Some more random thoughts that are linked to what I was writing here.

One of the limits of the combat in current games is that in almost all cases you are stuck into a boring “1 Vs 1”. Take WoW and you can easily see as the combat is about finding a monster that is roughly around your level and kill it before moving to the next target. If you aggro more than one, you’ll likely die.

The quests point you to the monsters that fit your level, and give a purpose to what you do. But you are still within that “1 Vs 1”. And even when you are encouraged to group it happens when you are forced to aggro. So it isn’t a “1 Vs 1” but a “2 Vs 2”. The ratio is still the same.

There are cases where you are in a group and have to fight another group of monsters, but even in that case the gameplay teaches you to root or mezz the adds so that you fall into an unfair “many Vs 1”.

I was noticing this because it’s something quite limited to the mmorpg genre. Take every kind of hack & slash games and you are always with your character fighting against droves of enemies all at once. And it’s more fun. I’m kind of bored of this “1 Vs 1” standard model used in mmorpgs and I started to think how it could be possible to change it. To arrive at a combat model that is more visceral, dynamic and fun to play both for the solo player and group dynamics.

The first problem is quite stupid. If a single player can kill droves of monsters at once then think about how many of them you would have to fit in Dun Morogh if there are 200 or more characters around waiting for them to spawn. It’s an idea that would probably work better in instanced adventures, but at the same time it could bring to ways to break some bad habits. Like the advanced aggro routines: instead of pulling the goblin camp one by one, while those poor goblins stare their mates getting slaughtered, you would really have to deal with the whole camp, with some of them fleeing to give the alarm, some to attack you from range while another group charges at you. Instead of ONE pattern where you aggro the mob and the mob runs at you, the game would open up to whatever situation you can imagine and in a way that does not directly destroy the immersion. If you can see the monster then the monster will likely see you and react realistically, and not just obeying to its sad experience-dispenser role. Those monsters would fight for their lives, the best they can, instead of just running toward a sure death.

(err, to finish later again…)