Is Blizzard Moving Backwards with Combat?

[donjn]

In today's action-oriented combat MMO world, we have seen Tera, Guild Wars 2, Wildstar and Elder Scrolls Online move more towards casting spells either while moving or a more instant cast based system.

I personally felt that the days of standing still, as a mage-type character and waiting for a 2.0 second + cast time were coming to an end.

However, with Warlords of Draenor it seems that not only has that not changed, but Blizzard is actually removing most if not all instant cast heals. They explained why they are doing this, but I can't help but think that especially in raid and pvp settings, with constant movement, that this type of thinking is outdated.

Does anyone else agree?

[Zakajz]

Does anyone else agree?

Nope, they pressed the "forward" button too much is how i think it is.

And different games are different and built different from the start.

[Deleted]

Yes, having to stop moving to cast is, with some exceptions, uninteresting gameplay.

I agree that instant casts had become troublesome...but the issue wasn't that you could cast them on the move, the problem was that you could cast them without...casting! Making it impossible to interrupt, and removing depth from the gameplay.

In fact, I would have prefered to just remove instant casting, but making casting on the move possible for most, if not all, spells.

[MasterHamster]

Range at the cost of mobility
Melee at the cost of not being able to be on target 100% of the time

Atleast this basic design allows dynamics rarely seen when everyone's jumping around like idiots

[cFortyfive]

I definitely think that pvp wise something had to change in regards to instant heals. I also feel their current mindset towards balance is just not working with the levels of mobility casters had in mop.

[Televators]

I wish they'd greatly reduce snares/immobilization/stuns. This would help keep balance healthier and cut down on the amount of instant cast bullshit necessary. Why does rogue poison need to be 70%? Why does any snare need to be 70%? There's no real difference -- for all intents and purposes -- between 70% and 100% in this case. Why not 10 or 15%? Why does any class need a 5 or 6 second stun? Why give some caster specs amazing control AND burst with little downside? If snares were 15% and stuns/immobilizes lasted 1-2 secs, there'd barely be a need for DR at all.

Abilities should be used quickly and in succession, creating a back and forth struggle, not just "Oh good, this cooldown is available, so I'll use it and win now."

[Simulacrum]

Yes, having to stop moving to cast is, with some exceptions, uninteresting gameplay.

I agree that instant casts had become troublesome...but the issue wasn't that you could cast them on the move, the problem was that you could cast them without...casting! Making it impossible to interrupt, and removing depth from the gameplay.

In fact, I would have prefered to just remove instant casting, but making casting on the move possible for most, if not all, spells.

Always moving while casting is what's uninteresting gameplay. The best system is where you always have the option to do something very useful while moving, but where standing still gives you access to more powerful abilities than what you can use on the move, so that you actually have some decision-making to do.

Especially bad are the games that let you cast almost everything on the move, but doesn't let you use your movement abilities while casting, which means that you still actually have to interrupt your casts to do any kind of actual movement that isn't slightly shuffling.

[Sj]

The Secret World handled casting while moving the right way imo. When you're casting on the move, your movement speed slows down to compensate. In their beta, the further you were away from your target, the slower you moved to compensate for "accuracy." They ended up scrapping that idea, but I thought it was a good tradeoff for balance's sake.

I think it could work in WoW, but they have a hard enough time balancing as it is.

[ringpriest]

I actually disagree - I liked classic WoW gameplay, where fights were more about resource management than frenetic arcade-style combinations of constant movement and button pressing. Ideally, this will be a step in a positive direction.