Upcoming Change to Skills: Global Cool-Down

[Luchta]

The only question I've got is since I've never played on a ping lower than 280 (that's the best I can get), will this have a significant change effect or this will be like everyone will have the same ping/delay as I have? If it's the latter, then that would be awesome.

I play at an average of 415 ping. Yes I'm jealous of people who can get anything lower than 200. I've tried it and the difference is astronomical.

If a global cooldown is implemented, then I suggest that the skill cooldown times be reduced by the amount of the global cooldown.

I'm not sure if I got it right as well. But global c/d is when you can't press 2 skills simultaneously. It's like counting with your fingers by two's and by one's. Counting by two's will be some sort of trial and error.

GC-D to me is like any or most MMO games. You can't press skill 1&2 at the same time of the fraction of amount of time. The theory behind it with pc games is already evident in some videos posted here and on youtube. In PC games, you press skill 1 first then repeatedly press skill 2 to catch up with the GC-D. So it won't make any difference in game play the way I see it.

[MoarPewPew]

Omg!!! I have been wanting this forever!!!

This will be a great addition to the game because players will need to use more "skill" in picking the right moved to use in a certain situation.

Also now we can create skill rotations. (If you don't know what that is you figure out what moves maximize your dps and what order to use them)

I have a question.


Will combos still work? And will you have to adjust the duration of debuffs so we can pull the combo off?

[Riccits]

iam really concerned about this change... often are 10 ore more skills lounched to kill a whole crowd.. and now we should wait...? just for not may lagging..? this wont help anything... and 1 noob in a party may could ruin all...?
we really need more infos about its working... we all usually use a lot the skills, and i can immagine its frustrating press skills button 10x and nothing happens... :-/
why new useless stange nerfs when game is fine atm...? when theres a reason to make some balacing in pvp ok, but let pve how it is pls..

[Echelong]

So either we don't tell you what we have planned and surprise you with it (bad) or we tell you what is up so you know what is coming and can help us figure it out.

We would rather keep you informed, and we hang out with you guys here because we expect you to give us a good rational discussion. Don't hate on the idea of it, play it when it comes. And help us iterate on it until it fits with the overall game,

You made a good point as I would like you (STS) to keep us informed. Its hard to give feedback when only general information has been given. I've had bad experience with global cooldowns on WoW when they gave shamans (class that has been nerfed over and over since the start) on our Shock spells and made 2 of them practically useless.

I would like to know about how long is the global cooldown? 1/10 of a sec or more? What about your testing; how long have dungeon runs on average been with or without the cooldown? I think this is the most discussed aspect and what have gamers worried the most.

It would be a big problem if the global CD made runs much longer or made combat to hard for casual gamers. Please provide us with some feedback of your testing on these aspects.

[noneo]

I personally have only really experienced noticable lag since the new alien oasis town was released. (using Samsung Fascinata - Galaxy S) Whats going to happen when you are in battle, and got critically hit and need to quick hit your heal, drain life, and mana shield to get you back up to full health? Are we going to just have to spend a ton more on potions and the like?

Also, how is reducing the amount of damage we do in PVE in any way better? That just doesn't make any sense.

I definitely think a poll needs to be created.

[adwin]

My opinion is the same as most of the other ppl who have bothered with a feedback.
If PvP is "flawed", fix pvp. The current system works very well for PvE, so why change something that just works?
It's like the BIOS in a computer. If it works, don't touch it.
You could also enable the cooldown in pvp games only, but leave it as is in pve.

Can you tell us more about combos then? Some skills DO require a very small cooldown before it's successfully initiated.
For instance, cruel blast combo. You should take human reaction/reflex time into consideration as well.

On a side not, IF this cooldown were in the milliseconds range (for example, 300ms-400ms), this could be a good thing, since it would prevent button mashing.
BUT
Sometimes, unleashing one skill after another is crucial for survival. For example, while being surrounded by a big mob. There are a lot of areas in PL where that can happen.
Soloing maps would suffer even more so from this global cooldown.

Devs are NOT end users, and are most certainly biased.
What you CAN do: create a test map (this is an idea for the future as well), where ppl can join and test your WIP.
This could connect to a specified backend/server, with the additional settings in place.
THEN gather feedback and make a decision.

AND/OR

you could also make a poll. Although it would be kindda hard to express an opinion without a hands-on.

OR

make the change for a brief testing window - for example, 2 days and gather feedback.


>EDIT< updated post:

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.

[Luchta]

When I used to play MMO, I remember it clearly that global cool-down doesn't actually mean you need to press it repeatedly make the skill cast right after cool-down. I know a lot of people tap like crazy as if playing galaga on a family computer. Once you press it and it's passed the cool-down, it will register and i'm sorry to say, if you pressed skill #3 first instead of skill #2, you either die or fail a combo. In other MMO games, you even have to wait for the first spell/skill to finish casting together with it's designated "animation". That's just basic global cool-down the way I see it and it's still used today.

In other words, you could still tap like an idiot or learn how to wait for the skills to register/shoot. So it's up to the devs whether they plan to set it as animation based cool-down (which is unlikely) or maybe a few nano seconds delay from which a skill registers itself (most likely) the moment it's pressed.

Also, if you can add the condition if {account=lag} then {cooldown=0};

[Justg]

I'll let Cinco talk more about the specifics, but my understanding is the design team is looking at around a .5 second cool-down. One effect of this is that usage of skills will become more of a rhythmic nature (2-ish every second-ish) as opposed to spammy button-mashing.

Thanks for the Thread Cool Down in tone, it really is beneficial for us to talk about this with you in a level fashion, and you guys should know by now we are here with you to work together and make this game as great as it can be. We'll be tweaking things all up and down the DPS >>> Mob HP chain to make this feel fantastic.

- g

[skimmey]

He's good at getting free kills and multitouching though

Any proofs?
Damn i dont get why u have to be that kind of a sore loser :/
I always play it fair unlike u who rushes in a friendly 1/1 like a kill addict.

[Echelong]

I'll let Cinco talk more about the specifics, but my understanding is the design team is looking at around a .5 second cool-down. One effect of this is that usage of skills will become more of a rhythmic nature (2-ish every second-ish) as opposed to spammy button-mashing.

Thanks for the Thread Cool Down in tone, it really is beneficial for us to talk about this with you in a level fashion, and you guys should know by now we are here with you to work together and make this game as great as it can be. We'll be tweaking things all up and down the DPS >>> Mob HP chain to make this feel fantastic.

- g

Very kool G. .5 secs doesn't sound as bad and if you guys are willing to tweak dps or mob health to compensate for the global CD. If you get any data on the difference between runs with and without the CD would be great.

[Kindread]

Most awesome news! 0.5 secs is perfect. It's exactly how I play at the moment. I kind of develop a rhythm where I hit the skill then anticipate when it lights back up. After awhile you get a feel for how long each cooldown takes. Its always been one after the other. Ive never intentionally hit multiple skills at the same time playing on a 3GS. I've made it playing in PvE this way to 56 so don't worry about it destroying your PvE experience. You'll survive.

[FluffNStuff]

I'll let Cinco talk more about the specifics, but my understanding is the design team is looking at around a .5 second cool-down. One effect of this is that usage of skills will become more of a rhythmic nature (2-ish every second-ish) as opposed to spammy button-mashing.

Thanks for the Thread Cool Down in tone, it really is beneficial for us to talk about this with you in a level fashion, and you guys should know by now we are here with you to work together and make this game as great as it can be. We'll be tweaking things all up and down the DPS >>> Mob HP chain to make this feel fantastic.

- g

Reducing individual cool downs by the half second global cool down and increasing time to combo by a second should keep the over all dps the same. In fact, it could increase useful DPS, because with the spamming there is a lot of over killing.

[karmakali]

Not really sure how this will change combos. Ultimately I am a creature of habit and dislike change when it is presented. But....that being said- you guys have made alot of changes since I started playing and it has mostly all worked out for the positive. I'll take a wait and see attitude....but reserve the right to bi*** later

[Ellyidol]

I'll let Cinco talk more about the specifics, but my understanding is the design team is looking at around a .5 second cool-down. One effect of this is that usage of skills will become more of a rhythmic nature (2-ish every second-ish) as opposed to spammy button-mashing.

Thanks for the Thread Cool Down in tone, it really is beneficial for us to talk about this with you in a level fashion, and you guys should know by now we are here with you to work together and make this game as great as it can be. We'll be tweaking things all up and down the DPS >>> Mob HP chain to make this feel fantastic.

- g

Sounds awesome. Now timing could come into play too.

Thanks very much for the detail.

[StompArtist]

Feel free to post your thoughts and questions in this thread. I hope to be able to answer some of them before the change is ready for release. (And, as always, entertaining predictions of doom, gloom and economic ruination are most definitely welcome

- Something tells me that there was a vote (likely at a Starbucks) on who the sacrificial lamb in STS would be and Cinco took the smallest straw. Glad you are settling in the new role. lol

[hawkei]

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.

I'm not complaining I'm glad its not going to be 1 shot pvp anymore

[hawkei]

I'll let Cinco talk more about the specifics, but my understanding is the design team is looking at around a .5 second cool-down. One effect of this is that usage of skills will become more of a rhythmic nature (2-ish every second-ish) as opposed to spammy button-mashing.

Thanks for the Thread Cool Down in tone, it really is beneficial for us to talk about this with you in a level fashion, and you guys should know by now we are here with you to work together and make this game as great as it can be. We'll be tweaking things all up and down the DPS >>> Mob HP chain to make this feel fantastic.

- g

I hope you don't mean making the enemies with more hp

[BeardedBear]

I was initially excited when reading this, until I read some of the comments. I was under the impression it would nerf birds a bit, but when it comes to bears, they will be really nerfed now. It's hard enough to use bears at end game PVP, now it will be even harder.

Just a thought about cooldowns. Say it last 2-3 seconds or whatever between one skill and the next. We will find ourselves not able to use all of our skills in a row. For example; on a bear, you would initially beckon (and/or hellscream) and start raining down your slashes, then end with a stomp. The skill you use first would be up from cooldown before you use your last skill in your combo due to the wait time between skills, no?

[Luchta]

Hey more enemies is good isn't it. As long as the cruel blast can kill 30 of em. LOL!

[krazii]

Thanks for giving us a heads up before you do this and letting us voice our opinion. Most of how I feel is already been voiced and I agree that it's a little frustrating to see another nerf after the combat re-balance awhile ago where you came out and said you'd like to emphasize skill use. But until I use it, I really don't know. I do propose the following:

1. Implement this in PVP only at first. Give us a chance to go in there and experience it and then give you feedback before you implement it in PVE too.

2. Instead of a cool down between every skill use, how about implement it between the use of every two or three skills. That way we can fire off our combos a little better and the change likely won't feel as severe.

Thanks,

Kraz