WAR Don't Fail Me Now!
I've been playing around in Lord of the Rings Online, hence the lack of blogging. While the game is fun, I'm already beginning to foresee problems for Turbine and their players. A few posts ago, I described how EA Mythic was doing something truly revolutionary in the MMO genre with regard to healing in Warhammer Online. In that post, I pointed out how the first and second-gen MMO's both faced problems with healing. Let's recap:
1) Healing is boring, but necessary. In cases where it's not necessary, it sure does make certain encounters easier.
2) In EQ (gen-1), there was only one real viable healing class - the Cleric. This class was boring and thus highly sought after (nobody wanted to play one because they were boring). Players ended up dual-boxing so they could play their fun class and still have a healer controlled largely through macros and automation, run on a second computer.
3) WoW (gen-2) sought to divide up the healing duties among four different hybrid classes able to do other things, but in the end encountered the same problem - healing is still boring, and all those classes end up doing in endgame. Because they didn't vary HOW healing classes healed, the problem was only postponed and spread out more.
4) Warhammer Online (gen-3) is shaping up to be revolutionary, because it attacks the root of the problem - that healing is boring. Healing classes in Warhammer will only perform at peak effectiveness if they're actively engaged in the fighting. The Warrior Priest, for example, will need to wade into combat and smash things if he wants to help his teammates as well as he can.
What I'm seeing develop in LotRO is a partial step back to the first generation. The Minstrel is the only class capable of effectively main-healing groups of people. I'm not personally playing a Minstrel, and neither are a large number of players. With most of the game's playerbase still in their low 20's, I'm already seeing numerous requests for healing in parties. I also have a sinking feeling that even though the Captain's healing potential is extremely limited, endgame guilds ("kinships") are still going to require their Captains to focus on providing what healing support they can (much to my chagrin, the Captain does eventually get a spammable heal spell with a casting time that can be cast on anyone but himself).
It appears that Warhammer Online remains the only MMO in the works taking the healer dilemma into serious consideration. Here's hoping they hold true to their commitment. If the concept survives through launch, the healing shortage in other games will no doubt become even more acute.
1) Healing is boring, but necessary. In cases where it's not necessary, it sure does make certain encounters easier.
2) In EQ (gen-1), there was only one real viable healing class - the Cleric. This class was boring and thus highly sought after (nobody wanted to play one because they were boring). Players ended up dual-boxing so they could play their fun class and still have a healer controlled largely through macros and automation, run on a second computer.
3) WoW (gen-2) sought to divide up the healing duties among four different hybrid classes able to do other things, but in the end encountered the same problem - healing is still boring, and all those classes end up doing in endgame. Because they didn't vary HOW healing classes healed, the problem was only postponed and spread out more.
4) Warhammer Online (gen-3) is shaping up to be revolutionary, because it attacks the root of the problem - that healing is boring. Healing classes in Warhammer will only perform at peak effectiveness if they're actively engaged in the fighting. The Warrior Priest, for example, will need to wade into combat and smash things if he wants to help his teammates as well as he can.
What I'm seeing develop in LotRO is a partial step back to the first generation. The Minstrel is the only class capable of effectively main-healing groups of people. I'm not personally playing a Minstrel, and neither are a large number of players. With most of the game's playerbase still in their low 20's, I'm already seeing numerous requests for healing in parties. I also have a sinking feeling that even though the Captain's healing potential is extremely limited, endgame guilds ("kinships") are still going to require their Captains to focus on providing what healing support they can (much to my chagrin, the Captain does eventually get a spammable heal spell with a casting time that can be cast on anyone but himself).
It appears that Warhammer Online remains the only MMO in the works taking the healer dilemma into serious consideration. Here's hoping they hold true to their commitment. If the concept survives through launch, the healing shortage in other games will no doubt become even more acute.
posted by Vaelin at 5:51 PM
5 Comments:
-Iliya, Vek'Nilash
Come to think about it, the way the warrior priest gets his ability to heal, buff, and so on, almost sounds similar to the way the warrior's rage system in WoW works.
Hit stuff, Rage/Righteous Fury builds up, do ability X, and profit.
Granted, it sounds redundant, but at least that's a good system to base it off of, since it seems to work for warriors....
...I could be wrong, though.
Your assessment of Righteous Fury is how I imagined it also - similar to the rage mechanic in WoW. There are, however, some nuances and subtle differences that will probably make Righteous Fury more complex (and more awesome than rage).
From the descriptions I've read, it seems that RF will also affect the potency of the WP's AoE buffs. I dare not call them an aura, as I think they'll have much more potential than the always-on watered down buffs provided by the WoW Paladin auras. The higher your RF, the larger your buff radius and the more powerful the buff.
With healing potency linked to a mechanic like Righteous Fury, the Warrior Priest will undoubtedly be one of the most efficient solo classes in the game. Who needs food or mana drinks when you can just continue to mow things down, all the while replenishing your power source?
I worry about competition with other healers.
Paladins in WoW are the favoured PVP healer because they're rugged and priests are squishy.
I can't easily tell how durable a WP in WAR will be but it's obvious that he has to be right where it's most dangerous to be effective.
Contrast this with a dwarven runepriest who is described as being very hard to kill and who can stand back out of harms way.
And that is before we even deal with a scenario where RF generation is compromised by a kiting opponent.
The comparison to the WoW warrior's rage mechanic is about what I pictured for Righteous Fury, at least as it's been described so far.
In response to Anonymous' comment at the bottom, I think that the general goal has been for dwarves to be more defensively minded, and humans more offensively minded. While there's not much info out so far, there have been a few short bits from people who've played WAR at games shows stating that they were surprised at how much damage the Warrior Priest could put out. It seems as though we're getting a change from the WoW Paladin, and getting more damage output (in return for less survivability?). Not that I'm saying this change is inherently good or bad, mind you. With a good group, it's quite fun to play the defensive/support beast that a Holy/Prot paladin in WoW can be.
Really, really looking forward to WAR. *chuckle*
Tiberian Berthold, Lord Prætor of the Prætorian Guard
(Tiberian, The Venture Co.)
Is it only I who think that if everyone hated being a healer who does not swing a two handed piece of scrap and death, World of Warcraft would be dead?
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