My musings were not about a huge issue or anything, I just felt like grumbling about something. Still, I have some ideas since Dark as Silver asked.
Basically, the problem with the dice is that they were originally meant to introduce variability and uncertainty to combatting, and now that the dice are reduced to unimportance, those goals are left unfulfilled. Pre-determined and totally predictable combat is a bit boring. Pre-combat advantages are a huge part of MMORPG's, and I'm not saying to get rid of those. I just feel that skill should matter as well, and that the need for quick thinking mid combat is a perfect way to implement that skill coming to play. Dice introducing variability is certainly a way to do this, but not the only one. In fact, adding more dice is probably bad, since that inconveniences Terran.
Actually implementing strategic and tactical elements to combatting is the way I would rather go. I'm talking about abilities like:
-Combat stances, that can be changed mid combat.
-Bonuses and penalties from positionIng, maybe with allies, like flanking or retreating or a formation or backstabs.
-Maybe skill based dodging and hitting and damaging to some abilities, instead of auto-hitting/missing in everything. Timing, accuracy, there are many ways to do this. My idea is to introduce tactics to hinder the enemy's performance, not to start requiring overly much finger dexterity or rhythm sense from players.
-Possibilities to react on enemy choices. Things like counters or shields, on a tactical temporary basis.
These are just some ideas, and not all fit to Yggdrasil necessarily, but you see the trend here. More active and temporary abilities is the key, and I don't mean just attacks with different keywords. I'm sure mages have things like that in spells, but warrior gameplay seems a little overly focused on passive abilities and number raising, or "press this button" type of active abilities to just ignore some numbers when the numbers seem bad (looking at you "unblockable damage"). Case in point: StormDoom has like <5 active abilities she uses. Most of those are used once per battle, at the start of battle. No thinking involved whatsoever.
Raising the HP pools could be a part of a fix as well, allowing for more time for tactical maneuvers and mid-battle strategy choices.
Again, I don't feel strongly about this subject. These are just ideas for future abilities or patches.
Basically, the problem with the dice is that they were originally meant to introduce variability and uncertainty to combatting, and now that the dice are reduced to unimportance, those goals are left unfulfilled. Pre-determined and totally predictable combat is a bit boring. Pre-combat advantages are a huge part of MMORPG's, and I'm not saying to get rid of those. I just feel that skill should matter as well, and that the need for quick thinking mid combat is a perfect way to implement that skill coming to play. Dice introducing variability is certainly a way to do this, but not the only one. In fact, adding more dice is probably bad, since that inconveniences Terran.
Actually implementing strategic and tactical elements to combatting is the way I would rather go. I'm talking about abilities like:
-Combat stances, that can be changed mid combat.
-Bonuses and penalties from positionIng, maybe with allies, like flanking or retreating or a formation or backstabs.
-Maybe skill based dodging and hitting and damaging to some abilities, instead of auto-hitting/missing in everything. Timing, accuracy, there are many ways to do this. My idea is to introduce tactics to hinder the enemy's performance, not to start requiring overly much finger dexterity or rhythm sense from players.
-Possibilities to react on enemy choices. Things like counters or shields, on a tactical temporary basis.
These are just some ideas, and not all fit to Yggdrasil necessarily, but you see the trend here. More active and temporary abilities is the key, and I don't mean just attacks with different keywords. I'm sure mages have things like that in spells, but warrior gameplay seems a little overly focused on passive abilities and number raising, or "press this button" type of active abilities to just ignore some numbers when the numbers seem bad (looking at you "unblockable damage"). Case in point: StormDoom has like <5 active abilities she uses. Most of those are used once per battle, at the start of battle. No thinking involved whatsoever.
Raising the HP pools could be a part of a fix as well, allowing for more time for tactical maneuvers and mid-battle strategy choices.
Again, I don't feel strongly about this subject. These are just ideas for future abilities or patches.
