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

[Rheemus]

Posting again as it seems to have gone unoticed in all the many posts in this thread :-)

 

Dear fellow players, dont get your hopes up for this to be fixed in any reasonable short amount of time, if it will ever be fixed it will be many many months from now when its probably too late anyway.

 

Why ?

 

Because it is the core of the game mechanics of SWTOR and its inabillity to perform or execite new abillities before the precious one has its animation all played out, probably this is a general issue with the Hero Engine that Bioware based SWTOR on.

 

Very interisting article on the GW2 website on how their developers not only are aware of this issue with delays and animations that has to play to their end, but also how they solved it elegantly !

 

Its worth a read, here it is wit link to source at the end:

*

 

"Combat Timing and Fine Tuning

One of the elements that makes Guild Wars 2 combat feel different from other games is that many skills have their own unique animations, and the skill functionality is often based on the animations themselves. With a robust animation-blending system, we are able to easily transition between skills. In our previous demos, this was shown through chain skills, such as the warrior sword combo in the first skill slot: Sever Artery leads to Gash, which flows into Final Thrust. We realized that this system did not need to be reserved just for chain skills but could apply to the entire game. There were skills such as Savage Leap, which moved the player into range of their target, and big control attacks like Shield Bash, that you wanted to be able to quickly follow with another skill. The problem was that the animations for these skills had follow-through that was preventing players from using another skill until the animations were finished. You could stun or chase someone, but it was hard to capitalize on it.

Our programmers added technology to our skill data to allow us to specify a point in an animation at which the player could start moving again. This made skills like Savage Leap not only more functional but tremendously fun to use. This technology came in right before gamescom, so we were able to showcase it with *a few important skills in that demo. Now that the technology has evolved, not only does it allow players to specify when they can start movement but it also allows us to transition into queued skills so that we can improve responsiveness. We went through every skill in the game and set up these animation breakout timings and the results were fantastic, but we didn’t stop there. I know many people have also noticed the more polished nature of the animations in the G-Star demo. Since we were able to go back and polish it, we also took a look at the impact of the new blending changes and made some timing changes to existing skills in order to give them more-appropriate anticipation, swing time, and follow-through to match the smoother feel that we were achieving with the blending. This really shines with things like big hammer swings, which now have slow buildups, quick attacks, and somewhat lengthy follow-through, depending on the skill. Ultimately, it creates a much more visceral and immediate system, which helps us straddle the line between action game and RPG.

 

Making these improvements has been really interesting and fun because it has shown us how our game can feel appropriately action oriented without taking away the familiarity of the MMO genre. We talk a lot about bringing dynamic combat to MMOs, and we have learned that the best way to do that is to retain a very traditional control scheme while letting the skills and their interactions define the combat. We wanted a player’s first impression to be, “I know how this works: I use ‘WASD’ to move, target with tab, and hit skill buttons.” But the more you play, the more you can see how the physics of the world and the nature of the skills create a totally different experience.

I like to say that GW2 controls like an MMO and has abilities like a MOBA (tools that you can use in diverse ways to adapt to changing situations), but its physical interactions are like an FPS (dodging projectiles, attacking from out of range, etc.). We are really happy with the way we were able to blend these three styles of play—and hopefully you will be too."

 

Source:

http://www.arena.net/blog/guild-wars...lopment-update

Edited December 28, 2011 by Rheemus

[ShadowMasterRP]

Dear fellow players, dont get your hopes up for this to be fixed in any reasonable short amount of time, if it will ever be fixed it will be many many months from now when its probably too late anyway.

 

Why ?

 

Because it is the core of the game mechanics of SWTOR and its inabillity to perform or execite new abillities before the precious one has its animation all played out, probably this is a general issue with the Hero Engine that Bioware based SWTOR on.

 

Very interisting article on the GW2 website on how their developers not only are aware of this issue with delays and animations that has to play to their end, but also how they solved it elegantly !

 

Its worth a read, here it is wit link to source at the end:

*

 

"Combat Timing and Fine Tuning

One of the elements that makes Guild Wars 2 combat feel different from other games is that many skills have their own unique animations, and the skill functionality is often based on the animations themselves. With a robust animation-blending system, we are able to easily transition between skills. In our previous demos, this was shown through chain skills, such as the warrior sword combo in the first skill slot: Sever Artery leads to Gash, which flows into Final Thrust. We realized that this system did not need to be reserved just for chain skills but could apply to the entire game. There were skills such as Savage Leap, which moved the player into range of their target, and big control attacks like Shield Bash, that you wanted to be able to quickly follow with another skill. The problem was that the animations for these skills had follow-through that was preventing players from using another skill until the animations were finished. You could stun or chase someone, but it was hard to capitalize on it.

Our programmers added technology to our skill data to allow us to specify a point in an animation at which the player could start moving again. This made skills like Savage Leap not only more functional but tremendously fun to use. This technology came in right before gamescom, so we were able to showcase it with *a few important skills in that demo. Now that the technology has evolved, not only does it allow players to specify when they can start movement but it also allows us to transition into queued skills so that we can improve responsiveness. We went through every skill in the game and set up these animation breakout timings and the results were fantastic, but we didn’t stop there. I know many people have also noticed the more polished nature of the animations in the G-Star demo. Since we were able to go back and polish it, we also took a look at the impact of the new blending changes and made some timing changes to existing skills in order to give them more-appropriate anticipation, swing time, and follow-through to match the smoother feel that we were achieving with the blending. This really shines with things like big hammer swings, which now have slow buildups, quick attacks, and somewhat lengthy follow-through, depending on the skill. Ultimately, it creates a much more visceral and immediate system, which helps us straddle the line between action game and RPG.

 

Making these improvements has been really interesting and fun because it has shown us how our game can feel appropriately action oriented without taking away the familiarity of the MMO genre. We talk a lot about bringing dynamic combat to MMOs, and we have learned that the best way to do that is to retain a very traditional control scheme while letting the skills and their interactions define the combat. We wanted a player’s first impression to be, “I know how this works: I use ‘WASD’ to move, target with tab, and hit skill buttons.” But the more you play, the more you can see how the physics of the world and the nature of the skills create a totally different experience.

I like to say that GW2 controls like an MMO and has abilities like a MOBA (tools that you can use in diverse ways to adapt to changing situations), but its physical interactions are like an FPS (dodging projectiles, attacking from out of range, etc.). We are really happy with the way we were able to blend these three styles of play—and hopefully you will be too."

 

Source:

http://www.arena.net/blog/guild-wars...lopment-update

 

Curious. It seems they had the exact same problem.

 

But the question is: why does SWTOR have this problem? It doesn't use weapon-based abilities where your animation determines who you hit and where. It's a WoW clone combat system where animations aren't supposed to play a role in any numbers or ability execution.

 

It's like Bioware specifically went out of their way to force animation prioritising for some reason.

[MaceTowani]

It's not the game's fault, it's your own.

 

Your attacks get interrupted(and you can interrupt your enemies's attacks as well) while you are getting pummeled. It's a game mechanic that BW decided to run.

 

Also, the more you spam the less responsive your moves become. Another mechanic of the game to prevent move spammers and button mashers.

 

Learn to adapt to the mechanics of a game instead of trying to turn it into something it's not.

 

*coughWoWcough*

 

^This.

 

To prevent move spammers and button mashers? Ahahaha nice troll, I'm sure you're not actually serious because that would imply that you don't realise that "move spamming" and "button mashing" are literally the only reasonable ways to play a) MMOs and b) pretty much any game with an ability bar ever. You must seriously be new to video games if you're not trolling.

 

Is that all I said in my post? Or do you like to pick certain statements that you can "logically" respond to?

 

Here it is again.

 

If you spam your moves, you WILL go unresponsive. That's just the way it is and the way the mechanic works, I found that planning your moves out and using strategy without trying to spam a button and WAITING FOR THE ANIMATION OF YOUR PREVIOUS ATTACK TO END along with staying out of the line of sight of your enemies so that your spell doesn't get interrupted(which DOES happen and is also a mechanic used to make combat more real) then maybe you will have more luck with your "lag" issues.

[Pinely]

I think a lot of people don't understand the issue because they've never played WoW before or at least haven't played it recently. I also think some people in this thread have exaggerated how noticeable the issue is, it doesn't happen to every ability and is most noticeable when playing outside of a comfortable rotation.

 

The game engine is set to give deference to animations above all else. This is what gives the game a fluid look in combat. The issue is that some animations are longer than the GCD or Cast Bar indicate, meaning that the User Interface is telling you the ability is finished and you're ready to use another one, but the game itself is still completing the task.

 

The easiest way to see this problem for yourself is to mount up and start moving as soon as the cast bar is finished. You will dismount yourself because, although the cast is telling you its finished, the animation isn't done playing and kicks you off your mount. There is a fundamental disconnect between what the UI is telling us and what is actually happening.

 

Now, if you play a class long enough, this becomes less noticeable because you'll start basing your abilities off of animations and not GCDs/Cast bars. And if you haven't played WoW, then this doesn't seem out of the ordinary at all.

 

I don't know what the solution is. It would go a long way if our cast bars were more accurate, I can say that much.

[xivik]

/signed and rated.

 

Love this game, even spent a few hundred euros upgrading for it. As it seems now GW2 will be grateful for that pc upgrade..

[MaceTowani]

Curious. It seems they had the exact same problem.

 

But the question is: why does SWTOR have this problem? It doesn't use weapon-based abilities where your animation determines who you hit and where. It's a WoW clone combat system where animations aren't supposed to play a role in any numbers or ability execution.

 

It's like Bioware specifically went out of their way to force animation prioritising for some reason.

 

WoW clone combat system?

 

LOL

 

It runs on a completely different mechanic known as the "Heroic combat system" designed for realism and for RP immersion. This IS an mmoRPG and SWTOR leans MUCH more on the RPG aspect than any other MMO.

[ShadowMasterRP]

WoW clone combat system?

 

LOL

 

It runs on a completely different mechanic known as the "Heroic combat system" designed for realism and for RP immersion. This IS an mmoRPG and SWTOR leans MUCH more on the RPG aspect than any other MMO.

 

Choose target -> cast ability.

Choose area -> cast AoE ability.

 

You don't swing your weapon and hit depending on your animation or the way you're facing. You don't actively dodge with a dodge button, etc.

 

It's the same exact thing as EQ, WoW, RIFT, etc.

 

That's not some insult or slander. It's just the way it is. And this issue is preventing it from being smooth and comfortable to use the system in question.

Edited December 28, 2011 by ShadowMasterRP

[Rheemus]

I think a lot of people don't understand the issue because they've never played WoW before or at least haven't played it recently. I also think some people in this thread have exaggerated how noticeable the issue is, it doesn't happen to every ability and is most noticeable when playing outside of a comfortable rotation.

 

The game engine is set to give deference to animations above all else. This is what gives the game a fluid look in combat. The issue is that some animations are longer than the GCD or Cast Bar indicate, meaning that the User Interface is telling you the ability is finished and you're ready to use another one, but the game itself is still completing the task.

 

The easiest way to see this problem for yourself is to mount up and start moving as soon as the cast bar is finished. You will dismount yourself because, although the cast is telling you its finished, the animation isn't done playing and kicks you off your mount. There is a fundamental disconnect between what the UI is telling us and what is actually happening.

 

Now, if you play a class long enough, this becomes less noticeable because you'll start basing your abilities off of animations and not GCDs/Cast bars. And if you haven't played WoW, then this doesn't seem out of the ordinary at all.

 

I don't know what the solution is. It would go a long way if our cast bars were more accurate, I can say that much.

 

You dont know what the solution is ?!?!!! Read the freaking post i did some posts up on how they solved it for GW2, this is the EXACT same issue and cause ! And dividing animations into sub sequences is how you solve it !

[SilentRawr]

I raided as a Shadowpriest in WoW (top 250 US guild) from closed F&F beta, through vanilla, and then through Wrath; from Chicago on a West-coast server; on said server that regularly performed like it was held together with wet duct tape; having needed to use a channeled ability (Mind Flay) as a crucial, make-or-break part of my DPS rotation/priority list... Yet, I have no idea what you're complaining about in TOR.

 

Except for a few odd moments of lagtasticness, with the menu item for "prequeue" set to the lowest setting (.5s?), so long as I spam the next button a few times right as one cast/channel/etc is completing, I experience hardly any more delay than I ever did in WoW.

 

I'm certainly about to log back in shortly and look more closely for this issue, but honestly, I think that you're overreacting. We're not talking WHO-type delays for skill or ability usage, here...

Edited December 28, 2011 by SilentRawr

[MaceTowani]

Choose target -> cast ability.

Choose area -> cast AoE ability.

 

You don't swing your weapon and hit depending on your animation or the way you're facing. You don't actively dodge with a dodge button, etc.

 

It's the same exact thing as EQ, WoW, RIFT, etc.

 

That's not some insult or slander. It's just the way it is. And this issue is preventing it from being smooth and comfortable to use the system in question.

 

First off, all MMo's(or MOST MMO's) are based off a turn-based system(which is what RPGs adopt too)

 

Secondly, your enemy HAS to be in your line of sight for your attacks to go off or you get tagged with the "Not Facing Enemy" message.

 

Lastly, animations plays a large part in not only cooldowns but also how well your moves transition from move a to move b without experiencing "lag". Spamming also gets you nowhere as it only serves to slow down the combat mechanic instead of speeding it up.

[Canarith]

I disagree the combat is what makes WoW better than most. Sure everything else is nice but the playability of the game is ridiculously good. I want Swtor is be better.

 

Actually the WoW combat was pretty cookie cutter within a few abilities. It is not a whole lot different in that respect from this game.

 

As far as your comments, Xcore, I still stand by the idea that WoW is so popular because it is so easily playable on so many rigs and the Warcraft franchise was immensely popular. It allowed it to overcome many other issues that I would consider to be huge issues that could have led to a fairly big collapse in subs. For instance, the inability to complete a single quest in BC back when that game came out due to the fact every single person in the zone was camping the one mob you needed to kill .

 

However, I still think these are a matter of opinion. There is no doubt that it would be a great idea if they could remove the delay. I thought that was me when I saw it happen. I am glad to have found this thread, even if it is a bit late. I believe it is something that we can play around, although it could be very annoying in a raid atmosphere.

[Halacs]

I raided as a Shadowpriest in WoW (top 250 US guild) from closed F&F beta, through vanilla, and then through Wrath; from Chicago on a West-coast server; on said server that regularly performed like it was held together with wet duct tape; having needed to use a channeled ability (Mind Flay) as a crucial, make-or-break part of my DPS rotation/priority list... Yet, I have no idea what you're complaining about in TOR.

 

Except for a few odd moments of lagtasticness, with the menu item for "prequeue" set to the lowest setting (.5s?), so long as I spam the next button a few times right as one cast/channel/etc is completing, I experience hardly any more delay than I ever did in WoW.

 

I'm certainly about to log back in shortly and look more closely for this issue, but honestly, I think that you're overreacting. We're not talking WHO-type delays for skill or ability usage, here...

 

As some have said, they see nothing and others see it all the time. Me and my guild see it all the time, plus a plethora of others that have come in here to chime in.

[Palpeighteen]

I've spent some time testing this on my Jedi Sage. For abilities, the ones that have that ".5 longer cast time after the cast bar is finished," if you cast something then queue up an instant, the instant will clip the animation of the previous abilities animation; just like in WoW. There is no delay. Cast Deliverance then compare that with when you cast Deliverance followed by Rejuvenate; watch your character's hand for the animation. Rejuvenate, as well as other instants, will clip the .5 leftover animation of Deliverance. If you do back to back casts of a cast time ability, it will finish the first animation then speed up or truncate the second animation to sync up with the cast bar, just like WoW. I tested on my Priest, and WoW does the same thing. Even though WoW has less casting animation variations, it's still noticeable.

 

The oddity I did test was like in the video with Smuggler. The grenade does indeed come out after the Charge Burst animation is finished, but does in fact do the damage instantly. Other instants will properly clip or even fire at the same time during Charge Burst's animation (look for the different color lasers mixed in with Charged Burst): start with Charged Burst then switch targets and queue up Flurry of Bolts or Sabotage Charge to see what I mean. If you are fast enough you can clip the entire Charge Burst animation and will still get credit for the damage. Grenade just does not work this way for some reason.

 

The grenade issue is a problem because it has a knock back component. In a dire situation where you may need that knock back ASAP to come out, I can see that being an issue. I understand the wind up for throw and the knock back happening when the grenade lands from a mechanic standpoint, but it should properly clip the Charge Burst in the middle of it's animation like the other abilities do. It's like Charge Burst's full animation with damage from grenade going out at the same time is correct. Then when Charge Burst is finished the grenade is thrown, thus you are waiting for the knock back to occur. This needs to be tightened up to be on par if you were to use the grenade normally, non-queued. The grenade should be thrown during Charge Burst in order to feel fluid.

 

I only tested Smuggler and Sage so I am not discounting other abilities on other classes that may also function like the oddity as others have claimed. Sage works fine from what I tested. I even moved when Deliverance cast time was done with a queued up instant and it's fluid with both abilities landing at the same time as I moved. The only issue here is the cast bar incorrectly showed it canceled the Deliverance at 2.5 seconds (talented) when in fact it landed. Should be a simple fix for that.

 

Hope this is helpful to narrowing down the issue.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Palpeighteen

[Canarith]

I raided as a Shadowpriest in WoW (top 250 US guild) from closed F&F beta, through vanilla, and then through Wrath; from Chicago on a West-coast server; on said server that regularly performed like it was held together with wet duct tape; having needed to use a channeled ability (Mind Flay) as a crucial, make-or-break part of my DPS rotation/priority list... Yet, I have no idea what you're complaining about in TOR.

 

Except for a few odd moments of lagtasticness, with the menu item for "prequeue" set to the lowest setting (.5s?), so long as I spam the next button a few times right as one cast/channel/etc is completing, I experience hardly any more delay than I ever did in WoW.

 

I'm certainly about to log back in shortly and look more closely for this issue, but honestly, I think that you're overreacting. We're not talking WHO-type delays for skill or ability usage, here...

 

Before Xcore beats me to it, you are very much wrong. I have noticed it numerous times and almost every time I cast my big heal, the delay is very noticeable. Perhaps it is because you are melee and don't necessarily notice it, but believe me it is there. Do any amount of healing and you will see what I mean. I have even noticed several times when there is not only a delay, but with my faster, smaller heal, the bar will fill up, then fill up again before I see any heal numbers or indication the heal went off. As I said before, this could be a serious issue in operations as force management is something that you consider when healing, but if you don't know if a heal went off, then you are kind of required to throw another one to make sure you don't end up having the tank die because you "thought" you had already thrown that heal and it never went through.

[mutharex]

You dont know what the solution is ?!?!!! Read the freaking post i did some posts up on how they solved it for GW2, this is the EXACT same issue and cause ! And dividing animations into sub sequences is how you solve it !

 

I have a better solution (sigh), make the casting time longer LOL

[poryan]

I think a lot of people don't understand the issue because they've never played WoW before or at least haven't played it recently. I also think some people in this thread have exaggerated how noticeable the issue is, it doesn't happen to every ability and is most noticeable when playing outside of a comfortable rotation.

 

The game engine is set to give deference to animations above all else. This is what gives the game a fluid look in combat. The issue is that some animations are longer than the GCD or Cast Bar indicate, meaning that the User Interface is telling you the ability is finished and you're ready to use another one, but the game itself is still completing the task.

 

The easiest way to see this problem for yourself is to mount up and start moving as soon as the cast bar is finished. You will dismount yourself because, although the cast is telling you its finished, the animation isn't done playing and kicks you off your mount. There is a fundamental disconnect between what the UI is telling us and what is actually happening.

 

Now, if you play a class long enough, this becomes less noticeable because you'll start basing your abilities off of animations and not GCDs/Cast bars. And if you haven't played WoW, then this doesn't seem out of the ordinary at all.

 

I don't know what the solution is. It would go a long way if our cast bars were more accurate, I can say that much.

 

I think the point most of us are trying to make is, WHEN THE CAST BAR SAYS THE SPELL IS CAST, IT SHOULD BE. It shouldn't have an internal hidden extra cast time.

[Uuhwee]

It's the same exact thing as WoW, RIFT, etc.

 

No its not the same thing like in wow!

 

If it would be, this thread wouldnt exist.

[Extinction]

It's not the game's fault, it's your own.

 

Your attacks get interrupted(and you can interrupt your enemies's attacks as well) while you are getting pummeled. It's a game mechanic that BW decided to run.

 

Also, the more you spam the less responsive your moves become. Another mechanic of the game to prevent move spammers and button mashers.

 

Learn to adapt to the mechanics of a game instead of trying to turn it into something it's not.

 

*coughWoWcough*

 

Serious man .. Reread your post. The more you spam the less responsive your moves become.

 

Learn to adapt? Test this out a bit more then report back. Many here are talking about this now in hopes of a fix as it will hurt this game a lot. Most will not adapt they will ask for change or move on.

[hulduet]

I've never had to wait ~0.5 sec for an ability to actually trigger when i press the key in any other mmo. Swtor is the first i've ever seen it in. Unless you count in playing a mmo with 500ms+ latency you shouldn't be seeing this problem at all. Now as for swtor i have the problem like many others in the thread, with 30-50ms latency. I do not have this problem in any other mmo, including WoW.

 

I wish i could record a video of it and point out the "problems" but i doubt i can run fraps and the game at the same time.

 

My sequence:

 

Target mob

Rapid Shots(just picking a random skill)

Now the game *waits* ~0.5 seconds(it might actually be longer)

Finally the game plays the animation and actually uses Rapid Shots.

 

However if i'm inside some sort of "instance/underground"(beside flashpoints) with no players around the abilities sometimes play instantly, like they should.

[instabean]

Make or break is a pretty bold claim.

 

It's important for PVP.....but this is hardly a FPS where the delay means death.

 

For people like me who are PVE it's a bit annoying but hardly game breaking, as I have the story to look forward to.

 

For some of the older folk who are playing this for the story/universe and wouldn't know rotations if you hit them with it, it's a non issue as their reflexes mean they don't mash keys like crazy.

 

Since I already have 400ms latency playing from Australia, I'm used to it.

 

This reminds me of Critical hits for Batman: Arkham City, I could never get the timing right which would result in dying all the time, so yeah, I ended up mashing the left mouse button.

 

Until I have raw numbers of how many cancel their sub due to this issue, I'm going to refrain from commenting much

Edited December 28, 2011 by instabean

[mutharex]

I raided as a Shadowpriest in WoW (top 250 US guild) from closed F&F beta, through vanilla, and then through Wrath; from Chicago on a West-coast server; on said server that regularly performed like it was held together with wet duct tape; having needed to use a channeled ability (Mind Flay) as a crucial, make-or-break part of my DPS rotation/priority list... Yet, I have no idea what you're complaining about in TOR.

 

Except for a few odd moments of lagtasticness, with the menu item for "prequeue" set to the lowest setting (.5s?), so long as I spam the next button a few times right as one cast/channel/etc is completing, I experience hardly any more delay than I ever did in WoW.

 

I'm certainly about to log back in shortly and look more closely for this issue, but honestly, I think that you're overreacting. We're not talking WHO-type delays for skill or ability usage, here...

 

Like you, the majority of players don't know what this issue is about, haven't seen anyone complaining in chat, dunno? It's either lag or crappy PCs or someone used to mash buttons in that other crappy game, dunno. Maybe it's an issue that shows up only in very busy areas, like warfronts? In any case, majority of people find the combat smooth and interesting, the exact opposite of wow's combat, that is a clunky button mashing, ninja-hopping fest..

[Elog]

I think the OP is exaggerating. However, I do agree that this should be a priority for BW to hone in the coming patches.

 

The key feature in WoW to create the fluid feeling (apart from optimized net-code) is that the client does not wait for the server to verify that the last action has ended before allowing the player to start the second action. I do not know the size of the buffer but it is somewhere around 0.5 sec (the non-synch allowed between the server and you in addition to latency). The best way to test that is to mount up and start to run before you have actually mounted. As long as you are within this 0.5sec buffer you will not cancel the mount action and hence walk at mount speed for a short time.

 

In PvP this is actually a problem since the buffer dys-synch is fairly long and can create situations where both players die due to instants for example (which should not be possible). However, the feeling is great when playing so in PvE it is a great feature.

 

Question: Anyone know if SWtoR has a similar buffer? Otherwise it is most likely a good solution in addition to honing the net-code.

[MaceTowani]

Serious man .. Reread your post. The more you spam the less responsive your moves become.

 

Learn to adapt? Test this out a bit more then report back. Many here are talking about this now in hopes of a fix as it will hurt this game a lot. Most will not adapt they will ask for change or move on.

 

I have been testing this out multiple times and there are solutions.

 

STOP SPAMMING.

 

ONLY PRESS THE BUTTON FOR THE NEXT MOVE AFTER THE FIRST ANIMATION IS COMPLETELY DONE.

 

YOUR ATTACKS GET INTERRUPTED WHEN YOU ARE HIT, GET OUT OF THE WAY.

[poryan]

lol, well i guess that this isn't for you. I'm sure when people get used to queueing a skill and waiting for it to go off you'll either love or hate that. I think it rewards more fore-thought in skill usage and is trying to dissuade the playstyle in wow of button smashing that a lot of classes could do.

 

Some abilities may just be broken. I hear a lot of complaints out of smugglers and melee classes than casters/ranged. Healing is perfectlly smooth now. I don't mash my heal key rapidly like in wow. When my heal is almost finished a queue my next action, whether it's another heal, bubble, or lightning. My heal finishes and it goes straight into the action i queued up. Repeat. Now when the queue was set to 0 and i was smashing buttons rapidly after casts **** was unbearable.

 

Individual abilities may be bugged though, I've only played SI and BH. I hate how with my BH i click my rocket attack, so first the hand comes up, i hear some click sounds, and then the rocket launches. But I think all that is just intended by BW. Bring stuff like that up specifically.

 

TLDR- You're doing it wrong

 

.....................

[mutharex]

I think the OP is exaggerating. However, I do agree that this should be a priority for BW to hone in the coming patches.

 

The key feature in WoW to create the fluid feeling (apart from optimized net-code) is that the client does not wait for the server to verify that the last action has ended before allowing the player to start the second action. I do not know the size of the buffer but it is somewhere around 0.5 sec (the non-synch allowed between the server and you in addition to latency). The best way to test that is to mount up and start to run before you have actually mounted. As long as you are within this 0.5sec buffer you will not cancel the mount action and hence walk at mount speed for a short time.

 

In PvP this is actually a problem since the buffer dys-synch is fairly long and can create situations where both players die due to instants for example (which should not be possible). However, the feeling is great when playing so in PvE it is a great feature.

 

Question: Anyone know if SWtoR has a similar buffer? Otherwise it is most likely a good solution in addition to honing the net-code.

 

Isn't the size of the buffer modified through the option menu? Isn't that option to set it to anything between '0' and '2' in increments of .25 (IIRC)?