Arcade Mode

[Fearless_Jedi]

I realize that this is an MMORPG but I had an interesting thought while I was partaking in my favorite gameplay passtime. Something I have deemed "flashpoint rape".

 

For fun I like to go to low level flashpoints and destroy everything in my sith warrior's path. Its such an entertaining experience that I wish it actually had more value. Seriously, one shotting trash mobs is alot of fun, and it really gives you a more cinematic feel. Only problem is that its not really a valid way to experience the game on a regular basis. But since we have arcade like space combat I figured that it wouldn't be that much of a reach for arcade mode flashpoints or instanced quests.

 

So here is to hoping that a dev might read this and not consider it a completely asinine idea.

 

Anyone else have anything to add?

Edited July 23, 2013 by Fearless_Jedi

[Cammac]

1) Maybe a timed run? "Defeat all enemies and complete the flashpoint in under XX minutes," for a legacy reward or title or something small but collectible. Scaling difficulties and time limits too?

2) One shotting mobs is fun. Feel like a ******.

[Glzmo]

If I remember correctly, the original idea for TOR was to be different than other MMORPGs and allow people to take on and finish off groups, cut swaths through them and such instead of having long fights with single enemies. People in beta complained about enemies being to easy to defeat, so they changed it and we have the slow game we have now where we hit enemies with the lightsaber countless times as if they were a glowing stick instead of the deadly weapon a lightsaber is supposed to be, especially at higher levels.

 

Playing flashpoints you massively outlevel feels great and fun, much more so than these hard modes and nightmare modes where a whole group pounds on one enemy for minutes that are the only ones giving useful rewards these days.

[Markuslig]

wow, they complained the mobs where too easy? i think it strange idea that they made mobs tougher instead of just putting more of them instead... slice through them fast but more mobs many more, maybe would get more action packed as well instead of standing and cutting same mob over and over

[anonnn]

What would it be like if mobs were reduced to 25% health, but they got boosted to 300% DPS? If they get any hits in, it puts some serious hurt on the target, but at 25% of previous health level they can be AOE'd to spittle fairly easily. But what happens when no one in the group has their AOE attack off CD? oh oh!

 

A new combat dynamic that might be excellent for Arcade Mode... is if hitting a baddie with a heavy attack such as a grenade or Explosive Round leaves the baddie far more vulnerable to attacks for a few seconds. That way with some teamwork, the squad can get a big time upper hand in the clearing of tons of medium-health mobs.

 

Arcade mode could also involve some additional Abilities that regenerate Force & Ammo quickly, even while in combat and/or running, so that you don't have to stop in-between mobs if you don't want to.

 

I don't know if it would be better to create new FPs that are specifically arcade mode FPs, or make Arcade Mode one of the options in the group leader's Challenge Mode options (along with SM and HM).

Edited July 23, 2013 by anonnn

[Fearless_Jedi]

Love the feedback. I didn't expect such support!

 

Definitely like the ideas regarding increasing mob population and their damage. Right now flashpoint rape, while fun, offers no challange so more bad guys and more lethality would give me that kind of challenge without taking away the glorious enjoyment of one shotting trash.

 

I should add that for arcade mode to work the way I imagine it then most if not all skills requiring a cast time should be allowed to charge up while the character is moving otherwise casters would lose out. Also since I have a jedi sage on top of my sith warrior, I wants to be able to enjoy arcade mode regardless of class.

[anonnn]

I'd also like it if there were a set of special equipments that were customized just for Arcade Mode. Everything from grenades, health packs, adrenals, that have super-low cooldowns (like 3 seconds for grenades and 30 seconds for health packs/adrenals) ...to barrels, hilts, and color crystals, that offer specialized stat improvements like Cooldown-reduction and then relics that have special abilities such as 2x DPS for 5 seconds or a massive defensive boost that transforms any player into a 20-second mega-tank.

 

All of these would be applicable only to arcade-mode scenarios, and would seriously pump up the pace of the battle. With all of these things working at once, the Arcade Mode experience would be a total frenzy of quick-thinking obliteration, and in order to do this successfully a player would need a major amount of tactical experience to know when to use AOE grenades, stun grenades, or pop off their defensive Relic in order to not succumb to the larger mobs that require more extensive effort to clear.

 

I'm not sure if the following is viable, but perhaps the set of special Arcade Mode abilities, equipment, and boosters should be engineered and tuned so that the most experienced Arcade Mode players would be able to solo Heroic missions, or at least 2-man missions that would otherwise require a full group of 4 well-equipped players.

 

Oh, and one final idea... saber-wielders should get a special one-slash move that 1-shots the enemy if it's done just right... it should require 2 special moves (like a Double Spin followed by a Mortal Slash) and should require a specific distance from the target so that it lands perfectly in the animation. Against Champion level enemies it would of course just do massive damage rather than 1-shot it.

Edited July 26, 2013 by anonnn

[Compactpl]

It would be really cool addition, I would really love that mode, but... we all know this is not gonna happen, it requires work to do and EA(bioware) is not eager to work on anything, especially on things that won't bring tons of money to their pockets.

[Senkaru]

I love the ideas on this post. Countless times I have found myself staring at my phone or any other thing to pass time while I am fighting a mob because they take that much time! I can understand that a enemy can parry my attacks but just sit there and take every lightsaber swing like its nothing is just wrong.

[Fearless_Jedi]

C'mon guys lets keep this goin. Arcade mode may be a big request but enough support and Bioware may consider it. Plus Bioware has got to keep developing the gameplay to stay competitive post-next gen. This may be the start of something epic!

 

I've enjoyed reading your replies and I must have more! Right now I'm thinking more knockdown effects in arcade mode would be awesome! Cant tell you how much it irritates me that Disturbance and TK Wave have no KD effect. But in arcade mode I can see a team being pinned down in a corridor then a Jedi Sage launches TK Waves knocking down the mobs. This allows a trooper and a knight to take the opportunity to advance on the mobs and slaughter them.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Fearless_Jedi

[anonnn]

I think something interesting would be team-based arcade mode abilities that are specific to each base class.

 

Jedi Knight could have a Battle Cry that lets out a

, and boosts the entire group's dps by 20% for 15 seconds.

 

Jedi Consular could have something called Spirit of the Masters that focuses with a spiritual chant, and increases the group's +Alacrity by a huge amount for 15 seconds.

 

Troopers could have a Courageous Charge that yells for a massive charge (@00:36) and increases Defense by 750, dps by 5%, and movement speed by 40% for 15 seconds.

 

Smugglers could have a Sly Trick that

towards the enemy, and puts the group in stealth for 7 seconds, increases movement speed by 40%, and against enemies that have their back turned, increases DPS by 75%... for 15 seconds.

_______________________________________________________________

 

The awesome dynamic of these abilities (which probably seem similar to Relic abilities) is that when multiple group members use the same arcade ability, they would stack all stat improvements, and would stack +50% of the time duration to the arcade buff (+Movement Speed would not stack). For example, if one Jedi Knight used his arcade ability, the buff would be 15 seconds of +20% DPS, and if a second Jedi Knight used his arcade ability during that buff, it would increase the buff duration by 7.5 seconds and stack the buff's +DPS to +40%.

 

This has the interesting logistical result of making it advantageous to use the buffs together, so if the group is in tune, the stacked buffs end up enabling the group to cut a swath through difficult enemies without much effort. The cooldown of these arcade abilities would of course need to be significant, such as 5 minutes, much like the Battle Revive ability.

 

I also want to mention again that Jedi should have a Precision Mortal Strike ability, that

with one strike of the saber.

 

Another great arcade ability to have would be a Death Cry, that is only usable when at less than 10% health. It would unleash a 5-second flurry of panicked close-proximity strikes that have triple-DPS, and has a 2-minute cooldown.

 

It seems logical to me that all PvE in SWToR could actually have a similar characteristic to arcade modes such as these... I mean, it sounds like it would be a lot more fun if battle were a sudden peak-of-effort that performs extraordinary feats and has to involve team coordination to maximize its effectiveness.

[anonnn]

...

Right now I'm thinking more knockdown effects in arcade mode would be awesome! Cant tell you how much it irritates me that Disturbance and TK Wave have no KD effect. But in arcade mode I can see a team being pinned down in a corridor then a Jedi Sage launches TK Waves knocking down the mobs. This allows a trooper and a knight to take the opportunity to advance on the mobs and slaughter them.

 

More knockdown abilities (such as a 3-second knockdown ability that has a 10-second cooldown) would be amazing for Arcade Mode. Also, some stun-pulse abilities that are AOE and unlimited targets would be very cool for team arcade Ops.

 

There's really no reason that PvE in SWToR must resemble PvP battle style. I think BioWare could morph PvE by adding amazing arcade-style abilities and would end up with a lot of happy players.

[JamieKirby]

It would be nice to have a more arcade feel and be real to the movies to an extent, but like all mmos, they listen to the raiders crying 'its too easy' for me, if its too much of a challenge, I just don't bother, I find it more fun to experience the story, then to feel that non-existant 'sense of achievement' which I have never, EVER felt, even after finishing ME1 and ME2 on Insanity, I even toughened up the enemies, but nothing, just a 'why bother' type of feeling.

 

For me, its more about experiencing the story that makes the game worth playing, not the challenge of beating it, but maybe its just a preference thing??