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

[Wahrend]

I completely agree with OP. These things must get fixed as it completely ruins the experience.

 

I've had alot of trouble using my skills in warzones with my gunslinger. No matter how much I pust the buttons there's always a long pause before anything happens. Taking cover is probably the most frustrating thing since it takes a good while from I push my button to the character actually starts doing the command.

 

I can't sit around waiting 1 sec before something happens and thats more or less what it takes, for me in anycase, before my charatcer starts rolling to cover. It's not too bad with my other skills, but the cover command is really unresponsive.

 

Odd thing is, when I'm in the pve enviroment I don't have any problems with my cover button. Perhaps it's because I always use it before entering combat so I don't pay attention to it. It's probably still there, but it's not a major problem in pve compared to pvp.

[zmoose]

I agree with the OP. SWTOR won't be able to truly compete with the "WoW" giant unless it can resolve this single issue as everything else hinges upon it to make the game fun.

[Nanotech]

The only "problem" is people thinking that the GCD should always indicate when you can prompt your next attack. It doesn't work that way with SWTOR. You follow the animation cycle and not the flashing lights on your toolbar. Since it affects everyone the same way, it isn't imbalanced or broken whatsoever. It certainly isn't "unresponsive" or "clunky." Anyone like myself who figured this out within the first 10 minutes of beta hasn't had problems. L2P. Edited December 26, 2011 by Nanotech

[AlkalineKitten]

Well said, Original Poster.

[Xcore]

I think this guy is kind of circling around what I am saying. Its not delay, its the GCD its longer then it is in wow. You guys are not used to it yet.

 

Find an instant ability, like the jedi shadow spinning slash aoe or something similar, get a stop watch if you want. I am getting zero delay in or out of combat, I do play a melee class to the person said that its lessened on range classes. Sorry guys, I really think its you.

 

This shouldn't cause a cast time to complete but the ability animation or effect to not hit the target...

 

You are misunderstanding the core problem... I am sorry (not trying to be offensive).

[Metajedi]

/Agree

 

Let's ignore all well thought out replies to our post, and only reply to the one saying "Why are you so bad" so we can seem smart and act like misunderstood victims.

 

Are you for real, guy? Jesus Christ.

 

are you retarded ? Did I say I am ignoring any well thought out replies to my post ? I am just saying there is an immediate withdrawal reaction to anyone who disagrees.

 

You know what... I am so much smarter then this lol forget it dude I am not even gonna bother.

 

Winning an argument on the internet is like the special olympics, yeah you won, but your still retarded lol

 

Im going back to playing my awesome new game. Maybe if you wipe your tears you can come group up with me

Edited December 26, 2011 by Metajedi

[Siem]

edit. Edited December 26, 2011 by Siem

[Nanotech]

So what's the point of the global cooldown then? If everything is based off animations, why not let every ability have its own cooldown or cast time based on the animation?

 

That might fix things...at least we'd know when we'd be able to cast another ability

 

Instant or short-cast abilities? Certain skills like interrupts go off with the GCD, regardless of animations. The GCD just represents the earliest possible moment you can prompt your next attack.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Nanotech

[DarthMalux]

I don't PVP, I am an ex wow player, And yes this is a BIG problem, I have not messed with my delay, I believe it boils down to this, If an ability is off cool down and is available to be used it should be able to be used, I've noticed character lag mostly on my Sorcerer, not as much on my warrior.

 

Khem Val is Extremely delayed I've never seen a pet wander around for so long b4 he finally does what you asked him this is huge in add aggro where u need to switch his targets for him to get aggro etc.

 

I also believe the nay sayers in this thread either don't have a clue to what your referring to or have very slow reflexes. ( Sorry trolls thisis NOT intended as an insult ) I have watched others play the game and am appalled at how slowly they react to situations and for them they would never see a problem those of who anticipate actions react quickly and have an idea of rotation, action response etc. will see the glaring issue here.

 

GO do high end raiding in wow and succeed b4 nerfs and you will get it.

 

There is a problem here, please fix it.

 

Thank you

[Leilei]

This shouldn't cause a cast time to complete but the ability animation or effect to not hit the target...

 

You are misunderstanding the core problem... I am sorry (not trying to be offensive).

 

I cant get this to happen for my smuggler. I can use underworld medicine -> another ability in quick succesion the MOMENT my underworld medicine finishes casting

 

The cast bar hasnt disappeared yet but as long as I get to max cast time I can use another ability.

[Contumelious]

are you retarded ? Did I say I am ignoring any well thought out replies to my post ? I am just saying there is an immediate withdrawal reaction to anyone who disagrees.

 

You know what... I am so much smarter then this lol forget it dude I am not even gonna bother.

 

Im going back to playing my awesome new game. Maybe if you wipe your tears you can come group up with me

 

You don't seem to understand what "ignore" means. Me saying you *ignored* posts doesn't mean I'm saying you wrote "I ignore all these posts btw" it means you ignored them by not responding to them.

 

Which you didn't.

 

Hence you ignored them.

 

For someone claiming to be "So much smarter than this lol" you sure appear to have a lack of basic comprehension.

 

Anyway, I digress. No point in making myself look like an ******e, if that isn't too late already, for wanting to write to the 1% of the thread not understanding the problem.

 

I am very happy with this thread, and how it is turning out --- If only Bioware takes note and does something about it! Fingers crossed.

[Chlowie]

I agree w/ the OP. Thanks so much for writing this.. hope Bioware takes it seriously. <3

[genmyke]

i just did some testing with 0.0 queue window and this is something bioware could try to fix this is by first lowered the GCD a LITTLE bit not too much where GCD is not noticeable but just a little.

now for the execution of ability need to get tune up about 0.5 seconds faster i might fix the cancel problem people have while casting another ability after the first.

 

i will test this on different queue windows to see if i can bypass this problems atleast GCD wise.

Edited December 26, 2011 by genmyke

[Mandemalex]

Didn't realise how to rate a thread, just posting this so I can rate it

 

Btw did anyone confirm/disprove that perhaps it's the people with 0.5 ability queue-time (default) that do not notice this problem, because the game chooses when the ability is ready - as opposed to the player?

[SaltAU]

It should have been nailed before they released the game. You don't get many second chances in life and I'm disappointed they didn't pick up on this.

[Wahrend]

The only "problem" is people thinking that the GCD should always indicate when you can prompt your next attack. It doesn't work that way with SWTOR. You follow the animation cycle and not the flashing lights on your toolbar. Since it affects everyone the same way, it isn't imbalanced or broken whatsoever. It certainly isn't "unresponsive" or "clunky." Anyone like myself who figured this out within the first 10 minutes of beta hasn't had problems. L2P.

 

You are probably right that everyone is experiencing the same problem so in theory that makes everyone even, but is that now competely true? No. Try playing a smuggler in a warzone and wait for the cover ability to trigger. Before you have pushed the button and rolled into the perfect spot for your sneak attack your enemy is already out of range because it takes roughly 1 sec before your character actually does something.

 

Imagine your car did that stunt everytime you went out driving? "Oh I need to make a turn at the next corner so I need to start turning then wheels beforehand otherwise I won't make it." That wouldn't be a nice situation to be in would it now?

[Solar]

What youre talking about is SWTORS pace with the animations and such.

 

This I can experience and its not really the engine its just how they did the animations and how skills work. They can easilly change it to be front loaded like wow but it will need a complete redo of all the skills animations.

 

Apparently some people can't adjust to this; creatures of habit always want what they are used to and its always someone else's fault for not providing those 'expectations'. Sure, tweaks here and there are appropriate for a newly released game; but not a complete make over.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Solar

[PerpetualGamer]

Personally I love the animation system, but if possible I'd like them to get the best of both worlds personally. That should be possible.

[Kehveli]

Lol 45 pages of thread and nothing from BW amazing

[HerrFett]

Very well written post OP.

 

Bioware should really listen to it.Ability Delay is not just a little annoying it's a game breaker.

[AlkalineKitten]

Exactly, and this Feeling that is so hard to describe is essentially the connection (real time connection) to your Avatar which is "how he/she/it responds to your commands" in real time. If there is any weirdness about it (ability delay... animation incorrectness etc.) you feel immediate disconnect and frustration.

 

WoW connects us to the Avatar the best, that is the secret to WoWs success.... "I believe"

 

Coming from years as a WoW Warrior and Paladin, it was the first thing I noticed when I settled into my first Operative, Sentinel, and Shadow.

 

I've played many MMOs, and I do indeed feel a difference between WoW and City Of, Champions, Rift, Warhammer. About the only MMO I've ever played that rivaled (or even beat, I feel) WoW was LOTRO's responsiveness. It was just that tuned.

 

While I know this is an across the board issue for anything, from healing to damage to consumables to binding, I do feel ranged has it better than melee.

 

It's especially annoying when Riposte, Shiv, or even Backstab go off, it feels like the animation execution takes priority over the actual damage. Which is the opposite of ranged, in my experience with my Sniper. Bounty Hunter, or even Sentinel, as most ranged attacks (or charge) seem to inflict and account for the damage before the move even goes off; you can see this just watching HP bars.

 

That's opposed to hitting Backstab or Riposte, which frankly are no Backstab or Overpower, in terms of "satisfaction".

 

Part of the reason I stuck with WoW longer than other MMOs wasn't the franchise, and it wasn't the community, it was the pure visceral feeling I got of executing moves in PvE and PvP. The "floaty" feeling really bugs me, and mars what is otherwise a great MMO experience so far.

Edited December 26, 2011 by AlkalineKitten

[genmyke]

Didn't realise how to rate a thread, just posting this so I can rate it

 

Btw did anyone confirm/disprove that perhaps it's the people with 0.5 ability queue-time (default) that do not notice this problem, because the game chooses when the ability is ready - as opposed to the player?

 

this is true i just tried 0.0 queue to 0.5 and noticed in 0.5 the GCD problem seems non existent but the fact is people dont like queue systems especially in a mmo but ATM it is not that bad to have or use since the game doesnt offer much procs but if it did then the queue can be a problem if 0.0 cant over come the GCD which honestly needs to be lowered by a small amount.

[Xeikai]

The only "problem" is people thinking that the GCD should always indicate when you can prompt your next attack. It doesn't work that way with SWTOR. You follow the animation cycle and not the flashing lights on your toolbar. Since it affects everyone the same way, it isn't imbalanced or broken whatsoever. It certainly isn't "unresponsive" or "clunky." Anyone like myself who figured this out within the first 10 minutes of beta hasn't had problems. L2P.

 

Try playing a melee class and chasing someone running around, as i spam my snare button praying they will hold still long enough so the input goes though before they move out of my range again. Playing melee with this input problem is horrible and feels terribly clunky. Coupled with lag elements it makes getting your keystrokes off a chore.

[Leilei]

Very well written post OP.

 

Bioware should really listen to it.Ability Delay is not just a little annoying it's a game breaker.

 

45 pages and I still cant figure out exactly what people are complaining about.

 

Someone said 1/3 of the problem is the delay and the rest are the problem of abilities not going off even if the gcd triggers and stuff like that.

 

Im TRYING to reproduce 2/3rds of the problem but no one is giving me exact rotations to use x.x

 

I tried stuff wif smugglers (listed the exact rotations in another post) and I couldnt get an ability to NOT fire off unless I actually used it during the cast time.

 

Edit :

I use dirty kick in warfronts and its as responsive as my stun shot in WoW so idk it must be more prevalent in other classes o.o

Edited December 26, 2011 by Leilei

[Ruskyandrei]

I'm sorry but people are seriously saying WoW combat felt more "VISCERAL" ?

 

Seriously ?

 

Where every special attack had the same animation ? And all you ever saw was the same 2 attacks for years (RL) ?

 

Yes I agree there are some issues with animation delays at times and I hope they manage to work them out, but dear God people, this game pisses all over WoW in terms of visceral combat, get your facts straight.