☆Scenario: STS releases a new MMO, and personally hires you as a dev to help plan and generate new content for the new "Legends" game.☆
Comparing your experience with Arcane Legends, what would you keep, get rid of, change, or add to make the new "Legends" title the best it could be?
*Please note this is just a hypothetical scenario. There are no current plans revealed by Spacetime Studios to expect a new release in the foreseeable future.*
Here are some of my own ideas:
-KEEP: One thing i admired heavily in AL were the astonishing execution of the social features in the game. The slick and smooth social UI is unbeatable and incomparable to any other MMO i have experienced. Area chat, private messaging, guild chat, party chat, etc are flawlessly executed with simple and short commands. Compared to other MMO's that feature whispers, yells, talks, world chat, etc. AL makes meeting people and chatting as easy as 123.
-CHANGE: One thing i disliked about AL was the lack in variety of gameplay. Every map was practically a hack and slash race to a boss, who's either bugged attack ranges or consistently one-hitting attacks was a turn off for players seeking a diverse game that demands strategy and coordinated actions to complete, rather than a series of randomized proc's that determines successful map completions. In other words, no originality in combat and repetitive map layouts. I would implement a more player-interactive combat system that includes a manual way to avoid hard attacks (a timely block/dodge skill) to drive the skill requirement for completing hard maps. Adding swipe gestures for special actions. Adding environmental effects to assist in traversing through mazes of maps with randomized layouts and mob locations (possibly set up surprise ambushes) so each and every run is different.
-CHANGE: Physics and animations. The physics in AL is... somewhat of a letdown. Attacks lack the physical "umph" that i see in some impressive RPG's. The skyward smash looks like the warrior is smashing an enemy with a foam hammer. I wanna feel the earth tremble, i wanna see a crater, i wanna see the enemy pile-driven into the ground struggling to get back up, SOMETHING to tell me that the attack hit hard. Basic attack animations should be more fluid. Instead of a stab-slam-stab-stab-uppercut-slam-slam random attack sequence of a warrior attacking something like a crazy bafoon that attacks all willy-nilly, there should be a more fluid attack combo that is executed in a seemingly breakless pattern. What would be cool is an upgrade tree just for the basic attack, to add more combos.
-ADD: A more diverse skill system. To improve longevity of the game, player builds should be more diverse, yet always balanced. Skills should be unique in both tactical executions and animations. One thing i liked in AL was the marvelous animations of all the mage skills. But the warrior and rogue skills lacked in appearance. To me, the rogue aimed shot and normal bow attack looked too similar and unimpressive. The skill system could also be divided into different factions or subclasses (of course balanced) to inprove diversity and exploration of fundamental player customization.
Feel free to post your own ideas! Critique each other but please be tactful and respectful!
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