Dungeons And Dragons Online: DDO News: Combat System Elaboration

DDO's combat system continually comes under a lot of speculation, as it's a new idea for MMORPGs. Along this line, Jason Booth drops by the official forums to talk a bit about the animations and speed:

Most users think of attack speed as a single number derived by various factors (weapon type, character stats, etc); but in the code, there's actually a lot more parameters to drive. For instance, while the base attack speed has a modifier, so does the delay between attacks; how long is it until I can execute my next attack. Adjusting these times create a different feel, yet have the same net effect expressed as damage over time. With a fast attack modifier, if I increase the delay between attacks (usually between 0 and 0.2 seconds), the moves feel more decisive. If I decrease it, the moves get more flow.

Plenty more to be found in the post here, or you can read the thread from the start here.