which defs slows u down a lot. :(

[Kindread]

So morhawk, you enjoy longer playtimes, harder mobs, no increase in xp or reward for playtime and enjoy dieing and using tons of elixers and pots..... my only question is are you a masacist or is sts paying you to endorse gcd?

I think the reason why I love this game so much is because I'm a social person. I like meeting people, joking around, making people laugh. When I'm playing PL and farming, I really don't have any expectations. I don't pay attention to how long it takes me to clear a level. I don't get mad if it takes long to clear one. I sometime talk a lot or make jokes on the run because I like to have fun. I think I'm a successful farmer because I don't set all these expectations on myself. I don't get upset if pinks don't drop for awhile. And you know what? When I get tired of farming, where do you think I go to have fun? I join a Shadow Cave run. Call me a masochist but I enjoy the challenge.

And I would love for STS to pay me but with my Securities Licenses and my firm, I'm not allowed to accept any compensation from anywhere else. Sucks huh? But I bet Cinco and JustG can work something out for me under-the-table.

[Labin36]

Major fail with new cool down...please fix this as you will see members leave. If I don't see this fix come through soon I'm done with this game which is a shame because I love it. 53 mage 35 arch and 10 bear

[Labin36]

Please get rid of the new cool down for abilities. It really takes away from the game play and the overall experience. I want the same speed of game play as before, not slower play. You are going to see a lot of people jump because this was not an improvement but a major failure. Sorry, but if I don't see the change I will be one of the first to leave.

[Wbto-Angeluscustos]

I think the reason why I love this game so much is because I'm a social person. I like meeting people, joking around, making people laugh. When I'm playing PL and farming, I really don't have any expectations. I don't pay attention to how long it takes me to clear a level. I don't get mad if it takes long to clear one. I sometime talk a lot or make jokes on the run because I like to have fun. I think I'm a successful farmer because I don't set all these expectations on myself. I don't get upset if pinks don't drop for awhile. And you know what? When I get tired of farming, where do you think I go to have fun? I join a Shadow Cave run. Call me a masochist but I enjoy the challenge.

And I would love for STS to pay me but with my Securities Licenses and my firm, I'm not allowed to accept any compensation from anywhere else. Sucks huh? But I bet Cinco and JustG can work something out for me under-the-table.

ahah yeah man thats why this game is funner.. its nice to use emotes or make jokes or just basically be more talkative during a run especially now since gcd it makes games run a lot more smoother and its funner.. and morawk we should play some time.. :)

[tifarah]

And I would love for STS to pay me but with my Securities Licenses and my firm, I'm not allowed to accept any compensation from anywhere else. Sucks huh? But I bet Cinco and JustG can work something out for me under-the-table.

This explains everything :) you are the rich type, that has nothing to do but sit around and waste time. Us poor and middle class people dont... lol

[skavenger216]

This explains everything :) you are the rich type, that has nothing to do but sit around and waste time. Us poor and middle class people dont... lol

Attacking people because of their financial status is NOT constructive feedback...... just saying.

[tifarah]

Very true, but he hasn't exactly been giving the best feedback either.

[markus]

Whatever floats your boat morhawk, but you have to understand you are in the minority here. a lot of what you have been saying about peoples play style and what people enjoy isn't how a lot of the pl players feel about the new gameplay. Only reason I singled you out is cause you seem to be kind of beligernt towards some people syaing how they feel about new gameplay.

[Wbto-Angeluscustos]

i dont like it but you have to say a lot of the "fun" in the game is the parties or groups u play with if you have "downer" group(boring and depressed) then your not going to have a lot of fun unless of course u get major pinks

[The Real Jira]

The GCD is incrementally improved over yesterday; however, GCD is not improved enough. Also of note, as usual I would create some auctions, but it seems not enough players online to make it profitable for what used to be the busiest time of the day. Apparently there are still quite a few people who feel similarly.

I'm hoping STS will continue to reduce GCD to a level where I can return to enjoying this great game and we can see the larger number of players numbers online we've come to expect.

[tifarah]

Sorry for the remark it just seems funny that "rich" people the "minority" in this country like the way things are, where as "poor" people want "change" it just seem to fit in with all this somehow.

[Moogerfooger]

ahah yeah man thats why this game is funner.. its nice to use emotes or make jokes or just basically be more talkative during a run especially now since gcd it makes games run a lot more smoother and its funner.. and morawk we should play some time.. :)

If you think this as a whole makes this "smoother", you must be playing a different game than I am. Not going into pro/con of GCD, but one thing it is not is "smoother".

Some people don't like talkers in their game as well....me, being one of them. If you're talking, you ain't fighting. Drags down the team, especially now that skill timing is more important.

[Treezii]

I have a question? Give me one good reason why to be a Mage now that GCD is Is in effect. Oh wait you can't cause the Mage is squishy and can't even heal fast enough before dying. You made this game horrible. Please fix it. And for those who comPlain about " skill spammers" shut up!!! You cannot say with all honesty that you didn't have your combos down sO that you could pull em off in a second. You had a great game... Now it sucks.

[The Real Jira]

One more thing, while GCD remains a huge disappointment, I do appreciate the reduction of emphasis on farting.

Farting isn't cool, it's crude. It plays to the lowest common denominator of decency and while it might be good for revenue rest assured your game was excellent without it.

[Gudluvin]

I agree with Lesrider, If it takes twice as long to complete it each run, thats half the chance at getting anything worthwhile. Which is why I said other aspects need to change before GCD.. XP, drop rates, elixir lengths... etc etc. I used to love 24 hour fear plane raids in EQ1 but, I just can't do that kind of stuff anymore.

Once it starts to become more like "work" it isn't fun anymore.

God I miss EQ1 and I remember CR runs in fear lasting hours on end, and the fear of corpse rot /shiver. Never mind the clear. That aside those kind of hours are just not there anymore. This game WAS fun in and out quick and dirty you guys seemed to have it down. I didn't mind the plat for anything as you provided something others didn't. Hell I even had several accounts just like the old EQ1 days (bloody hard to bot on an iphone and ipad though). I could do a quick run while having a smoke or sitting on the can.

However the GCD ends it all for me, three account will go dormant, I've already called my old EQ1 buddy and told him not to both getting the game. 1 star all around for every account (0 if I could). Hit em where it hurts, I know developers for iphone. Nothing is more damaging then a bad rating.

[markus]

That's what I've done for now unless they fix the fun factor, and recomend everyone do with promise of 5 star when fixed. Till then 1star will remain!
That's of coarse if you dislike the way the game is going. I hope banns will not be implemented for those still voicing there thoughts as was mentioned in post as I would love to still play this game if devs can heed the warnings of there player base and fix this problem!

[tifarah]

Well you know EQ3 is being worked on currently and is SUPPOSE to be a lot more like classic than #2 :)

[shmoo]

If that is the case I think I'm right behind you. Just take off GCD! Recent update stated it helped out GCD, and a in game note from the dev asked us to please give a try. How can anyone do combos with this, it was fine the way it was before. I am barely holding on to this game honestly, I honestly enjoyed it {before}. Good luck with GCD, i believe it is a big fail.. Take everyone here's opinion into consideration. It is a pocket game, meant for fast past not slower pace. You might have to take few steps backwards only to go forward. Last words NO GCD!
I must be new, because I can Shatter scream, drop a thorn wall, then blast shot, and it says 'combo', and I can do that with GCD. So I must be confused on what a combo is, can you please explain?

Same. I find the GCD is indeed much snappier as I can roll my skills now. I think the buff duration should still be adjusted, make it longer. Having to lose a buff during combat and having to rebuff during combat can throw players off their rhythm. My workaround for that is to move out of the danger zone and rebuff, then come back in the fight again, thus making the run slower.

My advice to darkerelf: Give it more time. Adjust your timings. Practice and see if you can live with. After say, about 20 runs come back and give a more detailed feedback. :D

[Gudluvin]

Well you know EQ3 is being worked on currently and is SUPPOSE to be a lot more like classic than #2 :)

My wife is not going to like you for giving me that information. =)

[Skyler84]

i am sorry but i have to voice this out. i feel like the full revival using one plat is a way sts is trying to earn more money from us and that is the main reason of adding the gcd. i am not sure how true it is because you die more than usual and even though minority of players would use it but some will still use it.

[Kindread]

ahah yeah man thats why this game is funner.. its nice to use emotes or make jokes or just basically be more talkative during a run especially now since gcd it makes games run a lot more smoother and its funner.. and morawk we should play some time.. :)

If you've ever been on a run and you hear "Pink Taco!" right before the bosses die, that's me. Those are the magic words that activate my Big Luck vanity. We definitely should run sometime.

[Kindread]

Whatever floats your boat morhawk, but you have to understand you are in the minority here. a lot of what you have been saying about peoples play style and what people enjoy isn't how a lot of the pl players feel about the new gameplay. Only reason I singled you out is cause you seem to be kind of beligernt towards some people syaing how they feel about new gameplay.

In a thread filled with hate for GCD, hate for PL and bully tactics of threatening to quit or manipulate the ratings of the game until demands are met, if I'm considered the belligerent one then i know for sure that I'm the lone paladin in a sea of undead casual gamers attempting to turn them the light of GCD. *searches for his loaded d20*

[suomaf]

Thanks for trying but it didn't do much for me. I still, when I'm lagging (which is always), have the problem of pressing g a skill, nothing happening, pressing it again, turns out the skill did go off, pressing another skill, nothing happens, pressing it again, THEN the skill activates. So when there is even a little bit of lag I'm getting about 1 skill out every 2 to 3 seconds. This results in me dying and my party hating me. Sucks. I hope you guys keep at it so I can come back and enjoy the game like before. If I could get 1 skill out per second with ~300-350 ping I would be happy. Thanks.

wow 300-350 ping.. I live for moments like that.. I get 1000-2000 pings on average and I was still having fun getting to level 55 but now its very tiring. I know that at the end of the day the game is just a business and proof is in the new update. Just look what you see when you die, platinum to revive? nice. You need way more pots to survive now.. more money. Leveling takes much longer now, getting the customers to stay around more. I know I am whining and moaning but, I really miss the pocket legends game, that I paid for. This new thing that appeared on my phone, I really do not know what it is.

[superglut2]

Great patch. Ipad how many ppl are on text is in the wrong place since free plat is gone. Love the icons.

[Doubletime]

I was one of the ones previously commenting on how the GCD has resulted in slower game play. And this still holds true to some degree, especially in mixed groups that aren't familiar with one another. However, having just spent the last several hours running Hideout and Stronghold with Echelong, Mitsuisun, Ikungfu, Apollo, Rae, and Moggerfooger, we were actually able to clear these boards in almost the same amount of time as we did prior to the GCD. While there were no sub-four minute death trains, our last run in Hideout was a lot less than 5 minutes. We were also clearing Stronghold in under 6 minutes. I think the last timed run was around 5:20. At the end we were able to do the same old large pulls that we did prior to GCD.

So it is possible, with skilled groups to maintain the speed of the game with only a small reduction in time. I think it just takes some getting use to the timing and spacing of skills. The patch has helped. Would I like a shorter cool down period -- of course. But the GCD is not the end of the game that so many on here are trying to say it is. It has created a challenge for sure and has changed the way you have to play to some degree. But it hasn't drastically changed the game to the point where it is not playable and enjoyable. At least not for me.

[Blayzn]

In a thread filled with hate for GCD, hate for PL and bully tactics of threatening to quit or manipulate the ratings of the game until demands are met, if I'm considered the belligerent one then i know for sure that I'm the lone paladin in a sea of undead casual gamers attempting to turn them the light of GCD. *searches for his loaded d20*

Yes, I have seen hate for GCD. Hate for PL? Quite the opposite. People loved (note the past tense) it! Passionately. And the Devs too. If people are threatening to quit it is because they are not having the same gaming experience they came to know and enjoy. The fact that people are here discussing it means they care, and do not want to leave. If they feel they must, then that is a choice they will make, as they have the right to do. Same with the ratings. The converse is also true. The Devs don't have to listen as they are in control. But they do. Ultimately something needs to be done. The Devs are trying. Me (the dreaded casual gamer) and my kind are trying too. I'm not making any demands. And I have seen few. Most are begging that the game return to the way it was. This is not being belligerent. I appreciate the opportunity to voice my concerns. The reasons for the GCD in the link to the thread you provided, are in my opinion, no reason to implement it. To make it more challenging? To balance PvP and multiple presses at the same time? To improve loop time? Does this really necessitate a complete overhaul of the game mechanics? In whose mind, the Devs? The players? I don't think so. It is the Devs game. They will do and shape and create it the way they want to, and this is their right. There are and will be people who love the change. I am just not one of them.

I would have never bought the platinum that I did if I first played PL in its current form. That is not a threat, that is just a fact. Will I buy more? Not if it stays like it is. Will I keep playing. Probably not. But the Devs do listen and work hard to implement patches and fixes. I am not making any rash decisions, as I have too much time invested in and love for this game.

[JaytB]

I was one of the ones previously commenting on how the GCD has resulted in slower game play. And this still holds true to some degree, especially in mixed groups that aren't familiar with one another. However, having just spent the last several hours running Hideout and Stronghold with Echelong, Mitsuisun, Ikungfu, Apollo, Rae, and Moggerfooger, we were actually able to clear these boards in almost the same amount of time as we did prior to the GCD. While there were no sub-four minute death trains, our last run in Hideout was a lot less than 5 minutes. We were also clearing Stronghold in under 6 minutes. I think the last timed run was around 5:20. At the end we were able to do the same old large pulls that we did prior to GCD.

So it is possible, with skilled groups to maintain the speed of the game with only a small reduction in time. I think it just takes some getting use to the timing and spacing of skills. The patch has helped. Would I like a shorter cool down period -- of course. But the GCD is not the end of the game that so many on here are trying to say it is. It has created a challenge for sure and has changed the way you have to play to some degree. But it hasn't drastically changed the game to the point where it is not playable and enjoyable. At least not for me.

I actually went on the forum to write about exactly what you said here already. It DID go smooth, didn't it :)

I also agree that just a little bit less gcd time would be nice, but it's certainly better in this latest update IMO.

[darkerelf]

I had the who day off, and tried my best to stay glued to this game. After 2 or 3 runs I have to give it a very long break maybe up to an hrs, I'm just bursting in rage. The smoothness and fun factor of this game has lost its core values. People say spammers ruined it for everyone, I'm not the best pvp out there but I can sure hold my own before. People even accused me of spamming, but for a fact I got my combos down with extensive practice. Yes I still have a hard time with the top pvper (lonearcher, and skimmy), but I was proud of my success. If there is such a thing as people spamming spells, so what this game is no fun no more.

I probably did 12 dungeon runs, and maybe spent 10 minute pvping only. The game play is shot, and it is all due to GCD. Like stated before, I had the whole day off and probably would of spent every second glued to the game. But I spent most of my day checking the furom over and over hoping for a dev's response.. The fun factor, the intense fun of hoping to get a pink is shot due to this GCD. How? Having the throw my eye back and fourth keeping my team alive, trying not to die, hitting next auto target, sometimes keeping a small conversation, and mainly focusing on gcd (which by the is very annoying) makes the game less enjoyable. Honestly I don't like it a bit, regardless what anyone says..

You also have my one star in the market. I have made other suggestions throughout the day, maybe something will be done. Until then the game play is poor, and I am starting to find other things to do. I will admit I did enjoy this game, hence did, and that's what made me addicted and hoping this was a fluke only. This is my 3rd online game and I hope I won't lose interest in this game either.

A-side note if everything goes well please make a 1 vs 1 in pvp, I pride this game a lot to my friends, not claiming I am the best but I could hold my own...

[Xymorg]

Better now, at least you can get a rhythm. At times I felt like Mr. Blonde in the bank: Boom ... Boom ... Boom. It still a nerf & like all nerfs it twists the contexts of accomplishment in uncomfortable ways.

I clearly chose poorly when I decided to try for 56 on my mage instead of bird or bear. It was the right choice when I made it, but it's wrong now. Funny thing is if there was some differentiation of what conditions the various feats were done under: i.e. The REAL 56 grind vanity crown is for anyone who makes it after gcd, then it would be much easier to accept & almost something to be proud of. Spending twice the effort for the same result feels like a fail.

In a more universal vein, the leaderboards should reflect which version the stats were set under. I really don't know if Orei's 500k was set while you still got credit for killing in FH with a max level char, and either way, it's a pretty mindboggling feat. But to hold today's players against the standard of four nerfs ago seems arbitrary. I've seen Anglfyr grind for kills & if 500 k were possible in 6 months in today's game, she would have it.

[Kindread]

A new person to the game would not have any problems with GCD and will buy plat. They will play PL as is, as they don't know any other version of PL. Only the existing players are the ones having a problem with GCD.

[skavenger216]

A new person to the game would not have any problems with GCD and will buy plat. They will play PL as is, as they don't know any other version of PL. Only the existing players are the ones having a problem with GCD.

But to be fair..... the existing players are the ones responsible for PL's success. Without the existing players, the game wouldn't have survived for a year and wouldn't have come as far as it has.

[Kindread]

But to be fair..... the existing players are the ones responsible for PL's success. Without the existing players, the game wouldn't have survived for a year and wouldn't have come as far as it has.

Very true. I was just responding to people who say, "if I had just started the game and PL was this way, I never would have continued playing or spent plat". New people will love this game still. It's still awesome.

[Diodge]

^^^^&&&&&&& I love the boot message in group. $$$$^^^^^^

I almost love the GCD. It adds so much to the game. Yes, It needs worked on a little more. When it gets set perfect. I will love the idea.

I LOVE PUGS!!! Its a new game almost everytime for me.
Im the type of player that watches spells that others use. Then I shoot my skills depending on what they use. I can tell the people who just hit whatever skill from the first kill.
Now that they added GCD. It makes alot of the people who would just mash and bash there keys to think more. When GCD is set right. You will learn it and come up with rotations.(single target and group rotations)

Im not haveing to many problems on my mage now. When you have to rezz,heal,shield,buff,buff,heal,dps. It takes a long time. I would like to see buffs ((and res)) be on there own GCD. I can see heal and shield staying in the dps group cooldowns for pvp.
If they can't be split up. I will drop some skills so I know I will use everything the best I can.

[Durnam]

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.


/10characters

[Raulur]

Ok, I finally had a chance to play post GCD. Like many others, I went to Plasma Pyramid, a map that I can generally solo without too much trouble.

What did I find? Yes, I can still do my combo, but the game feels painfully slow and boring. One simple lag spurt, and I'm looking at the death screen when I used to be able to recover just fine.

So here's my honest constructive criticism:

First of all, the gcd HAS to go. Period. Most of us are on flaky 3g connections, so casual is good. If we wanted hardcore, we'd probably be on a pc or console game with a wired low ping connection, not on a cell phone, tablet, or ipod. Think about this.

Second, radical changes in gameplay after the beta stage is a huge no-no. Ask SOE, who has successfully killed at least 2 fairly popular games by radical gameplay changes. I'm guessing a few of you witnessed this firsthand, so you should know better. Yes, the gcd registers as a huge change in gameplay to a great number of players.

What was the goals of this gcd anyway? Was it simply for pvp, or to lower lag and stress on the servers? If its pvp, you need to take into account that there are a great number of players that aren't interested in pvp. If it is lag, then maybe they should upgrade, not make 90 percent suffer to please the 10 percent. (Made up numbers to make a point, ie don't punish the ones on modern devices in order to please somebody on a second generation iphone.) Any connection not on wifi is likely to be somewhat laggy, and I'm sure most of us realize that and are willing to deal with it. If it's to lower stress on the servers, then let's compromise and have a discussion on the matter. Make a thread laying out the problem, and lets discuss solutions.

I really don't want to tell you I'm quiting. I don't want to quit. I want the old fast paced game back. I do however have a bad feeling that if the gcd keeps going on in the current form that this game will die a slow, painful death much like PlanetSide and SWG.

One last request: Can we please get an option to disable fart pack sounds and animations so they aren't displayed client side? Not everyone is a pre-teen that find such things amusing.

On the plus side, I do like the rest of the changes. GCD + fart pack = bad, rest = good.

[Luchta]

The main effect is half a second is now actually half a second, not half a second + server delay. Much more snappy ;)

I know I keep saying this again and again and I complain about it but now I can truly say my high ping + GCD is not much of an annoyance anymore. I like this update so far. A few more tweaks depending on how they balance the game would be very much appreciated.

@ALL: The GCD is staying. It's this game's evolutionary step to make those whiners say they are bored and they are quitting because they have fully consumed the game. This is a challenge. A game. It's the way it is. So if brats can't adapt to change like what the old fart said in the chatbox, then it can't be helped. PL will stay and other people will explore and play it. That's a fact.

[Dartagnian]

I really don't want to tell you I'm quiting. I don't want to quit. I want the old fast paced game back. I do however have a bad feeling that if the gcd keeps going on in the current form that this game will die a slow, painful death much like PlanetSide and SWG.

.

man ain't that the truth. SOE murdered SWG and planetside. I'd rather play the earlier version of this game. (tbh, being able to download it from the store would be nice)

[Knazen]

U guys made this game very boring sry for saying this Gcd should stay but same speed on skills as before scream blast has no meaning anymore trying to make it ur dead if u waste on scream fast combos made this game fun n unique from other games this is in fact the best game I've played but ur giving me no choice in deleting this fame Cus it's no fun anymore // hmmhmm

[sticky420]

I would say that b 4 the update I used my spells with thought and was definitely not button mashing now ima masher by the time u get a spell or two off and one didn't work after hittin it 2 or three times now im half dead not attacking with my weapon cause the guys already dead but the other 10 r still attacking :cool:I gota look over to see if I can heal standing there Doin nothing but getting hit about to die suckin down potion after potion well do I use a spell or heal im gettin creamed so I gota use a spell but gota heal ehh im just gonna turn it off this ain't no fun

[ardonemis]

The Button mashing is worst now then it was before. Because i Start clicking during gcd to make sure next spell is castet ASAP.
I dont like gcd, it takes away the fun it was before.

[sticky420]

Maybe keep gcd for attk spells but for heal and buffs it all gets alittle sloppy and slow please consider some of the ideas people r coming up with I loved this game and I will miss it if it stays the same.

[ardonemis]

Ok, I finally had a chance to play post GCD. Like many others, I went to Plasma Pyramid, a map that I can generally solo without too much trouble.

What did I find? Yes, I can still do my combo, but the game feels painfully slow and boring. One simple lag spurt, and I'm looking at the death screen when I used to be able to recover just fine.

So here's my honest constructive criticism:

First of all, the gcd HAS to go. Period. Most of us are on flaky 3g connections, so casual is good. If we wanted hardcore, we'd probably be on a pc or console game with a wired low ping connection, not on a cell phone, tablet, or ipod. Think about this.

Second, radical changes in gameplay after the beta stage is a huge no-no. Ask SOE, who has successfully killed at least 2 fairly popular games by radical gameplay changes. I'm guessing a few of you witnessed this firsthand, so you should know better. Yes, the gcd registers as a huge change in gameplay to a great number of players.

What was the goals of this gcd anyway? Was it simply for pvp, or to lower lag and stress on the servers? If its pvp, you need to take into account that there are a great number of players that aren't interested in pvp. If it is lag, then maybe they should upgrade, not make 90 percent suffer to please the 10 percent. (Made up numbers to make a point, ie don't punish the ones on modern devices in order to please somebody on a second generation iphone.) Any connection not on wifi is likely to be somewhat laggy, and I'm sure most of us realize that and are willing to deal with it. If it's to lower stress on the servers, then let's compromise and have a discussion on the matter. Make a thread laying out the problem, and lets discuss solutions.

I really don't want to tell you I'm quiting. I don't want to quit. I want the old fast paced game back. I do however have a bad feeling that if the gcd keeps going on in the current form that this game will die a slow, painful death much like PlanetSide and SWG.

One last request: Can we please get an option to disable fart pack sounds and animations so they aren't displayed client side? Not everyone is a pre-teen that find such things amusing.

On the plus side, I do like the rest of the changes. GCD + fart pack = bad, rest = good.

I 100 agree. If you need money for better Servers make a donation call. I Monate somthing, but only if gcd dosent stay.

[Kindread]

I would say that b 4 the update I used my spells with thought and was definitely not button mashing now ima masher by the time u get a spell or two off and one didn't work after hittin it 2 or three times now im half dead not attacking with my weapon cause the guys already dead but the other 10 r still attacking :cool:I gota look over to see if I can heal standing there Doin nothing but getting hit about to die suckin down potion after potion well do I use a spell or heal im gettin creamed so I gota use a spell but gota heal ehh im just gonna turn it off this ain't no fun

I dunno. That scenario you just described sounds fun to me. So many critical decisions to make with the threat of failing and dying hanging in the balance. It sounds fun because it sounds like a challenge.

Also, with the new GCD changes, you probably don't want to kamikaze into group of mobs 10 deep anymore. You have to be more strategical about it.

[kopi]

The update is the skill cooldown is no longer need to be verified by server but based yr device's timing.

Not a big difference, it is still tiring for me, having to watch out for my and party health and skill refresh. I couldnt play long. I play game to relieve the stress from real life and now the game has give me more stress, how ironic.

Yes, my blessing of might wasnt working and i thought it was my phone's fault.

I have experienced that in lag situation, its will mess up the skills activitation. Alot of us players as sts will know are outside US, we do not enjoy the luxury of having super fast ping, and some parts do not have high quality 3g service provider. In the past even when i am getting spike lag or having 1000+ish ping, i know and confident that the skill has been activated, but in this case before and after the patch, when i am having this ping issue, skills that i thought should be activitated but its not. Its very hard for people like us to play and enjoy.

I love this game, i have spent over a thousand of plats and i know there are alot more players out there too spent alot. My friend's list last night was almost grey. And there were some came in, tried playing a bit and went off.

Honestly from last night i gathered from some guys, some even they are frustrated, they dont want to come forum and give feedback. Reasons they gave me : they heard that complaining in forum will get them banned, and this is the impression they get. I explained to them no you wont if you are only givibg feedbacks but they just not willing to come. Another reason they give is : what for? They post and they get a flame war.

Bottom line, even with this patch, a lot of pple still dont like it, not as smooth as before. And now you have to concentrate more on the game itself, very tiring. Now PL has become a friendster for me, login, stand in town chatting and joking with others, dont feel the urge to farm, only occassionally get my 47 mage in keeper to 'practise' a bit of skills

[Kaarataka]

This tweeking of the code has made gcd tolerable but I keep feeling like there is a hiccup in spell rotation on my mage. If the timing could be lowered by just 0.05 - 0.1 it would make it perfect. Thanks for your hard work devs.

Your biggest critic
Me

[Elnendil]

Agree
I didn't care for the comment on the other thread that if you don't have constructive feedback, you could be banned. I have worked my entire career (now as an exec) in the service industry and making threats to customers who complain about the product/service is the quickest path towards being out of business. If you don't want feedback, then don't ask for it. If you pat yourself on the back about being a responsive Development team then I think you should take stock of the feedback you've received and decide if you're actually being rational or stubborn with your "enhancements" to the gaming environment. Maybe tweaking GCD isn't the right answer, maybe reversing it is?

Hulluko's post said it best, you've slowed down gameplay which was maybe your single largest competitive advantage. You've also caved to childish whims by putting fart/puke emotes into the game...BUT "don't let me catch you cursing or bans are coming"!!! No profanity in this game but fart, vomit and crap your pants all you want. This deviates from a squeaky clean image that I thought PL did a good job of maintaining. Again, I'm not entirely sure what problem you were solving with this patch..."loop time" is developer code speech...I'm not a developer and could care less what that means. As a customer, I can tell you that your improved "loop time" has the counter effect of creating a degraded gaming experience. If that was your goal, good job.

This may sound like a rant post but consider it an implore to take stock in your strategic direction before you lose a lot of fans and customers. You guys were on a good trajectory and seemed to take a random, ill-advised 90-degree turn but seem to have an attitude that the community will simply adjust. Don't be too sure - these changes have radically changed the quality of the game. The halo effect of "loop time" will steadily improve with less players logged on. he has a very good point if u missed it maybe you should take look again

[nazgulking]

Devs I love you. Now gcd is the way it was supposed to be. Played a few runs and absolutely love it :) Don't listen to trolls and flamers that just whine for the sake of it. Other people will give you REAL feedback, as for me keep gcd as it is now.

[karmakali]

I have tried to keep nonconstructive feedback to myself so far. I just feel the need to point out that it is currently 12:50 here now and I logged out of PL about an hour ago. I haven't gotten offline before 2 am in a while. I actually sat there looking at the "accept revive" button for over a minute debating on whether to rejoin play or not. At that point I figured it was better to just log out.
I will try to be more specific tomorrow about issues I have found that have affected the lure of the game.
Right now all I can say is "Please Devs....make it better".
:(

[DOAPSaint]

Love the new faces and emotes!
GCD was annoying at first but now I've started to learn to deal with it... it could be better if the cooldown was just a little shorter.
I give two thumbs way up!!! :D

[Siejo]

Morhawk you trying for a shield?

On seperate note, gcd still sucks. Sure it feels faster and smoother but its still to long and game still isn't fun like it used to be. I still think some or all of these need to be brought to game to make gcd not so bad.
Gcd reduced further
Mob hp cut
Mob dmg cut
Xp increase
Dmg increase
Money drop increase
Pink rate increase
Elixer and buffs length increased
Or remove gcd......
Bosses changed in some way to make up for loss of mobilty and dmg

Markus has some interesting suggestions here. As it stands right now they said GCD is here to stay. If it is true and they stand firm maybe we can offer them suggestions to lessen the pain. Decreasing mob damage and increasing skill potency and duration could offset the delay experienced. Maybe they can test that out and see if it works. I am not here to say which side is right but maybe we can meet in the middle somewhere. Sometimes the user sees things the creator doesn't and thats totally fine as NOBODY is perfect, but instead of threatening to quit and calling them names we should help them understand. Best thing would to describe to them where you experience difficulty with GCD and with what party combination so they can mimick it. Thats what I think in my opinion anyways. You can flame all you want I am just trying to be helpful in a more mature way.

[cynic]

Devs I love you. Now gcd is the way it was supposed to be. Played a few runs and absolutely love it :) Don't listen to trolls and flamers that just whine for the sake of it. Other people will give you REAL feedback, as for me keep gcd as it is now.
so everyone that gives an other answer then u is a troll and flamer??? u are so wrong this is about a game that isnt funny anymore after a patch and people are dissapering, have u seen how many people are online?
im so sick of people that only here to become a guardian by giving answers the devs would like

[Kindread]

so everyone that gives an other answer then u is a troll and flamer??? u are so wrong this is about a game that isnt funny anymore after a patch and people are dissapering, have u seen how many people are online?
im so sick of people that only here to become a guardian by giving answers the devs would like

No one is answering to get a guardian shield. You only get that when you've shown significant contribution to the community. This thread and this whole topic of GCD is about personal opinion.

[nazgulking]

People that states "Omg this sux! I quit! Remove it or I'll quit" are trolls and flamers, people that states " this, this and this will improve actual gameplay" are the one that give real feedback. You cynic are trying to portray me as a dictator, which i am not, that only wants good feedback from players or as someone that wants PL shield, which i am not looking for. There is a big difference between trollers, like you, and players who cares about the game by giving advices on how to improve the game.

[Riccits]

my 2 cents now:

- GCD feels much much better on my iphone, its almost playable now. i would like to reduce 0,15-0,2 and i can play almost like before
- thx very much for free skill respec, i needed for all my chars :)
- plz fix the new ao town quests, still cant craft the weapon and turn in the other quest.
- thx very much for the buttons at longon screen, they was badly needed!!!!
- the invite textes are annoing, when iam f.e. at gobblin tunnels i invite my whole list to come.. i have to wait a minute until all textes of invites are scrolled... :/
- thx for reducing sounds of farts!!

[Hayabusaz]

Devs , please we are a lot that wants sewer king's set !
Why isn't there any ? There MUST be one ! Devs , please make one !!

[cynic]

People that states "Omg this sux! I quit! Remove it or I'll quit" are trolls and flamers, people that states " this, this and this will improve actual gameplay" are the one that give real feedback. You cynic are trying to portray me as a dictator, which i am not, that only wants good feedback from players or as someone that wants PL shield, which i am not looking for. There is a big difference between trollers, like you, and players who cares about the game by giving advices on how to improve the game.
so now i dont care about the game????
man i stated my opinion bout gcd already and i think its not fair that they changed te game and made a good action rpg into a dull game.
im just pissed i spend a lot of money on something that isnt the same anymore, they are changing the game for the worst.
why do i need to adjust my gamestyle, i dont want that i liked the game as it was.
everybody may express themselfs, beeing agry, sad or whatever! man this our last change before we really quit the game to try to change it.

why change something that isnt broke???
now were dealing with a problem that just started after the patch.
THIS GAME ISNT FUN anymore.
i dont wanna flame or troll and im not saying others do or point any finger (like u) i just wanna express my sadness and try to do what i can to change it before i really give away all my stuff and unplug

[Luchta]

After doing a few runs in PP, I'm having a slight problem with the new snappy model. At 300-400 ping (which is normal for any 1mbps wifi or 3G) is when I tap a skill and it doesn't register, I have to tap it again until I see it registers and is on the cool down. This may not be a biggie to some, but the problem here is when you're in frenzy and you have to do a combo, if first skill doesn't register, tapping the second one is going to kill you.

@Devs: I hope you can consider queuing. Let the server load the request for us instead of canceling a request when it gets confused with lag. In basic terms, it's letting everyone tap as many ready to use skills then just put maybe the same .5 seconds or faster cool down for each skill before they register? This would allow the animation to finish and at the same time, help us survive if device to server lag is an issue.

My two cents.

[Kindread]

Just spent the last 3 hours in Balefort Sewers playing in PUGs only. With this update to the GCD, my random PUGs were finishing maps almost as fast as pre-GCD performances and in some instances, faster than pre-GCD times. Biggest difference that I noticed, aside from the smoother GCD action from the recent update, was that all the players concentrated more on a team game without any prompting or instruction. If there was a bear, everyone deferred to the bear's lead and allowed him to group first. No one was playing Rambo and taking off by themselves. When there wasn't a bear, it seemed the teams instinctively stayed together more to maximize kills and reduce potential for player deaths.

Hideout runs were basically same speed as pre-GCD and many times the map was cleared just shy of the exp pot limits. For Roach and Catacomb runs, we were flying through those almost as fast, if not faster, than pre-GCD. The only run which consistently took longer was Stronghold and even then, it was not much longer than pre-GCD. It appears that many of the players have adapted to the rhythm of the GCD already.

I'm not sure what's different between the players that I ran with a few hours ago and the players in this thread that absolutely cannot cope with the new changes. Granted these were all PUG team runs and not solo. I don't have any insight on solo runs as I rarely solo any maps anymore and haven't solo'ed myself in a really long time. Have the detractors here really given the GCD a fair shot in the team environment or has this just become a matter of principal that they've decided to not compromise on at all?

[Riccits]

Just spent the last 3 hours in Balefort Sewers playing in PUGs only. With this update to the GCD, my random PUGs were finishing maps almost as fast as pre-GCD performances and in some instances, faster than pre-GCD times. Biggest difference that I noticed, aside from the smoother GCD action from the recent update, was that all the players concentrated more on a team game without any prompting or instruction. If there was a bear, everyone deferred to the bear's lead and allowed him to group first. No one was playing Rambo and taking off by themselves. When there wasn't a bear, it seemed the teams instinctively stayed together more to maximize kills and reduce potential for player deaths.

Hideout runs were basically same speed as pre-GCD and many times the map was cleared just shy of the exp pot limits. For Roach and Catacomb runs, we were flying through those almost as fast, if not faster, than pre-GCD. The only run which consistently took longer was Stronghold and even then, it was not much longer than pre-GCD. It appears that many of the players have adapted to the rhythm of the GCD already.

I'm not sure what's different between the players that I ran with a few hours ago and the players in this thread that absolutely cannot cope with the new changes. Granted these were all PUG team runs and not solo. I don't have any insight on solo runs as I rarely solo any maps anymore and haven't solo'ed myself in a really long time. Have the detractors here really given the GCD a fair shot in the team environment or has this just become a matter of principal that they've decided to not compromise on at all?

had same experience

[On7H3MooN]

Remove gcd please. I don't want to play my level 50 mage anymore... and have started up a bird... but still frustrated with gcd. :/

[Slush]

shorten gcd time to 0.1 of a second

[shmoo]

Some good points / feedback expressed in this thread:
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?23450-I-Was-Mistaken-About-Global-Cool-Down&p=260014&viewfull=1#post260014

[Ellyidol]

Remove gcd please. I don't want to play my level 50 mage anymore... and have started up a bird... but still frustrated with gcd. :/

Devs have said that it's staying, no questions.

To those who say they can't cope with it or it has ruined the game for them, I'm sorry to sound blunt, but frankly at this point its either you adapt or quit the game.

IMO, they've acted pretty quickly on reacting to the (negative) feedback by improving GCD, which should show that they are dead serious in keeping within interest of players and are not out to "destroy" the game.

[Raulur]

I still think the gcd needs to go, or at the very least halved. If it is set in stone, can we please lose it for buffs and heals? I couldn't care less about pvp. Being that my main is a bird, many times I'm dead before I can get my evade skill to kick in. (I try to save it for when the bosses eventually target me, as they always do unless I'm in my talon/shield setup.) Either that or birds really need some sort of buff.

[Hayabusaz]

Sewer king set ! Sewer king set ! Sewer king set ! Please !!!

[Ellyidol]

I still think the gcd needs to go, or at the very least halved. If it is set in stone, can we please lose it for buffs and heals? I couldn't care less about pvp. Being that my main is a bird, many times I'm dead before I can get my evade skill to kick in. (I try to save it for when the bosses eventually target me, as they always do unless I'm in my talon/shield setup.) Either that or birds really need some sort of buff.

Have you tried the new GCD yet though? It seems pretty playable already at this speed.

I'm not sure I know how much they reduced it by, but it seems quite fast.

[cynic]

i tried it and it sux, like i said whatever time they reduce it it sux, only 800 people online atm doesnt that say a lot?

[Riccits]

Have you tried the new GCD yet though? It seems pretty playable already at this speed.

I'm not sure I know how much they reduced it by, but it seems quite fast.

probably i will get some punshes but i feel same.. its not like fun as before... but at least its playable... a reduction of 0,2sec would be fine :) then i would almost say i like it ;)

IMO they didnt reduce it, they just made the GCD local, so now its a real .5sec and before IMO it was almost a second..

[Chant]

I have to admit that the change to GCD is so much better but still lacks the fluidity it once had. I say take a break and don't play PL until Monday. Give the Devs time to adjust and make the needed changes. It's kind of hard to get acclimated to GCD when the join button is temporarily disabled. This frustrates players, including myself, even worst. If you decide to come back or have not found another game as an alternative, tough luck.



With all the technological advances available, why not keep GCD only for PVP????

[Riccits]

i tried it and it sux, like i said whatever time they reduce it it sux, only 800 people online atm doesnt that say a lot?

this is the daily period with lessest number of ppl online.. but yes, should be around 1000-1200

yesterday evening didnt reach 2000ppl... thats not good ya...

[Raulur]

Have you tried the new GCD yet though? It seems pretty playable already at this speed.

I'm not sure I know how much they reduced it by, but it seems quite fast.

Yeah, it's playable with a decent group, but still feels like slow motion. I'm one of those super agressive birds that's always on the brink of death. Soloing is painfully slow now. Had a keeper run earlier that seemed to last forever, but it didn't help that I wad with 3 bears stomping everything all over the place. Normally in that case I would just run ahead and get my combo off before them, but that is suicide now.

Another request: Can we get a slight range buff to Avian Scream? Nothing drastic, just 5 or 6m instead of 3 would help tons. I know you guys love getting ppl to use those plat for a res, as a matter of fact that's the only way you can get a res now with all the delay...

[Riccits]

I have to admit that the change to GCD is so much better but still lacks the fluidity it once had. I say take a break and don't play PL until Monday. Give the Devs time to adjust and make the needed changes. It's kind of hard to get acclimated to GCD when the join button is temporarily disabled. This frustrates players, including myself, even worst. If you decide to come back or have not found another game as an alternative, tough luck.



With all the technological advances available, why not keep GCD only for PVP????


i would prefer too that is removed from pve, but it wont be so... we just can hope that will be reduced to minimal possible and we become some benefit f.e. like stronger skills or weaker mobs...

and yes... the "join"-bug is bad, but i worked a lot with software developers and its very very hard to bring a app with 0 bugs.. i think devs are very sorry for that and we shouldnt flame em too much for them, they are human too ;)

i would be really happy when we could find a solution for GCD so that all PLers are happy after...

[Ellyidol]

I'm getting mixed opinions here.

When I ask in-game or I'm told, they say they can compare to the pre-GCD speed or even improve since they are more "efficient".

But I have to say though, neither of the opinions are wrong :) Just personal tolerance and how welcome you are to change I guess.

[cynic]

ok what i see is this,
the game was fine as it was, after the patch everyone is trying to find a way to play and giving suggestions about how to resolve the problem the gcd gives. all this wasnt needed before the patch.
so gcd is here so now the buffs need to be longer, the gcd shouldnt be for the buffs, lets make it 0.5
lets change this lets change that.
so 1 change gives soooo much side effects that needs to be changed at the end there will be nothing left of the original game people fell in love with.

so its started with this and its gonna change the whole game.
i really dont wanna flame or troll, i wish i had some contructive feedback, but i dont/cant. this goes all wrong and people are leavin or are frustrated with it.
if this was the plan to keep a small group of hardcore player that are to adictive they ll swallow anything as long as they can play this, ur plan is working.
ill be here to watch if anything changes for the better but will not play this anymore (i simple cant, like some one said, change everybodys pc for a slower one and people will not use it)

[Ellyidol]

ok what i see is this,
the game was fine as it was, after the patch everyone is trying to find a way to play and giving suggestions about how to resolve the problem the gcd gives. all this wasnt needed before the patch.
so gcd is here so now the buffs need to be longer, the gcd shouldnt be for the buffs, lets chage this lets change that.
so 1 change gives soooo much side effects that needs to be changed at the end there will be nothing left of the original game people fell in love with.

so its started with this and its gonna change the whole game.
i really dont wanna flame or troll, i wish i had some contructive feedback, but i dont/cant. this goes all wrong and people are leavin or are frustrated with it.
if this was the plan to keep a small group of hardcore player that are to adictive they ll swallow anything as long as they can play this, ur plan is working.
ill be here to watch if anything changes for the better but will not play this anymore (i simple cant, like some one said, change everybodys pc for a slower one and people will not use it)

I don't think they would have done it if they deemed it not needed.

I believe it's a good idea, you put everyone on equal footing - no multi-touch and device advantages/disadvantages. It's not perfect, maybe not even ideal yet, but I'm sure they will keep in mind the interest of the players.

Keep in mind it's only been roughly two days, and to make a change like this work, you always have to start with the most extreme and working yourself down to be able to hit the perfect amount. They can't add a small GDC, then increasing it every week, then decreasing again, then increasing again. How would that make you feel then?

[Luchta]

@Elly, like this:

http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/sites/people/img/25771_Dizzy.jpg

@Devs, me and a few friends have been playing a while. The only bad thing we noticed is that it's now very stressful for the eyes. It's not as ergonomic anymore that you have to watch the skill map every second to catch the GCD. I still push for queuing if that is something you can try and see if it can give the same result as the GCD model now.

[Ellyidol]

Psychedelic bro! :P

[Moogerfooger]

Have you tried the new GCD yet though? It seems pretty playable already at this speed.

I'm not sure I know how much they reduced it by, but it seems quite fast.

It's playable, but the last thing I would describe it as is "quite fast". They didn't reduce the speed, just that it is not server-side anymore.



Keep in mind it's only been roughly two days, and to make a change like this work, you always have to start with the most extreme and working yourself down to be able to hit the perfect amount. They can't add a small GDC, then increasing it every week, then decreasing again, then increasing again. How would that make you feel then?

Disagree with you, hate to say. There is no reason to go to an extreme as a starting point, in general. Although they felt 0.5s delay wasn't extreme, a lot of their paying customers do (not saying if the customer is necessarily right or not, but that is for another thread someday). Although agreed with it's only been two days and there is time to iron the kinks out.

[Ellyidol]

It's playable, but the last thing I would describe it as is "quite fast". They didn't reduce the speed, just that it is not server-side anymore.

I say quite fast in relation to the previous GCD, when it seemed like a lot longer in between spells. It's helped though, that they made it like a small queue for your spells. :)

[Moogerfooger]

I say quite fast in relation to the previous GCD, when it seemed like a lot longer in between spells. It's helped though, that they made it like a small queue for your spells. :)

If I wanted my spells to be queued, I'd go play a bunch of other boring unimaginative games. I understand STS felt there needed to be a fix to certain aspects of the game, but dragging it's uniqueness down and rep for speedy game play if you wanted and only had a few minutes, just to add in a huge altering factor that makes it more like all the other games, was a questionable decision in its approach.

PvP does seem better...win. PvE not so much...fail. I can adapt, but it doesn't mean I think it made the game better for the reason (PvE) that I play.

I like everything else about the update, minus the failjoin button, but not a fan of GCD in its current 0.5 second state, and they seem hell-bent on keeping it there instead of exploring tweaking it down.

[Ellyidol]

If I wanted my spells to be queued, I'd go play a bunch of other boring unimaginative games. I understand STS felt there needed to be a fix to certain aspects of the game, but dragging it's uniqueness down and rep for speedy game play if you wanted and only had a few minutes, just to add in a huge altering factor that makes it more like all the other games, was a questionable decision in its approach.

PvP does seem better...win. PvE not so much...fail. I can adapt, but it doesn't mean I think it made the game better for the reason (PvE) that I play.

I like everything else about the update, minus the failjoin button, but not a fan of GCD in its current 0.5 second state, and they seem hell-bent on keeping it there instead of exploring tweaking it down.

I can see where you're coming from too, I get those moments when I just want something quick and on the go.

Hopefully they'll add something that will cater to those needs. My guess is they will nerf mobs/bosses somehow, to speed it up. I don't know about them adding a VL type of map, since that'll just put the whole campaign to waste, IMO.

I think I read an interview or the presentation of Cinco somewhere, in one of those game conferences, that he said that STS learned that a balanced PvP is more important than a balanced PvE. I could be wrong, don't quote me, I seem to remember reading that. I'll try to dig it up.

Edit:

Found it :

"However, Barnes admits that the team made a key mistake when it came to Pocket Legends' PvP gameplay: It focused on PvE first and then tried to tack on PvP later. Trying to balance PvP after the fact became extremely difficult, which is why Spacetime decided to focus on PvP first in design for all future titles."

Taken from : http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/02/gdc-2011-spacetime-pontificates-on-pocket-mmos/

http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/03/pocket4.jpg

And

"Something Spacetime Studios defintely want to do differently in the future is the way they approach balancing the game. Pocket Legends’ PvE gameplay got balanced before PvP – under the assumption that PvE is more important to casual gamers than PvP it sounds logical but according to Barnes this was a huge mistake. Balanced PvP is critical and now has priority over balancing PvE content. Experience tells us that from a player’s perspective imbalanced PvP is considered unfair and frustrating while imbalanced PvE – to a certain degree – is a tough challenge and it can even be rewarding to beat the AI as the underdog."

Taken from : http://www.icopartners.com/blog/archives/2102

Both are pretty recent too.

[markus]

A new person to the game would not have any problems with GCD and will buy plat. They will play PL as is, as they don't know any other version of PL. Only the existing players are the ones having a problem with GCD.


so your saying sts should only screw there current player base? ok sounds like the way to go.......

[Moogerfooger]

I won't quote your whole post Elly, but if "PvE was balanced" but there was a problem with PvP (agreed).....apply GCD to PvP only. Simple. And doable fairly easily from a developing standpoint, since they already have the code to do it.

I think the general consensus is that they dumbed down PvE for the sake of PvP. I bet if you pulled numbers for number of players who stick to PvE and will always stick to PvE even if PvP was improved, they would still easily outwiegh the number of PvP players.

Good articles though, thanks for the links :)

[Ellyidol]

so your saying sts should only screw there current player base? ok sounds like the way to go.......

No, that's not what he's trying to say.

What he meant is, if you just started playing PL now, you wouldn't even know what pre-GCD was like, so they can't complain.



I won't quote your whole post Elly, but if "PvE was balanced" but there was a problem with PvP (agreed).....apply GCD to PvP only. Simple. And doable fairly easily from a developing standpoint, since they already have the code to do it.

I think the general consensus is that they dumbed down PvE for the sake of PvP. I bet if you pulled numbers for number of players who stick to PvE and will always stick to PvE even if PvP was improved, they would still easily outwiegh the number of PvP players.

Good articles though, thanks for the links :)

Yup, in some extent I agree, I honestly initially thought that GCD would be for PvP only. Knowing how it's changed PvP now, and how fun PvE was before, I would say it would have been a good move.

One of their reasons for GCD in PvE was also, although I don't really notice it or know how to notice it, to reduce lag from all the spells going off in the screen. I'm not sure whether they meant graphical lag (that I can understand) vs actual ping, since I don't really get spikes from all the skills, but just from internet issues - but then again, maybe I think its internet issues when its actually the skills that load up the server.

Who knows, maybe soon enough they'll decide to actually just implement it for PvP. That's one of the reasons why I take it quite lightly, since they haven't said "Nope thats it, it stays that way.". Experience has also told me that they still will tweak stuff, especially on that 2H weapon speed issue during the rebalance, I think it was initially 2.4 (?) then they tweaked it down to what was acceptable now.

But yeah, thanks! Found it useful too :)

[Raazesk]

I just want to thank the Dev Team for making such a great update!
I really appreciate all of your time and effort. :)
Thanks!

[Duke]

Yes, the interface portion of GCD is improved. I was playing last night on WiFi, though, not 3G, so I don't know how much my issues with longer ping times and lagginess of controls was fixed, but I'm guessing it's a lot better because of the immediate response. I'll try to verify today when I get a chance.

I still think the GCD delay is too long. I'd rather see the GCD time dropped by at least half, if not more, and extend the individual skill cooldown timers (except for emergency skills like Heal and Revive).instead. This would allow skills to be fired off in quick - but not immediate - succession but also provide a tactical reason to not fire off every skill in a row.

Has anyone noticed if enemy damage, armor, health, and speed has been corrected yet to compensate for players having lower DPS, fewer buffs/debuffs, and less reliable access to heals? I was focusing on low-level play last night (starting Questius over again to see how well the questing/XP system works for smooth story-based leveling) since GCD has made high level play so much more of a grind, and at those low levels, there simply aren't enough buffs/debuffs available to really notice the difference. (Although even as early as level 3 or 4, I was finding GCD annoying, which surprised me.)

[Riccits]

@Elly, like this:

http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/sites/people/img/25771_Dizzy.jpg

@Devs, me and a few friends have been playing a while. The only bad thing we noticed is that it's now very stressful for the eyes. It's not as ergonomic anymore that you have to watch the skill map every second to catch the GCD. I still push for queuing if that is something you can try and see if it can give the same result as the GCD model now.

ya true... we have to watch more the skill side now... we decide in miliseconds wich skill to use.. watch skill bar this miliseconds, skill is gray, is it grey bcz of GCD or bcz its not restored from last use..?
its a bit much of jumping from non usable to usable.. we all pressed skill buttons so fast and now with pressing a bit to early nothing will happen and wating for GCD restore and pressing after is a loss of time.. i think so most ppl presses many times at one skill until it can be lounched.. may a little queue would help to avoid hurting fingers..

[Luchta]

I think I read an interview or the presentation of Cinco somewhere, in one of those game conferences, that he said that STS learned that a balanced PvP is more important than a balanced PvE.


That's what I keep saying in a recent thread. People shouldn't be too focused on mechanical, timed and redundant runs. Test you gear and PvP is the only way to test what you think you're actually good at. No pun intended.

[Ellyidol]

That's what I keep saying in a recent thread. People shouldn't be too focused on mechanical, timed and redundant runs. Test you gear and PvP is the only way to test what you think you're actually good at. No pun intended.

True, in most games PvP seems to be the end-goal, PvE is for helping you get better in PvP through gear, levels, etc.

BUT, have to say that PvE here is very fulfilling, if not, more fulfilling than PvP though. I know I used to be PvE only, it was only recently that I got into PvP, still not fully, but getting into it.

[Duke]

@Devs, me and a few friends have been playing a while. The only bad thing we noticed is that it's now very stressful for the eyes. It's not as ergonomic anymore that you have to watch the skill map every second to catch the GCD.

I have to agree. I have to keep sweeping my eyes around the outside of the display to watch for skill cooldowns, see if my basic attack is enabled, and check on the status of team members. While all that is going on, I find it hard to keep an eye on the action that's actually in the middle of the screen.

I suppose some of this comes down to simply not being used to the GCD yet, but for now, at least, it's quite awkward.

[Luchta]

I can justify it's awkward at the moment because now, I fold my thumb towards my palm to get a clearer view of the screen. pre-GCD, you already know which skills cool-down faster and which skills will be reserved, be used and what not. I'm sure this will need getting used to but I am worried about new players getting the negative reaction that this game is hard -and tiring?

[Ellyidol]

I can justify it's awkward at the moment because now, I fold my thumb towards my palm to get a clearer view of the screen. pre-GCD, you already know which skills cool-down faster and which skills will be reserved, be used and what not. I'm sure this will need getting used to but I am worried about new players getting the negative reaction that this game is hard -and tiring?

Hopefully not, like Morawk said earlier, the newer players won't have the experience of pre-GCD anyway, so whether they find the game too hard or tiring, it will probably stem down to their personal preference of which game they're looking for.

[Luchta]

Come on Elly, support my protest to test/implement queuing here. LOL!

[StompArtist]

My main issue is with the graying out and flashing at the moment it is way too distracting.

Could there be a way to have a little "progress bar" on top or on the side, like the one above our weapons? Seems to me that it would make for a much smoother display instead of this huge skill flashing thing? I think that part of why some people really dislike the GCD is not the cool down itself it's the fact that it's currently over "stated"... this should be very discreet as it will not be important to game play once people get used to it. Just like the weapon cool down period indication is discreet and something you can look at when you need it but not "jumping out of the screen at you".


Thank you.

[CanonicalKoi]

I'm really not seeing much, if any, difference with the update to GCD. Game-play still seems very jerky.

[Echelong]

To be honest I don't see much of a difference between yesterdays patch and the first one, but that is maybe because of my way of playing pressing skills before GCD was over. As for the additional challenge it can be great with a good group but if you have 1 or 2 members that don't pull their weight you are gonna die a lot and the gameplay will slowdown to a crawl.

This happened to us last night at first we had 3 good players but we had 1 so-so player and a bad one. I died like 4 times in one game not to mention another fellow bird that tried like 3 runs with us (I can't blame him because after he left DT and I said screw this!!!) They where very frustrating runs and I know for a fact that gear doesn't make the player because we had a full fury bear that didn't had the minimum clue on what tank means and how to play the game, needless to say he even left when we reached gold fever. After we did a couple of pugs we gave up, I don't want to keep adding worthless deaths and losing elixirs. PUGs are now worse than they ever where taking 2 to 4 minutes to kill gold fever and more than 5 to kill K&Q. That is not counting that they take more than 5 minutes to clear the area before the boss.

After those horrible horrible pugs DT and I decided to lock down a game and just get good players. We then made less than 5 minute hideout runs and a bit more than 5 minute stronghold runs. We had a very solid group (Jaytb, Neko, Mits, DT (doubletime), Apollo, Raevyne and I think a few others that joined once someone logged) We rarely died and GCD was fun with that group, it didn't mattered to any of us we where clearing runs very fast and had a lot of fun.

My argument is that GCD can be a lot of fun but it doesn't feel casual now it feels more hardcore than it ever was. Some tweaks will have to be made either to mob health and damage or players damage output as well as the duration of buffs and debuffs and add some time to the combo time-frame to execute them. If something is not done soon I think there are gonna be a lot of broken phones while doing pugs because I just wanted a facepalm emote last night.

[Blayzn]

Devs I love you. Now gcd is the way it was supposed to be. Played a few runs and absolutely love it :) Don't listen to trolls and flamers that just whine for the sake of it. Other people will give you REAL feedback, as for me keep gcd as it is now.

Your point is that the only REAL feedback is that which agrees with you!? Anything else comes from trolls and flamers!? Are you serious.... Gameplay. Has. Changed. Dramatically. I have been playing for quite some time and have only come to these boards to post my opinion. Certainly no troll or flamer.

[Ellyidol]

Come on Elly, support my protest to test/implement queuing here. LOL!

Ahh, I really want to, but I don't want PL to turn into an almost turn-by-turn type of game, especially since it's supposedly (from my understanding) a real-time MMORPG.

From my experience after the recent patch, there seems to be a really small queue on skills already. While your character is doing a skill animation, you can tap on your next skill and it'll follow shortly after. Barely noticeable, but when you look carefully at your character instead of the skills flashing, you'll see.

[Duke]

I can now confirm that my ping-based problems are gone. That makes it a lot more playable on 3G, although I'm still not fond of the GCD in the first place.

[Lesrider]

Ahh, I really want to, but I don't want PL to turn into an almost turn-by-turn type of game, especially since it's supposedly (from my understanding) a real-time MMORPG.

From my experience after the recent patch, there seems to be a really small queue on skills already. While your character is doing a skill animation, you can tap on your next skill and it'll follow shortly after. Barely noticeable, but when you look carefully at your character instead of the skills flashing, you'll see.

I tried that, and I don't think you're right. If I tap a skill while it's still flashing, it's still bright (not grayed out) when the flashing ends.

[vol]

Personally I think they need to increase the GCD to something like 2 seconds. That way lag could be much better, and I could really plan each skill use. Maybe cut the mobs to half speed...

Honestly, the game is still fun, but not as much. The thing is if it's a pvp problem, institute it in pvp. If it's a lag issue, upgrade servers. If it is a client side issue, allow phones dumbed down graphics. Generally games try to push the envelope hardware wise, and each new iteration of phones can handle more.

I'm sure STS knows that balancing various classes is tough business, so it makes no sense to have a global cool down, that totally unbalances what they were working for in the past.

As it is, I can't get off my combos due to other party members screwing it up.

[Ellyidol]

I tried that, and I don't think you're right. If I tap a skill while it's still flashing, it's still bright (not grayed out) when the flashing ends.

Once usually doesn't do it, when I do it once it gives the impression that it's actually being used, but doesn't.

I usually have to do 3 quick successive taps on my second skill that I want to do. From what I've experienced, it only works at skills two at a time too.

1. Tap the skill that you want to initially use.
2. Right after that, tap the next skill you want to use (this is where the 3 quick taps are).

If I do it fast enough, some animations of the skills even cancel out. (A Crushing Blow during Hell Scream). The GCD is still probably .5, but compared to the previous one when I couldn't even press a skill because of the GCD, this one seems faster somehow. Could be mistaken, just a personal opinion and observation :)

[Doubletime]

Echelong mentioned how GCD has moved the game away from the casual player because of the new timing elements that have been implimented. And there are a lot of comments on here complaining about this part of it. However, Cinco said in an earlier thread this is by design. So I don't believe it is something that you will see leave the game, regardless of the amount of complaining done by players use to the old style. The conversation started with a question about the original purpose of GCD and starts with Cinco's response. The quotes are below.


GCD? To add choice and challenge to the game (which I admit has had almost none since it launched), make PvP matches last longer (long enough to make choices and employ strategy), and to reduce the very large number of simultaneous ability effects that would go off every time a group of players spammed their skills. The latter makes clients run slowly and introduces a fair bit of 'lag.'

- Cinco


Thanks Cinco. I guess my only question is that -- doesn't this new element take away from the casual nature of the game that has created such a broad appeal and ease of play. I posted my other comments in the Feedback thread, but to me it seems like perhaps the GCD went too far in one directions at the cost of some of the things that make this game so fun and appealing to so many people. I am sure there is a happy medium somewhere. And I really am appreciative of the attention that you all, as developers, give to our feedback. Thanks again.


Yes - you can now get into situations where you must make critical choices between which skill (or combo) you attempt... or your consequences could be dire! This does make it a bit less casual than it was. I like this because, as a game designer, I don't really wish Pocket Legends to be the ultimate in casual role-playing. I want it to be somewhat more skill / choice oriented than it has been. The GCD achieves this. Downside is - GCD takes some getting used-to :)

[Luchta]

Ahh, I really want to, but I don't want PL to turn into an almost turn-by-turn type of game, especially since it's supposedly (from my understanding) a real-time MMORPG.

From my experience after the recent patch, there seems to be a really small queue on skills already. While your character is doing a skill animation, you can tap on your next skill and it'll follow shortly after. Barely noticeable, but when you look carefully at your character instead of the skills flashing, you'll see.

Lesrider posted first but I'll confirm it. It doesn't queue. That's why I want it that you can queue as many skills but a cool time for example the whole animation to finish before the next one is actually fired/registered.

[Lesrider]

Once usually doesn't do it, when I do it once it gives the impression that it's actually being used, but doesn't.

I usually have to do 3 quick successive taps on my second skill that I want to do. From what I've experienced, it only works at skills two at a time too.

1. Tap the skill that you want to initially use.
2. Right after that, tap the next skill you want to use (this is where the 3 quick taps are).

If I do it fast enough, some animations of the skills even cancel out. (A Crushing Blow during Hell Scream). The GCD is still probably .5, but compared to the previous one when I couldn't even press a skill because of the GCD, this one seems faster somehow. Could be mistaken, just a personal opinion and observation :)

Sorry, but that sounds even worse to me. In what world would anyone want to tap a skill three times to make it work?
Actually, I don't even think you CAN tap 3 times during the GCD -- are you sure your third tap isn't simply hitting AFTER the GCD?

[Ellyidol]

Sorry, but that sounds even worse to me. In what world would anyone want to tap a skill three times to make it work?
Actually, I don't even think you CAN tap 3 times during the GCD -- are you sure your third tap isn't simply hitting AFTER the GCD?

One sec, let me upload a video, I just took a quick one.

You can "tap" it somehow. To me it comes up like its been tapped, but hasn't been used. The skill icon I'm spamming even flashes 2-3 times before it's actually used.

Let me upload, hopefully it's understandable. It also shows how my Crushing Blow animation cancels out to Hell Scream.

I could be dead wrong, and just misunderstanding the queue as something else. So hopefully the video can have me corrected :)

[Blayzn]

If STS believes that PvP comes first and view PvE as an addon, then my posting campaign comes to an end.

For reference so STS can know who their customer was in me...
Over 35 yrs old, post college degree, middle class, avid PvE. I was looking for something fast paced to play while kids hogged tv with wiggles and disney movies and i had no access to my PS3. I made few friends, didnt talk in groups, was cordial and would give and receive advise when necessary. Solo alot because too many time i had to put the phone down to take care of a boo-boo, diaper, etc. And that would have made me a bad groupie. not much time to play, so when i could those were precious moments. PL filled the void, then i forgot about my PS3 for a long time as i would play my longer sessions when kids were alseep. Looks like i need to blow the dust off my controller.

I sign off with some final thoughts.
1. Its easier, in general, to keep current customers than to find new ones.
2. What was created may not have been what you wanted or thought, but it was a success
3. How solid that your research on the need of PvP over PvE
4. Are you tracking loop timeand taking into consideration the number of people logged in?

[Luchta]

One sec, let me upload a video, I just took a quick one.

You can "tap" it somehow. To me it comes up like its been tapped, but hasn't been used. The skill icon I'm spamming even flashes 2-3 times before it's actually used.

Let me upload, hopefully it's understandable. It also shows how my Crushing Blow animation cancels out to Hell Scream.

That's either the cancellation or lag. I posted about it earlier in the previous page,

http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?23491-1.7.1-Content-Update-(57007)&p=261658&viewfull=1#post261658

[Ellyidol]

That's either the cancellation or lag. I posted about it earlier in the previous page,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mswiT0NqWD8

Apologise for the view and the quality, I just did a quick one with phone.

I could be wrong, maybe I misinterpret the cancelling as a queue. It just seems to me that the skills flow through each other faster, as compared to the previous GCD.

Edit:

Now that I re-read your post, cancellation would make sense to the multiple flashing of the icon.

[cynic]

look like u can cast 1 skill 3 times ?