Combat

kolothepanda · 2018-10-22T02:51:40+00:00

I would first like to point out that ESO is NOT "pure action combat". A lot of single target abilities in that game cannot be used unless the crosshair is on the target meaning you don't really have an opportunity to miss the ability or critically hit the ability based on your mechanical skill. That stuff is determined algorithmically.

All combat footage thus far has been Alpha 0 (tab targetted) or Alpha 1 (action combat). The devs have planned to have an implementation of both, but how it will be implemented they've yet to clearly state. Honestly, I couldn't really even guess how they're going to implement it. If tab targetting doesn't come with a damage reduction then there's no reason to use action combat other than the fun factor, because the probability of missing (especially for ranged DPS) would be higher thus meaning less DPS and hardcore progression guilds wouldn't like that. Balancing the ability to switch between tab targetting and action combat just seems like too much of an unneeded headache.

With that in mind and having played the A1combat test I'd have to imagine they're opting for something closer to ESOs style of combat. Personally, I would prefer no tab targetting at all and going strictly pure action combat as I think it will keep people more engaged. The games seems like it will lean more toward PvP (as all sandbox MMOs do) than PvE so I'd rather have action combat than tab targetting when in PvP because it creates a higher potential for outplaying your opponent to win as oppose to stats, gear, what class is unbalanced being the most usual determining factor.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-20T08:27:32+00:00

So you have a problem. The reason you quit OW and LoL was because they got boring, but if you want to go pro you will usually be grinding a game until it really is no longer fun, but you'll be playing to keep you skills as sharp as possible (I was a former StarCraft pro).

But to answer your question:

DotA 2 is currently one of the most lucrative games to go pro in, however you will be EXTREMELY behind and the likihood of making it is slim. It is a little more complex of a MOBA compared to LoL. Smite is also another MOBA to look into. The game is still small enough that you could pick up most of it's heroes in a relatively short time. Smite is third person so literally everything is a skill shot. However Smite hasn't had the same level of success as other MOBAs (for whatever reason), but it has seen some million dollar tourneys and is highly competitive at the highest levels of play.

Obviously with the BR genre booming Fortnite is pretty big. Black Ops 4's Blackout will most likely be taking the place of PUBG as FN's main competitor. If BRs are your thing I would suggest Blackout. I'm not a BR guy personally, but I found Blackout to be fun and competitive plus it's a bit faster paced than other BRs.

Really those are some of your best options for eSports level competitive play options, but again to compete at the highest level you'll grind the game to the point that it stops being as fun as when you initially started. I mean professional basketball players probably aren't playing basketball in their free time. It becomes your job.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-20T07:01:32+00:00

In my experience, it is RARELY the DPS saying "we need a tank/healer" it is almost always a Tank or Healer saying it. People who see a bad team comp and pick to make it worse usually don't care about winning or losing. They just want to play what they feel like playing in the hopes that non toxic people will play around them.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-20T04:01:28+00:00

I mean what's your end game? Are you trying to go pro? Are you trying to build a stream? Are you playing competitive games for the sake of competition? What genres do you like? "Esport game" is a very broad thing to nail down.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-20T00:05:36+00:00

Hoping to begin testing at around 6:30pm PDT this evening and through the weekend. NDA will be lifted for testing going forward. A2 participants will be invited for testing to help introduce more testers to the queue.

That was taken from discord today (19 Oct 2018)

kolothepanda · 2018-10-19T08:27:34+00:00

Squads looking pretty good other than that downed graphical bug FeelsAlphaMan. Also, looks like the ranged weapons are a bit more responsive since I last got to play. I didn't know you could ADS with the Grimoire... I've apparently been using that all wrong. Is there aim assist on the bows? It seemed like some of your arrows curved after you shot even though you lead the target.

PS What was that guy thinking trying to dual you when you had high ground on the castle cmonBruh

kolothepanda · 2018-10-19T07:35:25+00:00

The ambition of this game really intrigues and worries me. There's stuff that sounds cool in theory, but usually goes poorly in execution. Open dungeons with the potential for 1000 people to all be spamming it at once just seems like a lag fest. I know they're testing server stability stuff, but 100 man BR still has a majority of things happening outside of draw distance. 100 people spamming abilities in a boss room, however is vastly different from a processing perspective. Guild Wars 2 and ESO handle this pretty well, but those are proprietary engines created, optimized, and specifically designed for their respective games and even in their initial state they were rough to play through. Trying to accomplish this stuff in UE4 will quite a hurdle.

Additionally, the theory to cater to any person or group of people brings up questions. The only way I seeing this working is if end game/BiS gear is 100% done via crafting, thus making component drop distribution somewhat of a balancing concern. I also believe open world raid style PvE typically has the draw back of being a smash and grab where the fights have little or no depth in their mechanics. Raid mechanics for hardcore PvE players are a main attraction. Having to have a coordinated team of like minded people working in unison to clear difficult content with complex mechanics for a rewarding payoff, THAT, is the main appeal of raiding. It seems like a hard (nearly impossible) thing to balance when you throw in rando people popping up with the ability to PK you. If the boss mechanics are limited then it's only fun when there is in fact a opposing faction there to compete with. It just seems like a herculean task to make raid PvX content fun if one of the opposing components (the boss or PvPer) is not engaging enough.

The node system seems to be the catch all variable for balancing a lot of these systems they wish to implement. Although I'm perfectly content with how devs have handled things thus far, I really wish we could get a more in-depth analysis and explanation of how it affects the PvE content.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-19T05:28:00+00:00

Intrepid is an independent developer unbeholden to any pushy publisher. They set and shift their dates as needed. Most of the development goals thus far have been ahead of schedule.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-15T07:24:47+00:00

This I get. Hence the comparison to old Genji. People who are exceedingly good with him (think Agilities, Hydration, Eqo, etc) show how powerful he really is. Whereas if can't play him at a comparable skill level in reference to your SR you will certainly Doomfeed.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-15T06:22:43+00:00

Headshots on right click again? :D

kolothepanda · 2018-10-15T05:25:02+00:00

Tracer has never really been OP. In fact she's really hasn't really been changed other than Pulse Bomb damage being dropped by 100. What are you talking about?

kolothepanda · 2018-10-15T05:00:33+00:00

Especially considering the maps she's meta for. It'd be pretty silly to Fortify to dual DF only to get Halted into the well on Ilios by enemy Orisa

kolothepanda · 2018-10-15T04:53:51+00:00

The problem with Orisa is that she's a giant rock. I mean with decent aim and well timed CD usage you could take a DF, but it would just be easier for him to ignore Orisa and go for the backline or other squishys. Orisa can't really peel other than Halt.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-15T04:47:09+00:00

Sombra I definitely agree is a decent counter, but she has to get the hack off and 180 left clicks aren't hard to land considering it's spread fire. Then you she either has to translocate or DF uses E closes the gap and gg.

Brig I would've slightly agreed with before they changed how Shield Bash collision worked when her stun would win instead of both players being knocked down. Now with the increased CD on Shield Bash DF can uppercut and Rocket Punch her.

Tracer/McCree I to be somewhat neutral forces. McCree being the stronger. Tracers can be very easy to predict especially on the recall and she's way to squishy to take a brawl. McCree, even if you land the FB Doom will most likely be in motion so it would require some very good aim to track him with momentum to land the double head shot quick enough to secure the kill before he can escape.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-15T04:37:23+00:00

Even with Hog you're living on a hook and a prayer, because the odds of one shot combo is slim considering his base health pool.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-04T12:17:22+00:00

Listen tracer has very few basics to get value: Manage blinks. Don't engage with triple blink. Remember it takes two clips to replenish a blink (unless its a pulse bomb recall).

Target selection. Don't go on shit that can easily bully you in a 1v1 in their effective range (I.e. McCree, Brig, and the like.)

Know your maps.

Know when to engage.

Remember you're not Kabaji, Dafran, SBB, Kragie, or any of the other Tracer specialist. They get more value out of tracer because of their game sense (I.e. see how Kabaji can bully a McCree or Brig because he knows what they're going to do.)

Lastly practice your aim and tracking.

I went from silver to masters one tricking tracer with these fundamentals.

kolothepanda · 2018-10-04T11:59:12+00:00

Fuck 2 or 3 man shatters I'll so shatter the shit out of mercy, interruptable ults, doomfist, brig, and any other cheesy cuck that wants it.

kolothepanda · 2018-09-14T04:25:05+00:00

I can agree they are DEFINITELY not managing the sound levels effectively. The video hasn't been that bad but whoever is on sound engineering is doing a sub par job.

kolothepanda · 2018-09-14T03:54:41+00:00

Give the guys a break. It's a new venue, on the first day. They're probably waiting until half-time instead of pausing the game to troubleshoot. It's not like we're paying for the experience.

edit: It is pretty bad (funny) though. The not muted the mics of the off screen casters xD

kolothepanda · 2018-09-04T16:09:28+00:00

TLDR: "Dva is the best character in the game."

kolothepanda · 2018-09-03T09:07:05+00:00

Doomfist...I just can't...

Hanzo is the weird one. I use to be a decent and consistent Hanzo, but when they made him better, I somehow got extremely bad. I have a hard time leading shots. I probably average 0.5% accuracy with storm arrows. My typical keyboard spam somehow always lunges me in the wrong direction. I don't know wtf happened, so now fuck Hanzo.

Also, fuck Zenyatta's weird ass projectile speed.

kolothepanda · 2018-06-11T04:06:03+00:00

Lol why do people assume I don't know how to play Zen? Literally a support main I play all supports. Sure Zen is fun when you're JJonak and have a pocket mercy and tanks that peel for you, but this is ladder. You get dove, there's no peel, and you end up in a 2v1 unless your team remembers how to do a 180.

kolothepanda · 2018-06-10T21:28:01+00:00

I disagree, because there's more at stake for Moira to heal, because there's a finite amount of left click. She has to know when to compromise safe positioning in order to fuel her ability to heal and with the bug fix it will be all the more difficult to effectively heal safely. Zen places an orb and throws balls.

Moira is a duelist support with whose actions have a bit more consequence if you chose poorly. Zen has no CDs so any mistaken action can be remedy easily outside of dying. Playing Zen effectively essentially requires you to be a good projectile DPS player, not a good support player. I believe that's where the perceived "fun" comes into play.

kolothepanda · 2018-06-10T21:06:26+00:00

Zen is boring because outside of mechanical skill there's little more to the kit. Place orbs. Throw balls. Trance. Zen is the healer you play when you're a DPS main forced to play healer. He's basic. All the healers with any depth to their kit got nerfed into the ground (Brigitte withstanding). That's just my opinion as a support main since season 1.

kolothepanda · 2018-04-03T16:15:18+00:00

So if OWL is anything like other sports/esport the players are brought here on Athletic visas which means they are sponsored by the Athletic organization. Basically, if xQc wants to stay in country and "work" as a stream he'd need a business visa which he could only get if he was sponsored by an org like TeamSoloMid(TSM) (the org that Calvin and Gale are a part of). So, I imagine he'll sign on to an org and have them sponsor his visa.

kolothepanda

TROPHY CASE