Any Dwarf worth his salt likes a good siege weapon. I am no exception and a firm believer in massive firepower to solve problems. Whether that be Destruction or a difficult can of beans, a big freakin' cannon usually takes care of it.
I had always thought that WAR's siege weapons were decent. That was until I gave WoW's Lake Wintergrasp (LW) a try. I found the way LW handles siege weapons to be much more fun than WAR. Check out this video clip (no sound) brought to you by Werit Spieldorf:
In LW, there is no zooming in when use a siege weapon. You still get a full view of your surrounding and of your interface. This is very important, as there are so many times in WAR where you just don't know what is going on around you. You don't always get messages or warnings either.
Also, notice how you see your projectile. Unlike WAR, I actually feel like I am firing a weapon in LW. In WAR's system, you do see a slow moving cannonball, but really, it just doesn't feel right due to the zooming. The impact of the projectile is also better in LW. When making the video clip, I was having fun just lobbing the projectiles into empty space.
What can WAR do to improve their siege weapons?
No zooming. For me, it just ruins the experience. I would like to be able to see what is happening around me and my interface.
Use a visible projectile. It may be unrealistic, but it helps make it feel like you are firing a weapon.
Better impact graphics. It should feel like I just hit the ground with a large weapon of destruction.
All Siege Weapons should be AoE. Locking on to a target with a cannon just isn't that fun. Ballistas and other non-splash damage should do an AoE cone of damage.
There is a lot of potential to make Siege Weapons more fun. In the upcoming Bitter Rivals live event, they will introduce Flame Cannons and Giants as new siege weapons. If we can just improve the experience of using a siege weapon, they should become a big part of WAR.
Note: I am thinking of doing more multimedia content (i.e. Video ) for this blog, what do you think?
Tales of Graces f - Gameplay
5 hours ago
14 comments:
Hu?
I can use dwarf cannons at Imperium siege pads.. *scratch*
Never tried them on elven keeps..as I just don't want to fight at them... ;)
Hmm, I only get the option to use that zone's cannon... at least that's what I remember. When I login in I will double check.
Verified Ziz, not sure why I thought that.
Yea the siege weapons in WAR are quite lacking. The zooming is, just as you say, very limiting to your battlefield experience. Even the chat included in the zoomed in view tend to fade out within seconds so it's impossible to stay updated. I understand that we can't have the artillery of WoW (more sci-fi than fantasy) but WAR's are not... fun at all, and quite worthless. If you actually manage to kill someone it's just because they were at low health.
Offer the player to use the mousewheel to zoom in on the war seige weapons
Bah, what I meant to say in a meaningful way was. Allow the player the ability to zoom in and out, when using the seige weapon, by using the mouse wheel.
I think another major issue is that currently, siege weapons just don't do much damage, so players ignore them. Mythic has commented on this and there are plans to improve them, which hopefully includes not only functionality changes, but also an overall increase in usefulness.
Good analysis, I think. I definitely agree that if people get hit with siege weapons, it should be decimating. Therefore having them/making them/ using them should not be trivial.
No mention of the fact that in wow you can drive the siege weapons around... in war they are placed in a fixed location and that is it...
Sadly wow is way ahead in the implementation... Mythic really needs to rethink things.
@hex: I think vehicles are another topic, and may not belong in WAR. however, siege weapons which are actually fun to use do belong.
However, that WoW cannon looks like something out of Ratchet and Clank, and not in a good way.
War says they are doing something. WoW rips them off. What a shock.
the Poster is wrong about no visual projectile. I see the ballista arrows. I see the rock. I do not see a gun firing (organ gun) but I shouldn't since i can't see a gun firing either.
Ballistas should not do cone dmg, they are for taking out other seige equipment like oil.
Lastly, how much more content is Blizzard going to rip off from War? It's down right sad.. and I play WoW!!
Moving weapons don't belong in War, the weapons are to assault the keep that is that. ANd secondly, your not suppost to be taking out humans, siege weapons are aimed at the door or the oil, thats it, to aim them at pcs is a horrible battle plan, cept with the organ gun cause of the potential for major splash damage, the canon and ballista should be pointed at the oil at all times.
I do agree I'd love to see it to make more sense as far as p.o.v. goes, maybe put you over the shoulder, but i think being able to view all the way behind you may be to far, cause then you can just turn around and point your canon at someone and keep them away that way.... just saying you should have to be attacked so that you can't just whip the canon around....
Last i read, they have already given siege cannons 360 degree capability with 1.2.
My main point is that to me, the weapons in WAR are not actually fun to use. I don't feel like I am firing a weapon. WoW's turrets are much more fun.
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