Will the class "names" become letdowns.

Post by PenguinPaladin on 2022-08-16 17:34:00

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Post by Azherae on 2022-08-16 17:39:57

Forgive the repetition, truly, but this is one of the places where the old post is a DIRECT answer, and I think it might actually lead to more useful 'theorycrafting' than usual.
Here's an example of what I mean. This is not what I think the augments need to be or even should be. That can't be true because we don't know how most of the classes even work. I'm doing this from just reverse engineering the names of the classes, and using them to fill in the blanks. If a name exists, and there's no Augment that would allow that name to make sense, I made the appropriate thing. I think I hit them all (some names are not well defined in other media, obviously).

Mage Augments :
Meteoric Impact - Mostly makes skills AoE or increases AoE, even healing
Dimension Slip - Movement skills, add teleport. Attack skills, increase range
Lingering Element - Burn (or whatever)! Or put up an element shield, enemy takes damage on hit
Mana Control - Draining enemy mana on attacks, transferring mana on buffs/heals

Cleric Augments :
Lifeforce Control - Attack skills, causes Castigate's effect. Def skill - Healing increased.
Holy Ward - Attack skills lower enemy attack, buffs and such raise defense
Life's Passing - Attack skills add DoT, much more special stuff like Necromancy
Linked Fate - Causes health absorb on hit for attacks, mild healing for those around for buffs

Bard Augments :
Rhythm Emotion - Increases damage of combo attacks for a period after a skill.
Enchanting Voice - Various smaller debuffs based on the ability attached
Rallying Call - Various small buffs based on the ability attached.
Tale Weaving - Weird custom stuff based on how long something is held or channeled

Rogue Augments :
Misdirection - Debuffs enemy accuracy or drops hate/threat
Nimbleness - Buffs evasion or increases certain attack range
Seeking Eye - Crit bonuses, backstab damage, on-hit effect chance up, etc
Shroud of Darkness - Shadow stuff. Lots of shadow stuff. Sometimes similar to others

Ranger Augments :
Keenest Sight - Accuracy bonuses or range extensions
Trap Master - light CC augments, usually slows, sometimes rooting
Disruption - more light CC, moreso knockback, bleed, etc
Flicker - Adds backward movement to certain skills while they are happening or similar

Summoner Augments :
Externalization - depending on class, summons a wisp/weapon or something for a bit after a skill
Copy Form - sometimes 'shadow clones', sometimes summoned weapons for damage or lingering DPS
Spirit Call - Depends on environment, still summons something short lived, might depend on area or class
Soul Cage - Obstacles and containment, causing enemies to need to leave, or things like DoT Crystals

Tank Augments :
Mitigation - Lower enemy attack or raise own defense
Threat Generation - it's on the tin
Armor Boss - CC resistance usually during the augmented skill, a few others
Repositioning - Yank or push the opponent depending on the skill

Fighter Augments :
Martial Master - Increases weapon proficiency or STR/relevant stat during skill use
Charge! - Gap closing, some knockdown, some 'charge past/through' augments
Critical Eye - Raised critrate on skills (yes this is probably the meta)
Berserker - Sacrifice HP instead of/in addition to MP to empower skill

From the programming side, I can tell you that only 8 of these, at maximum, have any obvious problems or conflicts with skills. About 12, when combined with likely or obvious skills, are unbalanced (in the sense that they're the obvious meta choice for that skill). About 40 skill-augment combinations would be considered 'useless' by the community, guessing at obvious skills (having no use in nearly any form of content).

The thing you have to ask though, is, if you're a Bard/Summoner and you have a 'performance' skill and you choose to put Spirit Call on it instead of Copy Form (duet!) what made you feel that was necessary? It's usually not that the player 'wants to do the thing that ends up happening'. Most of the time they're just 'suffering from a compulsion to be original', or they wish that the Augmented skill did something different , and if it's useless and no one cares, they can easily ask for a change to it.

In all arrogance... this is easy. I'm sure that they have these already mostly blocked out, given those Class names, and if they don't, the great Intrepid team can have anything they want from the above list for 'free'. All ideas in this post are either already, or hereby transferred by me to be, the property of Intrepid Studios in perpetuity.

Have faith. It's fine. You might have to wear some really 'interesting' gear, but most X/Tank will find different ways to 'tank'.

Post by PenguinPaladin on 2022-08-16 17:45:44

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Post by Azherae on 2022-08-16 17:53:14

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Grati.

With that out of the way, therefore, I don't think that any class names will be obvious letdowns. I think that given the way people tend to min-max games, and the problem of 'expected role and synergies', there will be classes that are 'unconventionally effective' that would need to find similarly 'unconventionally effective' allies to synergize with.

But I think when I went through it, I didn't find a single class that made me think 'This is not going to be interesting'. I found a few 'this will be similar enough to a different one in FUNCTION that some people will min-max or complain', mostly Summoner related ones (but we know Summoner design is gonna be hard).

But from just 'can I calculate something that works for the standard concept related to the name' used, the issue was moreso that sometimes the name itself was just 'undefined' in most fantasy/media, but to me, that offers flexibility and bigger chance for success, not less.

Post by CROW3 on 2022-08-16 17:56:47

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Post by PenguinPaladin on 2022-08-16 18:03:00

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Post by CROW3 on 2022-08-16 18:08:22

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Post by PenguinPaladin on 2022-08-16 18:13:16

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Post by Azherae on 2022-08-16 18:19:00

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"Tank", from the old term "tan-ka", 'Taker of The Flow', the term referred to the valiant warriors who would take the charge of the enemy head on, blocking their flow toward those vulnerable who needed to be protected, taking on the responsibility of the safety of others with their powerful armor and trained bodies, while those more suited to striking and magical defenses supported the Tan-ka from behind or from the flanks.

Post by PenguinPaladin on 2022-08-16 18:20:56

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Post by Azherae on 2022-08-16 18:22:34

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What can I say, etymology is weird, y'know?

Post by daveywavey on 2022-08-16 18:23:45

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Post by CROW3 on 2022-08-16 18:24:12

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Post by CROW3 on 2022-08-16 18:28:17

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Post by Ludullu on 2022-08-16 18:39:51

I think the names can be changed if needed. At the very least before the betas, cause by then we'd know the augments and the classes and the everything (or at least most things), and if people start to complain that a name doesn't fit the class at all - it can easily be changed.

Post by tautau on 2022-08-16 19:17:05

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Post by Azherae on 2022-08-16 19:30:31

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I think we're going to see one of the things that only happens in games with real choice.

Lots of names (or just qualifiers) created by players, perhaps even beyond the 64 Intrepid provides.

At the very least, a lot of DPS classes are likely to give something based on their weapon. Social Org stuff might be important to 'communicate quickly' as well depending on Augments available. And if Guardian isn't just 'all the same', they're probably going to have a Weapon mention too.

It will probably seem weird to some at first, but given that we're likely to be eased into it over time, I don't think it will be too overwhelming, as it's moreso one of those things that differentiates as people level, instead of 'ok here is this path that you have to learn from the start, by name'.

Post by Dygz on 2022-08-16 19:31:59

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Post by PenguinPaladin on 2022-08-16 19:38:45

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Post by Warth on 2022-08-16 20:19:18

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Post by Atama on 2022-08-16 22:22:27

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Post by CROW3 on 2022-08-16 22:40:43

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