Looping the Hen

Twitch 1, DDO 0

2. Combat – our system's action-oriented. Battles are a lot more dynamic than those found in other games. It's different than your traditional MMO. If you're looking for something out of the ordinary, you'll want to check it out.

Just for the record, we're not going all-out twitch with our combat -- this game isn't going to play like a first-person shooter. (To be honest, we're not too crazy about the term "twitch combat" in the first place.) Instead, what we're creating is a combat system that emphasizes both player skill and D&D rules. To give you a basic example, let's look at a simple melee combat -- a fighter attacking an ogre:

The pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons combat system, while always having been a little underwhelming in terms of complexity and possible options during each round, always seemed to me to be that way for a reason. The reason is while it is complex enough to allow some heroics, it is simple enough to not interrupt the role-playing part of the game too heavily. I remember G-Max and I trying to play Shadowrun at some point, and while I loved the setting, it (at that time, it could have changed) seemed we could roll 40 dice for one round of combat. A single short combat could take a full night of playing, while in D&D, my current group usually manages a couple of short melee's and one setpiece battle against a big baddie.

D&D was almost like 'Combat Lite' so it allowed more focus on the core game. In DDO, I have been overwhelmed even by the smallest of combat's. If the developers don't think they have a 'twitch' game on their hand, they are not playing the same game I am. What they have created has given those who are good at 'twitch' (1st person shooters) games a huge advantage. Good players will strafe-circle monsters, just like in a FPS, and avoid being hit by hopping, rolling and backpedalling. I, on the other hand, while pretty good in almost all board/turn-based combat games, am horrible at DDO. The real-time physics engine means if I can't see the monster, I can't hit it. So I have a choice, either I stand still and swing to try to kill something (allowing myself to get hit alot), or I run around like mad trying to avoid getting hit, but at that point I don't have enough control to actually make contact with a bad guy at the same time.

I believe the developers really were trying to come up with something cool, but I'm not sure how well they've succeeded. It is neat and interesting that if you see a big monster winding up, if you're quick enough you can dodge out of the way. However, most hardcore D&D players are now my age or a little older (I would guess), and I'm not sure we're famous for our skill at twitch games. It seems to me if it were truly like PnP Dungeons and Dragons, my 5th level Cleric should be able to kill your 2nd level rogue. It's a good thing there is no PVP, because in this game, people would be able to run rings around me and pick me to death 1hp at a time.

The combat is really the thing that will keep me from playing DDO. I could get to 10th level and still be useless to a party because I can't hit the broad side of a barn, and we're only talking about kobolds and bugbears at the level I am at.

I don't know why, but this post reminded me of a game I really liked, though was (for the reasons above) never really good at. For those who like the Medieval genre and FPS, Die By The Sword is a treat, and as far as sword and shield combat, is as good as has ever been made for the PC. It can be picked up for a few bucks on Ebay or Amazon, though there might be some issues getting it to work on brand new machines if other older games I have tried to install are any indication.

Anyone with any other recommendations for combat type games that aren't blindingly hard to play, please let me know!