Feedback:User/Guild Wars 3 perhaps/Finishing Move Counters and Animations
Finishing Move Counters and Animations | |
|---|---|
| User | Guild Wars 3 perhaps |
| Categories | Player vs. Player Mechanics |
Go here to see a list of my other GW2 suggestions and discussion contributions.
From watching GW2 PvP videos (both 5v5 and WvWvW), it's my opinion that the addition of the "Finish Them (F)!" move is rendering the downed state mechanic irrelevant. The reason being that for a downed player to rally requires the player to kill another player (or NPC, I'm assuming) or get experience from a kill before their consciousness meter reaches zero. This means the downed player will - in most cases - have to press their downed-state skill keys multiple times to achieve that rallying kill.
Conversely, a player using the "Finish Them (F)!" move on a downed foe need only press a single key, once; the F key. Now, I accept there is a certain logic and balance to this state of affairs. If a player demonstrated sufficient skill to down an enemy in the first place, it's fair to reward them for their victory by allowing them to send their foe to the defeated state with a single key press. Also, from a realism standpoint, if a person is prone on the ground and severely injured, it wouldn't take much to finish them off in that state.
However, this is a game. If the point of the downed state is to give players a fighting chance to rally and get back into that game rather than wasting time waiting to respawn, then the "Finish Them (F)!" move is running counter to this intent. If a downed player will have to press their downed-state skill keys dozens of times to rally, there's little chance they will ever manage to do so in a PvP or WvWvW arena in the face of the "Finish Them (F)!" move. It's simple math; one key press will always trump multiple key presses. Some people may manage to rally, but it will be the exception rather than the rule. Eventually, people won't even bother trying to rally anymore in a PvP or WvWvW setting because...what's the point; they're just going to get finished off anyway.
So here's my suggestion. Keep everything exactly the way it is now with regards to the downed state, rallying, and the "Finish Them (F)!" move. Then add the ability to interrupt a "Finish Them (F)!" move IF the downed player manages to do enough damage to the player performing the finisher before the "Finish Them (F)!" move completes its animation cycle. This gives the downed a player a true fighting chance rather than simply waiting for the inevitable finisher. Make it so the damage is a reasonable amount. For example, I don't think it's right or balanced that a downed player should be able to interrupt a finisher through a single use of their slot #1 downed skill. Afterall, they are the downed player; if they got into that state, they should have to work harder to get out of it. By the same token though, the amount of damage that must be dealt to interrupt a finisher should be possible to achieve; even when using the relatively weak downed skill sets.
Note that interrupting a finisher does not prevent the player who was performing it from dealing damage to the downed player using normal skills; it just stops them from sending the downed player immediately into the defeated state with a single key press. The downed player can still be defeated if their consciousness meter reaches zero (either due to failing to kill an enemy before it reaches zero or because the enemy continues to deal damage to the downed player with normal skills). Also, whether or not a player who's finisher was interrupted is able to attempt another finishing move immediately or if there is a short cool down before they can use it again on the same downed player would be a matter of play testing and game balancing to determine which option works best.
Taking this one step further in the spirit of cooperation in which GW2 has been molded is to allow a downed player's allies to interrupt a finishing move, as well. Perhaps this is already possible through the use of the current interrupts in the game (daze, stun, knockback, launch, etc.). However, if it isn't, then I suggest adding this option, too; either through the use of interrupts, dealing sufficient damage (as per above), or both. Then players can further their sense of cooperation, camaraderie, social interaction, and just plain bragging rights by getting that epic just-in-the-nick-of-time save as they interrupt a finisher that was about to send their friend to defeat.
Now, as to the finishers themselves, it would be nice to see profession-specific finishing move animations rather than the generic slow-motion moon jump for everyone. This has been mentioned in at least one previous suggestion, so I won't go into detail here. I realize it's a small thing; but the small details count, too.
Thanks for reading.
Guild Wars 3 perhaps 22:41, 15 May 2012 (UTC)
