Hmmm, good point. Other than AO, what other games have a similar system and how do they work out?

i suspect it would have to be first aggressive action, so that if you see someone approaching with a certain weapon type, if you're paranoid enough that he's about to attack (or want to lay waste to him) you better just pre-emptively switch your weapon to counter his style. heh, that could introduce a whole lot of psych! tactics =)

i'd also like to see more clarification on what is meant by "while in combat" - is it nullified by time since last hit (by either party) or is it distance from target etc?

Games are supposed to be fun... not being able to affect the outcome of a combat is simply not fun, you might as well just roll a dice.


So that's player skill out of the window. Without being able to adjust to a situation as it develops, the game might as well be turn based, and named Post-Apocalypto-Sim. If you've any skill at all, you don't trust to hope, you don't trust to chance. You trust to your own skill, both as a player, and through a character you've developed. The MOST frustrating thing a game can do, is kill you based on randomness outside of your control, e.g. someone you're fighting (equally skilled)gets 5 big crits in a row, you get 5 misses, it's ridiculous, you don't want to lose a fight because of that, it leaves you with a sour feeling. If you lose a fight because the other person is better, fair enough, good on them; if you lose a fight because they got a lucky dice roll, or they got lucky enough to be resistant vs your weapon, it just a pain, and noone's happy.


Unfortunately the smart guy who knows all his skills and when to use them can't, because he has the wrong weapon out.


I would love it if you could switch between maybe 2-3 devices which were holstered; e.g a rifle/cannon, a pistol and a melee/tool, that would be a great combination of making the game semi-realistic, while at the same time not completely nerfing combat. Unfortunately from everything we've been told, it sounds like a 1 weapon limit; combat outcome based on the luck of the draw.

I just think you're worrying too much if that helps.

Ah you're such a tease! 

I'm not really worrying. I'm just predicting and arguing. I come by it naturally as an engineer and a lawyer.

I can just foresee myself getting jumped and being able to do NOTHING about it.  hell pvp might as well just be 2 lines shooting at each other at that point.

games do not have to be rock/paper/scissors to be an RPG, not by a long shot. 

in my mind, combat is much more fun if you have to read, react, and make quick decisions during the battle.   that way also takes more skill in my mind.

at least let us choose between 2 different weapons...

I think a lot of you are underestimating skills. After you work on your weapon of choice for a while you may not want to change your weapon (as you will have access to loads of fun things to do). Now, that being said I am still a little worried about melee weapons, as it seems in a sci-fi game that guns are inherently superior. I Hope Masthead puts my worries to rest. Anywho, this is what beta tests are for.

In the games I've played, a countdown timer managed your combat state. Anytime you attack, someone attacks you, or you interact with someone in combat, the timer resets. If the timer reaches zero you exit combat.

The rules for the combat state usually plays a role in combat tactics. And since ER will have unique combat gameplay, I'm curious if the combat states will present tactics we've never seen before. Generally, I'm used to keeping people in combat to prevent them from rejuving or stealthing, but never to prevent them from completely switching up their character. One thing that I know will be different is a melee fighter won't be chasing down a player and be able to switch weapons to peg him and keep him in combat.  That solution is out of game and hopefully we'll have an alternative.