Steinhauer's Opinion: The Close Combat Archer, Part 1

In this edition of Steinhauer's Opinion, Jonathan tells us about the idea of "The Close Combat Archer". This is part one of a new sub-block of articles from him on this subject.

When we play an MMO, much like when we read a book or watch a movie, we expect a certain suspension of disbelief. Goblins and dragons cease to be mythical, and we don't scoff at the idea of a wizard calling firebolts from the heavens. We rarely even wonder how so many forests can support such large populations of bears, wolves, and other carnivorous creatures nor why such animals don't avoid humans but rather charge in with teeth bared. Nor do we question why an enemy village is devoid of any common folk like farmers, craftsmen, or children. And, of course, we never doubt the practicality of the close combat archer.

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The only thing LOTRO has going for it is the name

I've always hoped to see the day when this was not the case. As a gamer, it has been a pet peeve of mine. That, and being able to dodge swings at your back without even moving. However, it is a system that has been around for some time. People are hesistant to change it.

An archer wont work, realisticly, unless we change the gameplay mechanics we are accustomed to. One way to do this is the hunter class, which can specialize in melee and missile weaponry. It allows an archer to be useful, even after it has been engaged in melee combat. However, I think the biggest obstacle is hit points. Hit points and armor dictate the amount of damage a player can take. And in almost every MMOG out there, you can accumulate hundreds of hit points.

The problem with that is, that an archer is almost always forced into melee combat. One to two precise shots will not take down your foe. If you shoot something in their leg, it does not stumble their charge. Hit points should be static. Your armor should be the only thing that allows you to absorb damage. I think MMOG designers could learn a lot from the FPS games of today.

Another thing that bothers me, are MMOGs that disregard physics. Arrows that hit their target, even after the target walks behind a wall. Or spells that track you until they hit you. I would like to see an MMOG that approaches the idea of combat realisticly. A system that forces you to block with your shield, put away your bow at close range and have to aim your weapon.

We're stuck in this mindset of Dungeons & Dragons, with skill systems and numbers. We need to go beyond that.

Archers in Darkfall...

As I originally planned on going archer-ish when I heard of the FPS aspect of the game, I will try to shed some of the details I have caught that have since dissuaded me to believe this was a viable concept.

They claim they want a realistic bow range, and not some 30 meter crap, while the effort is laudable, and allows sniping (an archers main focus) that also means you have to be loading objects as far out as your bow can fire, and to me, thats a long way to be loading models while at the same time holding a strong enough framerate to sustain FPS combat.
Say player X spies player Y off in the distance, near quarter mile a way, not to far for a good strong yew long bow, but a really hard shot with wind. This is a shot that would make William tell blanch white as a bone. However, a player should have to opportunity, as otherwise, he may miss a closer target, not seeing a further NPC/PC in the distance and cause combat on THAT creature as well. Maybe even becoming criminal by attacking a player/npc/quest mob. However, should players have to load all of their surroundings like that, the game will be a severe memory hog, require massive graphics cards, or face the consequences of slow framerates. And I know from experience in counterstrike: source, a 30fps difference is about half a second warning when it comes down to hitting your mark. (not because of that actual framerate mind you, but because of the mathematics involved in rendering objects in the environment, the framerate is only a telltale sign to the struggling core of your videocard).

Another option, as their will be no radar/minimap means you may only have to load objects for the screen/viewport. While this is favorable, it leads to many possible errors (say an arrow flys in behind you, hitting the tree next to your head, you turn, but because the arrow is no longer an animate object, and not part of the terrain, it doesn't load, thereby leaving you clueless where it came from).

I don't consider my computer up to the task at the moment, as I dont have 8gb or ddr2 5million ghz RAM let alone a 600 dollar video card. So I think I will take a pass on the archer thing.

On a note as to being a close combat archer, in your example the archer got a 1 hit kill. If any persistent world game EVER let players get 1 hit kills and loot rights, the flavor of the week problem would begin anew, and there would be some guy out there, who had those system specs I do not, and an aim bot or some other stupid hack, who would be that william tell, with a scope, and 1 shot picked off people while they never stood a chance.

The only way the archer in this game is viable, is if it is unbalanced, if it is unbalanced, it will be abused, plain an simple, you cannot balance an FPS archer across all system specs with melee and magery both vying for kills as well. It will either be the favorite class, or the 'useless' RP class.

Then again, maybe like in WoW, it will be the Farming class, c'mon Korea!

~Manaburn

Thirty meters is still a reasonable range for an archer, without allowing the archer to engage in melee combat with their bow. Ten meters, for the sake of my argument, would probably be the best distance to cut off use of the bow. And while there is bound to be hacks in a good FPS system that is popular, a good developer keeps them at bay.

I think this comes down to a case of fun vs. realism. There are other concessions to this that go against the archer, for example other characters being able to dodge arrows.

LOTRO has got a nice balance by making the Hunter the Nuker type - high ranged damage but weak against melee. You can still get interrupts at close range but for most players it's just a case of sucking this and the damage up and continuing to fire away. You can also snare/slow your opponent and continue to stay at range.

I'd take a look at Roma Victor if/when they ever add ranged combat as it will surely be realistic to the point of annoyance.

i offen to 3zoom to have a look what i am need.