reflexes
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The Art of Wushu: The limits of human reaction time
We're finally back on track with the kung-fu lessons, and today we're going to talk about something very important: how being human limits what you can do in an Age of Wushu duel. Like a lot of skills relating to dueling and strategy, this is a fairly broad skill that can be applied to a lot of games. Reaction speed is one of the most difficult things to train in Age of Wushu, especially for old-timers like me. Reacting to things in a timely matter is a massive advantage; it lets you punish feints, interrupt sluggish normal attacks, and stun people out of dance-like moves. The trouble is, we're human, and humans are slow. This time, we're going to look at exactly what that means in hard technical terms.
The Daily Grind: Do you like the increasing trend of active combat in MMOs?
Back in the day, combat in MMOs was nice and sedate. You had a weapon, the other guy had a weapon, and you both walked up and hit one another with weapons until one of you died. To ensure that you succeeded at that goal, you had huge bars of abilities filled with various tricks to make the other guy die a little more than you did. It was a bit passive, is what we're getting at. Recent MMOs have been swinging to the other extreme, with players having a handful of abilities and a mandate to dance around the screen like a hyperactive rabbit. Titles like WildStar and The Elder Scrolls Online are previewing themselves partly on the strength of active combat. Do you like the increasing trend of active combat in MMOs? Or do you wish that we could go back to more sedate combat systems, possibly with those darn kids getting off our lawns in the process? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Is PvP a game for the young?
We've often chewed on the subject of PvP in The Daily Grind, as it continues to polarize players between love and hate (or indifference) with little common ground. However, I've heard quite a few people say that they like and support the idea of PvP but prefer not to participate because they get their faces stomped on in two seconds flat. The blame? Age. As the average age of gamers (and MMO players) continues to rise, we're seeing more and more of the older adult crowd facing off against the younger set, and this could possibly have a profound effect on player-vs.-player combat. After all, in an arena where quick thinking, aggressiveness and lightning reflexes are the keys to victory, it stands to reason that younger players have the natural edge. So what say you, Mr. or Ms. Internet Sage? Is PvP a game for the young? Is this premise fundamentally flawed? Or have you seen evidence that supports this slant? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Twitch reflexes or slow strategy?
The earliest games were all about reflexes. Look back at any classic game you care to name -- in the days of the arcades, skill was determined first, foremost, and only by how well you could react to changes in a split second. Combat in an MMO, by and large, is a very different creature. Due to issues of network latency and changes in design overall, most MMOs feature a slower pace and a greater emphasis on carefully planning out attacks. Certain games have entire classes devoted to a strategic building approach, such as the Warden of Lord of the Rings Online. But reflexes haven't vanished from games by any stretch of the imagination. There are fights with very little chance for players to react, fights where the difference between the dead and the living is how fast one gets off a heal. Upcoming games such as TERA and All Points Bulletin promise to bring a more action-oriented approach to MMO combat, but is that something you want? While no game swings entirely to one side or the other, would you rather have combat leaning more on your reflexes or your ability to plan?
Keybindings and how to change them
Xella has a great post over at WoW LJ about keybindings, and it got me thinking. I play with what I thought was the "standard" way -- with the left hand sitting on the home fingers of Shift, A, W, D, and the spacebar, and then jumping up to the 1-6 (or further down the number line if necessary, though truth be told, I usually mouse-click those when I have the time to do so) to hit various abilities. But xella does it very differently -- she maps her fingers to the top abilities keys, using only her ring finger for movement. I would probably never have come up with that on my own (my habits come directly from FPS games, where the 1-6 keys are mostly for weapon switching, something you don't do quite as often as casting abilities), but it does make a lot of sense, even if xella says her ring finger, with all of those movement motions, is getting somewhat worn out.And then she hits on something else I've been dealing with lately, too: changing what you've got. Setting up your keybinds is one thing, but actually changing them can be tougher.
