Shattered Kingdoms

Being a killer and being a murderer are two different things.

There's the science of silencing the heart, but then, there is the art of making the last breath full of wonder, respect, and terror.

In a way, its like dating. Sure, rohypnol and chloroform speed things up and make you one smooth criminal, but there are people out there who get more out of being the...

bah. I can't finish this metaphor without thinking about Rexnarh's inventory.

You know what I mean.

Whoa, watch it with all the attacking Delear and his character stuff. Maybe he was only a so-so PvPer (I admit that I've never even really seen him in action), but I haven't seen him trying pretending that he was Mr. Phenomenal. I've spoken a lot with him about his character and while he's extremely proud of the work he put into the game, I've never heard a peep of PK-ego.

Re: group battle

3v7 should not be considered anything less than very impressive. I've seen stuff like that done before; it's certainly viable, but it's not going to happen unless you really out-think and out-maneuver the other group. I'm pretty satisfied with the way numbers work right now, to be honest. I mean, let's face it: if you show up with two buddies and the other guy brings like eight, you are going to get stomped.

(I like grep's analogy. Also "win with style.")

The thought behind this proposal was a good one, but it wouldn't work out like Delear intended. The learning curve would just be ridiculously higher, and trigger abuse would be rampant. Sorry, Delear. I really like how you're thinking about improving these aspects of the game, but this is too big. I think there are more subtle ways to get the same benefits without the same drawbacks.

Also I imagine a huge battle with additional guards, where tens of lines flow through your screen, your character killed guard A and you have to manually type in for him to kill also guard B, or guard C. It's good the fight lasts automatically until the group falls apart, otherwise it would be impossible in some battles to even tell whats happening, whom should I point next (imagine that among all those lines you have to see if you can even reach the target, because he might be behind someone else). The system that controls the battle of two groups is really good, and once the battle lasts you have to focus on tactical moves, not on typing killa A, kill B.

Imagine a battle where there are two broad-something people, two scrawny people, three thick maned lions, four guards, two horses, and you are not sure which is on which side? That is the best part of the group system, you dont have to worry you will hit your ally, which still happens sometime with skills of course, but I am affraid would happen much more often with the change you offer.

I say NO to the idea, I think the system is challenging to learn, and newbies deserve some time being dragged about by more experienced players in groups so they can learn the ropes, while the system makes them still worthy to the leader. Tactical moves like bashing, tripping, healing, blinding, changing focus in the battle are still what makes a good group.

With respect to all the veterans
Trulp

Those are some really good points from Trulp. He mentioned some things I hadn't considered.

I agree with his reasoning. This was a cool idea but I don't think it would improve things.

I would recommend that anyone seriously interested in implementing massive pvp changes such as this take a log of a given battle, analyze it, then analyze how that battle would have gone if there were no auto assist. Perhaps that might give you some understanding of what impact this would have on real pvp.

Furthermore, it might be worth considering that there are significant pvp imbalances in the game already that could be (easily) addressed before embarking on game-changing code fixes such as this.

Remember that this was aimed at specifically disabling it for pvp. It would be silly to disable it for all battles, including those versus NPCs. Talk about a chore.


There's a lot to say, but I'll respond primarily to this, as this hits at the core of my disdain for SK's PvP, and why I like the idea Delear's suggested. I do not believe SK's battle mechanics to be challenging or dynamic, but I find them to be sorely lacking in anything resembling decent strategical flexibility.

PK is not about skill. It's about paranoia and preparation. The "skilled" PKer is never without heal/word vials and detections, is always enchanted, does not engage in battle without a minimum quality of gear, is always accompanied by a pet, maintains awareness of who and what is in adjacent rooms, and in more extreme cases, always maintains spells. More can be said for specific classes, but these are just some of the things that a player who knows how to avoid death will be seen doing. None of these things are enjoyable, and most are, in fact, utterly banal. I want to see changes that reward players who react intelligently in a very short period of time, rather than players who simply farm for survivability and instant-kill abilities.

Perhaps this isn't possible - perhaps it's too much to ask of a dying genre to adapt to modern standards of gaming. Maybe the players of this game simply cannot handle the elite skills that would be demanded by paying attention and choosing a target, rather than watching the rounds flip by as you type bash every three rounds. I completely understand that this would be a significant nerf to sanctuary for offensive purposes, but I can't say that I would mind at all. I'm fully aware that this would be a large change to the system as a whole. I believe the system begs for that kind of change.

If you disagree with my sentiments, I encourage you to spend a few months playing another game competitively.

Modern standards of gaming? Are you kidding?

what elite skills

pk in sk can't be harder than gladiator title

What does that even mean?

Do you only play barbarians or something? I'm still learning useful tactics to utilize on my hellion: And in order to land a kill on anyone who is paying attention you -do- have to be quick on your feet and also very quick to respond. One of the hardest things to do in SK is outthink your opponent so that you won't be taken by surprise or beaten by their combat plan.