Comments on: Some People Actually Like Healing http://www.frogdice.com/muckbeast/game_design/some-people-actually-like-healing.html Game Design, MUDs, MMOs, and Virtual Worlds Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:34:32 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Mixer Shower  http://www.frogdice.com/muckbeast/game_design/some-people-actually-like-healing.html/comment-page-1#comment-4595 Mixer Shower  Tue, 19 Oct 2010 06:43:57 +0000 http://www.frogdice.com/muckbeast/?p=49#comment-4595 Dr. House is really the best, i love his character and he is a medical genious too,:, Dr. House is really the best, i love his character and he is a medical genious too,:,

]]> By: Milawe http://www.frogdice.com/muckbeast/game_design/some-people-actually-like-healing.html/comment-page-1#comment-32 Milawe Sun, 15 Feb 2009 02:34:03 +0000 http://www.frogdice.com/muckbeast/?p=49#comment-32 The problem isn't so much that people want to be able to solo as well as heal. Like I said on the other blog, I prefer NOT to solo, and I prefer NOT to DPS. I would like to play a full support class rather than be gimped by a DPS counterpart in my class, so I would willing give up every bit of DPS if I were excellent at two or three of the traditional support roles (buffs, debuffs, crowd control, and healing). I find that these roles are dying because everyone who wants to be able to solo still also wants to be the BEST healer yet be competitive in DPS. The WoW Shadow Priest (which ultimately gimped the holy priest) is an excellent example of that and is actually what I feel is WRONG with healing classes nowadays. Again, I would love to see a game that would support the role of a full support character that lives to group and groups to level. :) The problem isn’t so much that people want to be able to solo as well as heal. Like I said on the other blog, I prefer NOT to solo, and I prefer NOT to DPS. I would like to play a full support class rather than be gimped by a DPS counterpart in my class, so I would willing give up every bit of DPS if I were excellent at two or three of the traditional support roles (buffs, debuffs, crowd control, and healing).

I find that these roles are dying because everyone who wants to be able to solo still also wants to be the BEST healer yet be competitive in DPS. The WoW Shadow Priest (which ultimately gimped the holy priest) is an excellent example of that and is actually what I feel is WRONG with healing classes nowadays.

Again, I would love to see a game that would support the role of a full support character that lives to group and groups to level. :)

]]> By: Muckbeast http://www.frogdice.com/muckbeast/game_design/some-people-actually-like-healing.html/comment-page-1#comment-28 Muckbeast Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:15:39 +0000 http://www.frogdice.com/muckbeast/?p=49#comment-28 I think you are right that the solo focus on MMOs is partly to blame here. As a developer, that just gives me more options rather than less. It means I can create hybrid healers that are solo and group friendly, and then pure healer/support types that are crap solo but great in groups. The thing that ruins it is the extremely inflexible raid concept that requires absolute perfection in group make up. With hard caps on the number of people who can participate, you have really lame situations where someone has to sit out because there is a "better" healer to take the spot. I hate that. That is one of the main things I enjoyed about DAoC's RvR. However many people showed up is the number of people you used. Even for PvE content I really don't see why we have to stick with this cap on the number of people who can participate in content. You can design encounters to make sure everyone has a job. You can make them scale in certain ways based on the number of people present. Or you can simply not worry so much about it, and design an encounter that assumes 20 players, but allow people up to 25. So what if some people take 25 and it is easier. Is that really a problem? People inevitably create their own goals to see how few people they can use to accomplish a goal. I remember vividly being part of the first 2 group team to take a keep in DAoC (16 people) and even better was the first 1 group team. Accomplishing player created goals almost always ends up being more memorable anyway. I think you are right that the solo focus on MMOs is partly to blame here. As a developer, that just gives me more options rather than less. It means I can create hybrid healers that are solo and group friendly, and then pure healer/support types that are crap solo but great in groups.

The thing that ruins it is the extremely inflexible raid concept that requires absolute perfection in group make up. With hard caps on the number of people who can participate, you have really lame situations where someone has to sit out because there is a “better” healer to take the spot. I hate that.

That is one of the main things I enjoyed about DAoC’s RvR. However many people showed up is the number of people you used.

Even for PvE content I really don’t see why we have to stick with this cap on the number of people who can participate in content. You can design encounters to make sure everyone has a job. You can make them scale in certain ways based on the number of people present.

Or you can simply not worry so much about it, and design an encounter that assumes 20 players, but allow people up to 25. So what if some people take 25 and it is easier. Is that really a problem? People inevitably create their own goals to see how few people they can use to accomplish a goal. I remember vividly being part of the first 2 group team to take a keep in DAoC (16 people) and even better was the first 1 group team. Accomplishing player created goals almost always ends up being more memorable anyway.

]]> By: Saylah http://www.frogdice.com/muckbeast/game_design/some-people-actually-like-healing.html/comment-page-1#comment-25 Saylah Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:16:24 +0000 http://www.frogdice.com/muckbeast/?p=49#comment-25 I think it's more a reflection of the fact that games now have a lot of solo content. If healers can't do reasonable DPS when not grouped then they become 2nd class citizens and not able to progress as efficiently as other classes. Healing can be hard which is why the class is rare, so if it also has a disadvantage of progressing through content and farming required items, healers become even more rare as a class. I think the rise of the hybrid speaks to the same issue. Most players don't want to feel gimped or at a long term disadvantage based on the class they selected and developers are responding to that need. However, there's a right way and a wrong way to provide healers with decent offensive skills. I've seen a few right ways - Bear Shaman in Age of Conan, Warrior Priest in WAR. back in the day Shadow Priest spec in WOW. I think it’s more a reflection of the fact that games now have a lot of solo content. If healers can’t do reasonable DPS when not grouped then they become 2nd class citizens and not able to progress as efficiently as other classes. Healing can be hard which is why the class is rare, so if it also has a disadvantage of progressing through content and farming required items, healers become even more rare as a class. I think the rise of the hybrid speaks to the same issue. Most players don’t want to feel gimped or at a long term disadvantage based on the class they selected and developers are responding to that need. However, there’s a right way and a wrong way to provide healers with decent offensive skills. I’ve seen a few right ways – Bear Shaman in Age of Conan, Warrior Priest in WAR. back in the day Shadow Priest spec in WOW.

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