Any spell effect however well done can get old fast - and with many players in one place lead to enormous lag unless VR has a fix for this.
My first comment is that they should make sure to arrange for quite a few players in pre-alpha or alpha to be in the same place casting flashy spells just to test the effect on the server and the amount of lag.
My second comment is that they should be *very* sure to have an option for players to disable spell effects. Not just to reduce lag but so that they can see what their team, the enemies, and any other players in the area are doing without flashes of light getting in the way.
Flashy should be reserved for higher level or more powerful spells I would hope. One of the wierdest things when EQ2 came out was coming from EQ1 and your low quality low level spells all looking like the freaking wrath of god. It came off as over the top by a long shot for starting off.
What do you think of the New spell effects? I really like them
Were they to simple? No, I can't imagine needing more detail considering briefly I will see them
Cool enough for a baseline start Spell? Yes!
Were they too similar each other? Not to me; the color is the only thing that I would notice in-game anyway!
Too flashy? Could be, depending on the final lighting. I won't judge until Beta begins but it is probably my biggest concern regarding effects
The less sparkly crap per spell effect, the better. I'm sick of my screen being flooded constantly with over the top effects in the newer mmos. In ESO they had to turn them off then made a toggle to see friendly effects. Seems like a waste of resources to make spell effects all flashy and soooo cool that they get turned off or to the lowest end of the slider.
I'm a big fan of the spell effects and such looking more powerful as you lvl up though. That feature in EQ was fantastic!
dorotea said:Any spell effect however well done can get old fast - and with many players in one place lead to enormous lag unless VR has a fix for this.
My first comment is that they should make sure to arrange for quite a few players in pre-alpha or alpha to be in the same place casting flashy spells just to test the effect on the server and the amount of lag.
My second comment is that they should be *very* sure to have an option for players to disable spell effects. Not just to reduce lag but so that they can see what their team, the enemies, and any other players in the area are doing without flashes of light getting in the way.
I don't mean to be a jerk but(proceeds to be a jerk) this made me roll my eyes. You're hoping they performance test their game and you're hoping they have a feature that they had in EQ 20 years ago.
kelenin said:Spell effects should have zero effect on the server or amount of lag. They may reduce your framerate as they are drawn on your screen though. So all they would need to do is have options to tone down or turn off effects and that's an easy fix.
Bingo. Not to be pedantic but people are using the wrong word. We aren't talking latency of a network transaction, this is a framerate issue.
((You're hoping they performance test their game and you're hoping they have a feature that they had in EQ 20 years ago. ))
Exactly correct. I have seen games that did not have this option at release and it needs to be there. Granted I do not think there is a very *high* chance of it being overlooked but some developers put so much love into the effects that it just hurts them for people not to look at them.
As to the testing - I don't know how routine it is to have special stress testing where every participant in alpha, for example, is asked to be in one place at the same time and cast the flashiest spells possible. Maybe it was silly to even mention this but given the number of games where things have gone very badly during raid-level encounters until spell effects were toned down I wasn't ready to assume this particular aspect is always tested in a major way.
Were they to simple? If this is the only spell effect, yes. But I think this is the basic spell effect for a certain line... *reads second question*
Cool enough for a baseline start Spell? Yes, and different enough to tell what each was just at a glance. I hope NPC's also have the same, so we can see what they are using against us.
Were they too similar each other? In design, yes, but as a baseline spell I think thats fine.
Too flashy? No. I actually liked the splash effect on the target.
she/he's just starting I feel. I got the impression they went around to some of the new art folks they hired and asked if they had anything for the newsletter and some enthusiastic folks piped up and said- hey! we've got some spell stuff we've mocked up; preliminary only and its grey-boxed finished, want to use it? and they looked and said sure, lets put it in the newsletter. I mean its something for now and maybe the fantheons will like a look-see *small calm smiles*... and then a few moments later... I mean of course it gets better I mean look at the chanter stuff, the rays against Gnasher, the Rooting triangles- the lightning alone from the last newsletter we got all that and more *makes broad encompassing gesture* this is what we've done since, in what- a month? *brings hands close together like a small offering* pretty good, eh?
I know this was more about the effects themselves than the animations but all I could think watching it was that I sure hope instead of the magic effects just shooting out of the characters chest once the cast is completed, they have him hold out his hand and charge it up as its casting.
That being said I hope most of the spells are way less flashy than what we've seen so far, save the super huge spell effects for the epic level spells.
BamBam said: What do you think of the New spell effects showcased in the May newsletter? Were they to simple? Cool enough for a baseline start Spell? Were they too similar each other? Too flashy? Let me know what you think
the simple approach is very welcoming considering the overflash in many mmos these days.
they do need to add some snow flakes or make it look like an icicle maybe a snowball for the cold version.
My issue so far with the spell effects, having looked at all the streams is that in dark areas (like Halnir), the effects can be too bright. This is compounded when you have multiple casters around. Your screen really does end up whited-out from all the particles. You go from a dark view to bright white instantly..not good on the ol' eyeballs. But when you are outside in bright sunlight, the effects just vanish, totally overpowered by sunlight.
Laneir said:Too simple? No, simple is good imo.
Cool enough beasline spell effect? Yes.
To similar? No, again simple is good I imagine that holds even more truth from a design standpoint.
Too flashy? No.
think about the color blind players! just a small tweak sir! then again i know nothing about color blindness so forgive my ignorance.
I'm not the biggest fan of projectile-style magic, to say the least, but they look all right. Quite large to be the baseline, but at least in line with the art style.
I do love the fluid dynamics the Pantheon spell effects tend to have going on, like a modern realization of what EQ was trying to do.