Ability Delay -- Character Responsiveness (This will make or break SW:TOR)

[Light_Valkyrie]

PUNISHED ...Bioware is punishing us?

 

They should just make all abilities 3 second or longer Cast time, would make things slower but hey, no worrying about nothing going off, cause 3 WHOLE SECONDS of casting.

[Xcore]

 

Updated OP

 

 

 

Link to ArenaNet's Blog regarding this subject: http://www.arena.net/blog/guild-wars-2-year-end-development-update#more-6955

Link to Diagram: http://i.imgur.com/oGeam.png

[Khoranth]

As the guy who started this thread I am surprised you lowered yourself to this type of rhetoric. If you want Bioware to take you seriously then you should stop.

 

I for one would like this problem to be taken seriously. You, as the thread starter, have damaged your own cause. Please stop.

 

 

A person can only remain hopeful and optimistic for so long. Eventually you just give up.

[Halacs]

They should just make all abilities 3 second or longer Cast time, would make things slower but hey, no worrying about nothing going off, cause 3 WHOLE SECONDS of casting.

 

That would require retuning of all the fights. I would rather cast times take priority over animation.

[Xcore]

As the guy who started this thread I am surprised you lowered yourself to this type of rhetoric. If you want Bioware to take you seriously then you should stop.

 

I for one would like this problem to be taken seriously. You, as the thread starter, have damaged your own cause. Please stop.

 

Right, if you've followed my posts from the very OP you'll have noticed a degradation of my demeanor.

 

 

You are completely right with the above: (Therefore)

 

1) I will no longer be posting or replying regarding this issue

2) I will continue to observe/read

3) I will continue to update the OP as needed (more contributions are made)

 

 

I am exhausted and done, sorry for those who care, rejoice for those are happy by this news. I have seriously tried from the OP all the way through 4 threads to raise awareness to this in a very nice and supportive/constructive way -- through passionate and frustration driven ways -- all the way down to angry/bitter/spiteful/hateful ways.

 

Right now, there is simply nothing left that I can offer to attempt to get this fixed or help.

 

 

I don't really care if I am labelled the good guy, bad guy or something in between for all this. I just want this problem taken serious, looked at, fixed so that we "ALL" can be playing the best MMO on the market.

 

 

 

P.S.: I even tried calling Bioware Austin for those who don't remember (Thread 1-2) to help them out (Constructively).

 

P.P.S.: Georg/Dev Team, I hope that you can overlook my more recent posts and rants and take this issue very serious as I and many continue to believe this to be the #1 problem with SW:TOR and the MMO Genre in general.

[BezerkerX]

While I am enjoying this game a lot, I cannot deny this bug.

 

I did actually think maybe it was just me earlier today but then scrapped that ludicrous idea when I had 70+fps and 50MS.

 

Trying to use maul on my assassin, which is supposed to be an instant cast 'backstab' nuke is highly frustrating. Not only does it flush my GCD but 9/10 my character reacts too late and the proc effect of me being able to cast it at a reduced cost to my resource fades and ends up costing me the full amount, meaning I am not getting the full effectiveness out of my talent tree.

 

While the bug is frustrating, it is not always there, which I really do not understand, obviously it has something to do with 'combo-ing' animations, where it will fire on certain animation end points and not on others.

However, when it is working fine and I can cast this ability smooth, it is so satisfying.

 

 

Bioware need to take heed and fix this incredibly fast, with many people now approaching end game (and lots of you already there) there is going to be the need to react fast in the operations content. I forsee great troubles if this is not addressed.

[Halacs]

Right, if you've followed my posts from the very OP you'll have noticed a degradation of my demeanor.

 

 

You are completely right with the above: (Therefore)

 

1) I will no longer be posting or replying regarding this issue

2) I will continue to observe/read

3) I will continue to update the OP as needed (more contributions are made)

 

 

I am exhausted and done, sorry for those who care, rejoice for those are happy by this news. I have seriously tried from the OP all the way through 4 threads to raise awareness to this in a very nice and supportive/constructive way -- through passionate and frustration driven ways -- all the way down to angry/bitter/spiteful/hateful ways.

 

Right now, there is simply nothing left that I can offer to attempt to get this fixed or help.

 

 

I don't really care if I am labelled the good guy, bad guy or something in between for all this. I just want this problem taken serious, looked at, fixed so that we "ALL" can be playing the best MMO on the market.

 

 

 

P.S.: I even tried calling Bioware Austin for those who don't remember (Thread 1-2) to help them out (Constructively).

 

P.P.S.: Georg/Dev Team, I hope that you can overlook my more recent posts and rants and take this issue very serious as I and many continue to believe this to be the #1 problem with SW:TOR and the MMO Genre in general.

 

It's too bad the trolls got to you. Some folks judt dont understand what the issues are and are threatened by any post they see as a negative makr on the game

 

I glad you will continue to monitor the threads, but don't stop posting when you need to. Just don't hit submit when you're mad.

[noogi]

Well your problem is it is an instant spell, and you have mistaken the word instant to mean instant. You see,if you press a button during an animation, you will be punished by bioware with lag and unresponsive controls.

 

If you press an instant button, then try to do something when the GCD winds down, and the animation is still playing, you will be punished by bioware.

 

If you want to play biowares game, adapt to watching animations, and forget all you thought you knew about GCD's and instant spells, or the punishment will continue.

 

so when we are not suposed to press another ability before the animation of the old one has finished why have they implementet da spell queue system?

[Khoranth]

so when we are not suposed to press another ability before the animation of the old one has finished why have they implementet da spell queue system?

 

 

Well It seems like bioware had a few rogues who implemented the cast bars, GCD timer and off GCD abilities.

 

Bioware should remove those from game and tell the players just to play off the animations, since that is obviously what is intended.

[Uhuru]

I hope they will decide to sacrifice the animations for gameplay.

 

I absolutely cannot heal well through this problem. A few days ago when I did Athiss with a group, I noticed it. Then the problem kept cropping up in heroic quests.

 

Granted some of the abilities fire off nicely. But it isn't consistent.

 

Static Shield on Sorcerers. Use it during combat and you will see the delay.

 

I start off my tank with Static shield. Then I make sure to reapply it whenever it comes off cool down for the tank. It is also my last minute protection button for DPS who are taking a lot of damage. It takes a veerrrry long time to reapply. Or it doesn't apply at all. So I need to hit that button again. At the very worst, it won't apply but start its gcd timer.

 

Something wonky is going on between the clients and servers. It seems to be, as others pointed out, tied into animations being handled client side while the server is strict to gcd. Whatever, please fix it.

 

I hung around 2 years in WAR for fixes like this, I'm not going to repeat that experience.

 

I agree that this problem is intermittent - which makes it all the more maddening. When my Jedi Knight is firing on all cylinders its a thing of beauty. But then a couple of abilities don't fire and the thrill is gone.

 

I do love this game enough to stay around for a couple years for it to be fixed - what worries me is that others won't and I want this game to be the huge success that I think it can be.

 

Just my 2 cents to the debate - this is probably the only meaningful thread on this whole forum. If they fix this problem I will never complain again I promise

[Uhuru]

Right, if you've followed my posts from the very OP you'll have noticed a degradation of my demeanor.

 

 

You are completely right with the above: (Therefore)

 

1) I will no longer be posting or replying regarding this issue

2) I will continue to observe/read

3) I will continue to update the OP as needed (more contributions are made)

 

 

I am exhausted and done, sorry for those who care, rejoice for those are happy by this news. I have seriously tried from the OP all the way through 4 threads to raise awareness to this in a very nice and supportive/constructive way -- through passionate and frustration driven ways -- all the way down to angry/bitter/spiteful/hateful ways.

 

Right now, there is simply nothing left that I can offer to attempt to get this fixed or help.

 

 

I don't really care if I am labelled the good guy, bad guy or something in between for all this. I just want this problem taken serious, looked at, fixed so that we "ALL" can be playing the best MMO on the market.

 

 

 

P.S.: I even tried calling Bioware Austin for those who don't remember (Thread 1-2) to help them out (Constructively).

 

P.P.S.: Georg/Dev Team, I hope that you can overlook my more recent posts and rants and take this issue very serious as I and many continue to believe this to be the #1 problem with SW:TOR and the MMO Genre in general.

 

As someone who has enjoyed more than a few trips around the sun the only thing I can recommend is patience. That and don't take this too seriously. There are only three outcomes in my estimation:

 

1.) It gets fixed

2>)It doesn't get fixed

3.) The world ends in December so it doesn't really matter

 

A little humor over the situation never hurts

 

May the force be with you!

[Light_Valkyrie]

That would require retuning of all the fights. I would rather cast times take priority over animation.

 

As would I but my faith is lacking.

[Froth]

Right, if you've followed my posts from the very OP you'll have noticed a degradation of my demeanor.

 

 

You are completely right with the above: (Therefore)

 

1) I will no longer be posting or replying regarding this issue

2) I will continue to observe/read

3) I will continue to update the OP as needed (more contributions are made)

 

 

I am exhausted and done, sorry for those who care, rejoice for those are happy by this news. I have seriously tried from the OP all the way through 4 threads to raise awareness to this in a very nice and supportive/constructive way -- through passionate and frustration driven ways -- all the way down to angry/bitter/spiteful/hateful ways.

 

Right now, there is simply nothing left that I can offer to attempt to get this fixed or help.

 

 

I don't really care if I am labelled the good guy, bad guy or something in between for all this. I just want this problem taken serious, looked at, fixed so that we "ALL" can be playing the best MMO on the market.

 

 

 

P.S.: I even tried calling Bioware Austin for those who don't remember (Thread 1-2) to help them out (Constructively).

 

P.P.S.: Georg/Dev Team, I hope that you can overlook my more recent posts and rants and take this issue very serious as I and many continue to believe this to be the #1 problem with SW:TOR and the MMO Genre in general.

 

People genuinely change their minds only through persuasion. You can only persuade with patience. You lose professionalism, you lose the fight. You don't need to leave, just calm down and see it through.

[Bob-ombaFett]

Well your problem is it is an instant spell, and you have mistaken the word instant to mean instant. You see,if you press a button during an animation, you will be punished by bioware with lag and unresponsive controls.

 

If you press an instant button, then try to do something when the GCD winds down, and the animation is still playing, you will be punished by bioware.

 

If you want to play biowares game, adapt to watching animations, and forget all you thought you knew about GCD's and instant spells, or the punishment will continue.

 

I did not have a signature until now. Thank you.

Edited January 4, 2012 by Bob-ombaFett

[Yakito]

I can't really play like either. Been waiting for the game for years and now we are getting this... I just... I don't know. I am powerless to do anything in this matter and it annoys me. We can just wait and hope it will get changed. But I am a pessimist/realist and I know it will not.

[Slivertongue]

Ive played a couple of mmos over the years. I always thought there was something wrong with them, something i couldn´t put my finger on. Now i know what it was that differed from the other mmos (rift, warhammer, and know swtor) and wow. Thanks for educating me.

 

If i worked on bioware, i would just close down all servers and finish the game as it was set out to be.

[Tinkersw]

Right, if you've followed my posts from the very OP you'll have noticed a degradation of my demeanor.

 

 

You are completely right with the above: (Therefore)

 

1) I will no longer be posting or replying regarding this issue

2) I will continue to observe/read

3) I will continue to update the OP as needed (more contributions are made)

 

 

I am exhausted and done, sorry for those who care, rejoice for those are happy by this news. I have seriously tried from the OP all the way through 4 threads to raise awareness to this in a very nice and supportive/constructive way -- through passionate and frustration driven ways -- all the way down to angry/bitter/spiteful/hateful ways.

 

Right now, there is simply nothing left that I can offer to attempt to get this fixed or help.

 

 

I don't really care if I am labelled the good guy, bad guy or something in between for all this. I just want this problem taken serious, looked at, fixed so that we "ALL" can be playing the best MMO on the market.

 

 

 

P.S.: I even tried calling Bioware Austin for those who don't remember (Thread 1-2) to help them out (Constructively).

 

P.P.S.: Georg/Dev Team, I hope that you can overlook my more recent posts and rants and take this issue very serious as I and many continue to believe this to be the #1 problem with SW:TOR and the MMO Genre in general.

 

Xcore .... the day you made the OP, I googled SWTOR ability delay. The only link was to this thread. If you google SWTOR ability delay today, there are 3 plus pages of links.

You made a huge impact regarding this issue.

 

I hope your girlfriend takes real good care of you tonight.

/hugs my friend

[Bob-ombaFett]

Xcore .... the day you made the OP, I googled SWTOR ability delay. The only link was to this thread. If you google SWTOR ability delay today, there are 3 plus pages of links.

You made a huge impact regarding this issue.

 

I hope your girlfriend takes real good care of you tonight.

/hugs my friend

 

If you leave now, Xcore, who else will she groupie idolize?

[Bob-ombaFett]

Updated OP

 

Link to ArenaNet's Blog regarding this subject: http://www.arena.net/blog/guild-wars-2-year-end-development-update#more-6955

Link to Diagram: http://i.imgur.com/oGeam.png

 

 

I hope GW2s Combat Timing and Fine Tuning is as good as this article is saying it is. The animation awesomeness of SWTOR with the reaction time of WoW.

 

<3 <3 <3

[Arkimor]

Xcore, I hear ya man.

 

Stick with it. Once that free-30 is up, just bail completely. At least you tried.

 

I know a LOT of people (myself included) will be leaving soon because of lack of communication from Bioware (and, of course, the fact the game is unfinished and unplayable at any competitive or challenging level).

[Arkimor]

I hope GW2s Combat Timing and Fine Tuning is as good as this article is saying it is. The animation awesomeness of SWTOR with the reaction time of WoW.

 

<3 <3 <3

 

Yeah, GW2 keeps shaping up to be better and better. I'm looking forward to it.

 

Bioware needs to read that article regarding GW2, because they're fix for it sounds spot on for what we've been talking about and suggesting.

[Kurenar]

Regarding the initial delay, the client behaves as if server-side acknowledgement is required for every key press. If this is the case, the client should be a bit more self-policing, that is it should enforce the protocol locally unless absolutely necessary to communicate to the server. All speculation, but If this truly is the case it is poor design and not a quick or easy fix.

 

Regarding animation sync issues, im not sure how this ever made it past QA. I mean it's blatantly obvious that dev was given animations that do not adhere to any cast timer. In a game like this they should adhere to a timer (scalability for things like haste modifiers), and should be interruptible. Because this problem extends to dodge/block animations interrupting casts I'm prone to think this is at best hastily prepared, at worst lazy coding and/or poor project management.

Edited January 4, 2012 by Kurenar

[Larlar]

Another " if the entire world would listen to me or I know what devs don't" category.

 

I don't even read posts like this, I don't get past the title because the credibility and factual evidence is gone before I read a sentence. It never ceases to amaze me after 20 years that so many folks know better, or more fully, how a game will live or die.

 

Historical evidence points against just the title, regardless of what lies past it. Yes folks MMO's and gaming have been around long enough to have history, be examined as historical, and analyzed. Just saying something doesn't make it a fact.

 

Ok, here's how we all know.

 

We all know because we have seen it all before. We have seen the amazing new effects and ideas with ten different MMOs, we have seen the voice acting, the world class franchises come and go, the promise of new PVP, the amazing new combat experience, the limitless content, the wings, the Waaaaghhh, the blood and guts... yet every single time, we all end up back playing World of Bloody Warcraft. That's how we know. We know because we are MMO players and we know what we like... well some of us.

 

Its all about the combat, its all about the unquantifiable 'feel' as you take control of your character and execute attacks and moves. Its the elusive recipe that only Blizzard has got right so far and I hate that that is the case, but its the bloody truth. All the other games had everything that WOW has EXCEPT the bloody playabaility, and responsiveness.

 

Its what every noob you know is thinking but not saying. We are saying it because we know. We are right, you are wrong. If they listen to you, they die, if they listen to us, they get rich.

[Markusos]

I too am getting this problem. As a healer where responsivness is essential this issue is very disappointing. Considering combat is like 90% of the game Im shocked they let this issue go live.

[corebit]

I notice this delay a lot when playing on my Jedi Guardian.

 

As I am Defense specced, I usually do Leap -> Blade Storm, because my talents allow me to BS without spending focus.

 

However a lot of times I see that I press Blade Storm, my character does the animation to swing her lightsaber, but she stops halfway and does no damage, and Blade Storm is not on cooldown. This happens even when I pressed Blade Storm multiple times.

 

This also happens with multiple other abilities. I have to weave Sundering Strike and Strike to get Focus, but many times my Sundering Strike does the half-way animation and stops, and I have to press the same button at least 5-6 times to fire it off.

 

Very annoying.