Using envirobmental elements

[Tekronos]

Hi all, I typically play Rangers, archers, wardens etc. So over the more than 30 years I have been playing, when I am soloing (which I know a strong element of EA is grouping) I use 'kiting' and environmental elements, rocks, fences, trees, etc to assist in combating mobs and npcs. In EA the speed element is against us so we typically can not out run mobs and as I see it, I can't use rocks, wagons, fences either. Why would a decision be made to eliminate that as a game playing 'option'. I heard it was a conscious decision as it was to remove it as an 'exploit'. That is the first time I have heard that in mmorpgs. Perching, finding nooks to hide and fight in are tough heheheh... And most of the time archers get a bonus for finding perches ie, height bonuses. Just want to understand why this was removed or considered as an exploit.

 

[Undone]

Hi all, I typically play Rangers, archers, wardens etc. So over the more than 30 years I have been playing, when I am soloing (which I know a strong element of EA is grouping) I use 'kiting' and environmental elements, rocks, fences, trees, etc to assist in combating mobs and npcs. In EA the speed element is against us so we typically can not out run mobs and as I see it, I can't use rocks, wagons, fences either. Why would a decision be made to eliminate that as a game playing 'option'. I heard it was a conscious decision as it was to remove it as an 'exploit'. That is the first time I have heard that in mmorpgs. Perching, finding nooks to hide and fight in are tough heheheh... And most of the time archers get a bonus for finding perches ie, height bonuses. Just want to understand why this was removed or considered as an exploit.

When a mob cannot hit you but you can hit it, then there is no danger involved and it most certainly is an exploit. If we allowed this then everyone would just stand on rocks all day and get free money & loot killing things from afar which kind of erodes the entire purpose of combat in MMOs. Any MMO I have played or been a part in developing does not allow this behavior and does what can be done to prevent it. You can still use LOS to path mobs around fences, corners, etc to gain an advantage for a short amount of time, but if you stand anywhere in which the NPC cannot "reach" you then all of your attacks will be mitigated by them.

Some other options would be provide all NPC's with pretty powerful "ranged" abilities that are employed when the NPC cannot reach you, but we feel as that would be a bit more punishing and lead to an even greater negative experience than the current method of the NPC just avoiding your attacks. I am however, open to feedback on how you think it should work in a way that is not exploitative.

 

[Kaeolin]

But mobs can kite you. Ranged mobs do it all the time and it's hard to close the gap.

 

[Undone]

But mobs can kite you. Ranged mobs do it all the time and it's hard to close the gap.

But enemies have no reason to "exploit" you for profit. They likely just require a different strategy to defeat. You essentially know what they are going to do - they are computers after all and act in a predictable fashion. Humans however, do not.

 

[Pelirow]

When a mob cannot hit you but you can hit it, then there is no danger involved and it most certainly is an exploit. If we allowed this then everyone would just stand on rocks all day and get free money & loot killing things from afar which kind of erodes the entire purpose of combat in MMOs. Any MMO I have played or been a part in developing does not allow this behavior and does what can be done to prevent it. You can still use LOS to path mobs around fences, corners, etc to gain an advantage for a short amount of time, but if you stand anywhere in which the NPC cannot "reach" you then all of your attacks will be mitigated by them.

Some other options would be provide all NPC's with pretty powerful "ranged" abilities that are employed when the NPC cannot reach you, but we feel as that would be a bit more punishing and lead to an even greater negative experience than the current method of the NPC just avoiding your attacks. I am however, open to feedback on how you think it should work in a way that is not exploitative.

On that note, I forgot to add to my big feedback dump that there was one situation where my group of 3 were at the western entrance to the Exile fort behind Ravenrock camp and our Supp jumped on top of barrels and for some reason the mobs just stared at him while the other two of us killed one at a time. I couldn't replicate this myself jumping on those barrels though. They may have intially been rooted and the mob clipping the barrels or the fence somehow made my root continue to stick after it dropped, not sure.