Upcoming Change to Skills: Global Cool-Down

[SamTheDog]

I've played PL about a year now and only just started playing WOW, so someone clear things up for me a little. I've noticed that there is already this kind of cool down with abilities in WOW. You hit skill and all the skills have a brief cool down where you can't do anything, and the one you hit has it's normal cool down. Was there this same kind of uproar in WOW? Doesn't seem to spell the end of the world there, isn't that what they are proposing here?

[Echelong]

Is there a given date to when this might happen?

No word yet.

[Echelong]

I've played PL about a year now and only just started playing WOW, so someone clear things up for me a little. I've noticed that there is already this kind of cool down with abilities in WOW. You hit skill and all the skills have a brief cool down where you can't do anything, and the one you hit has it's normal cool down. Was there this same kind of uproar in WOW? Doesn't seem to spell the end of the world there, isn't that what they are proposing here?

There aren't many global cooldowns on WoW at least from what I remember form 6 years ago. Only the shock spells on the Shamans. The global cooldown means that you can't cast any skill for .5 seconds after you casted one.

[IamBored]

Just wondering if they make the mobs have more HP so mobs don't die on the first set of combo would people complain? If they increase the mobs hp, it could mean 2x the time it took us to clear now. If they put in the global cool down, it could also mean 2x the time to clear but it would help with the server performance while the 2x hp does not. I believe most spells in WOW has a cool down meaning heal take 3 seconds to cast while in PL everything is instant.

[Echelong]

Just wondering if they make the mobs have more HP so mobs don't die on the first set of combo would people complain? If they increase the mobs hp, it could mean 2x the time it took us to clear now. If they put in the global cool down, it could also mean 2x the time to clear but it would help with the server performance while the 2x hp does not. I believe most spells in WOW has a cool down meaning heal take 3 seconds to cast while in PL everything is instant.

That is called cast time not a cooldown. Cooldown is the time in between casts. I don't think they will increase Mob health is anything diminish it a bit or add more dps.

[Kindread]

Trust me, you guys should just wait and give it a go before freaking out too much. Most games have this gcd to prevent the ability to fire simultaneous skills. You'll still be fast, you just won't be able to fire all at once. If you study music or play, it's sort of like that. Count off one-two-One, two-two-One, three-two-One, etc. Fire your skill, count the one-two and thats your half second. It's not that long to where it would delay PvE by double or triple the time to clear a map and it'll make PvP alot more interesting.

[Luchta]

Most like you can't queue your shots by tapping too fast. Everything will be uniform the way the client is supposed to handle the skills. So yeah, I agree with the others saying it would take more skills now.

But I'd like to be one to see the duel between the two. I'll bet 100k.

[Sun]

WoW has a global cooldown of 1.5 seconds. This has always been the case, since the beginning. A global cooldown means you have to know the right time to use the right skill, because you can't just use them all at once as you can now in PL. There would be 100x more of an uproar if the GCD were removed, because it would just mean whoever could push their burst dps buttons faster would win, aka no skill at all.

[evelo2]

How about a trade off, reduction in actual skill cool down?

[evelo2]

Folks, this is a necessary and beneficial change. You have not even played with it yet and are making sweeping generalizations. Give us your level opinions and help us tweak it when it goes in. We promise we will listen (as long as the feedback is rational) and we'll keep iterating on it until it feels right.

Sorry Justg,

Why is it necessary?
I play in full groups with all hell breaking loose, and if there is the odd lag spike, I don't care.

But if I find myself spending another 10mins killing that keeper, or if this becomes less fun, then believe me I do.

I think you are in the business of retaining paying customers ( I spend a fair bit ).
So I would seriously consider listening.
People do not pick up on a thread with this much negative feeling without reason.

The increase in XP as part of the last release, has for many of us working people with families ( AND MONEY )
turned this game into a grind fest.
Don't make grinding a chore now.

The customer is always right?

Perhaps it is time to consider a pre-release server, one where people can pop on and try these changes?

[Moogerfooger]

There would be 100x more of an uproar if the GCD were removed, because it would just mean whoever could push their burst dps buttons faster would win, aka no skill at all.

Good points....but I could say that knowing which buttons to hit quickly in a certain order to maximize damage/healing/buffs/debuffs/whatever also takes skill and game play knowledge and dexterity to execute right, especially when taking individual skill cooldowns into effect.

I see your intended point and agree with the majority of your post, but to say it takes no skill at all is false; a player who knows quick patterns/combos/timing - in ANY game - will smoke a random button masher 100 times out of 100.

Whoever suggested a pre-release/preview server, even if just for a few players (the Guardians?) to scope out and get pre-release feedback, was a good idea.

[Moogerfooger]

Trust me, you guys should just wait and give it a go before freaking out too much. Most games have this gcd to prevent the ability to fire simultaneous skills. You'll still be fast, you just won't be able to fire all at once. If you study music or play, it's sort of like that. Count off one-two-One, two-two-One, three-two-One, etc. Fire your skill, count the one-two and thats your half second. It's not that long to where it would delay PvE by double or triple the time to clear a map and it'll make PvP alot more interesting.

I'm a musician...i apparently like speed metal and you like slow jazz in the way we play

[Kindread]

Blues man! It's all about the blues. I even make scrunchy faces when I'm killing mobs.

[Frenzyn]

I love you guys.

[Moogerfooger]

Blues man! It's all about the blues. I even make scrunchy faces when I'm killing mobs.

Nice. Scrunchyface is now how I will refer to you, if I run across you I dig blues as well.

/threadhijackover

[adwin]

Like I already mentioned in my post, I was thinking about 0.3s-0.4s, but up to 0.5 should, in theory, be fine.


1 VERY IMPORTANT thing:
There should be an exclusion regarding self buffs - talking especially from a bird's POV. Focus and Escape should be excluded from the global cooldown. These have enough of their own as it is now.

2: I'm thinking, that only damage-dealing skills should be GC'd. Debuffs *should* be excluded as well.


All in all, I'm *carefully* up for the GC, but it has to be thoroughly tested and implemented.
I don't do speed metal ;]
AND
instead of senselessly button mash, ppl should UNDERSTAND what they're doing. Then again, everyone has a different definition of "fun". Some don't care about technicals and style, they get off by just playing and killing off.

It's impossible to please everyone, which is why this has to be implemented (if it comes to this), in a graceful manner.
*cue* transition melody.

[Uimacaz]

I, personally, vote No on this.

Being able to quickly kill enemies as an archer is the only way to survive with the incredibly low armor and dodge with the new Sewer gear.

For PvP it makes complete sense... But depending on the length of time we are talking about here for a cool down, I think there needs to be more worked out and changed if this is implemented. Just a split second so that you have to press each skill individually would be fine. One of the things I enjoy about Pocket Legends is the fast paced fighting. You have to know what you are doing and act quickly to survive and be a true benefit to your team. I'm not sure I would experience the same level of fun if the pace of the game was slowed down significantly.

For those experiencing lag from spell/skill spamming - turning on Pixel Double in the Options screen helps a lot, especially in The Catacombs and Roach Motel. (The enemy mobs create much more lag than a group of players ever could here.)

- Adam

[Frenzyn]

I, personally, vote No on this.

Being able to quickly kill enemies as an archer is the only way to survive with the incredibly low armor and dodge with the new Sewer gear.

For PvP it makes complete sense... But depending on the length of time we are talking about here for a cool down, I think there needs to be more worked out and changed if this is implemented. Just a split second so that you have to press each skill individually would be fine. One of the things I enjoy about Pocket Legends is the fast paced fighting. You have to know what you are doing and act quickly to survive and be a true benefit to your team. I'm not sure I would experience the same level of fun if the pace of the game was slowed down significantly.

For those experiencing lag from spell/skill spamming - turning on Pixel Double in the Options screen helps a lot, especially in The Catacombs and Roach Motel. (The enemy mobs create much more lag than a group of players ever could here.)

- Adam

Well, To be honest pvp would be much better, and pve might get a hit, but then again it might be a bit better.

I am only concerned about combos, how are combos affected if you cant do 2 skills in a row without a 2 sec cooldown?
Also in my opinion skill spamming can save ur life at times, so i hope they implement a system where u can
do an avian scream and blast shot at the same time, for they are different things.

I personally think you guys should definitely up the bars on ranger health if you do this, to atleast 650...
Its incredibly unfair making the ranger the one known for low armour but high numbers in hit, when you take the hit away, it might just become "the ranger"...
This would help my managing for not wasting 90% of my mana in 2 seconds tho, so i applaud you for taking away my urges and saving me cash.

-Spencer

[rocket]

Fine tuning PVP (5-30% of total players?) at the expense of rebalancing PVE seems counterproductive to me.

As far as client side performance goes, phones just keep getting faster and faster. A lot of those with iphone 3s will probably be upgrading to iphone 5s this year. I have a feeling that a lot of the lag people experience is due to a poor data connection, which this change will not affect.

Comparisons to WOW are interesting but not that helpful because the two games are designed completely differently. WOW was designed from the start with casting times taken into consideration. PL was not, you have always been able to instantly cast another spell. Changing it now, will require rebalancing.

[bravemenrun]

Not sure how I feel. For PVE, .5 secs may hardly be noticable, so if it helps the server load, it may indeed be a good thing. But if it is noticable, it might ruin my game. i hate waiting, i like feeling like I have to work fast, bam bam heal bam! I wish you guys had a beta server for us to test on. But I suppose if there's a huge recall effort by players, you could always roll it back or tweak the cool down time at a later date.