The Trinity

Post » Tue Sep 17, 2013 12:50 am

Another topic about healing and tanking in ESO had a few tangents about the Trinity in MMOs. For those who are elder scrolls fans and not familiar with basic MMO mechanics the trinity revolves around a tank who holds aggro for the group the DPS who burn down the mobs and the healer who keeps everyone alive.

There have been games that skip the basic trinity such as asherons call and guild wars 2. In these types of games you pretty much fend for yourself as everyone is dps with self heals or aggro skills. Personally I think these types of games are not as much fun as those who follow the basic formula.

Reason being the basic MMO player needs certain constraints/roles to be able to function in a group setting. A good healer/tank combo is all you need for a group if you have those two just grab random dps to fill the remaining slots and you can run basic instances without much worry.

Gw2's mechanic just doesn't work IMO.

What does everyone else think?
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Hot
 
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Post » Mon Sep 16, 2013 11:29 pm

I agree. Some developers just want to be revolutionary.

Edit: Even in gw2, there were tanks and healers, it was just difficult to be one.
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Andrea Pratt
 
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Post » Tue Sep 17, 2013 6:25 am

Revolutionary? I love games that innovate and try to break out of the mold.

I liken it to making a car. You need an engine wheels and a seat. Basic stuff to make the car function as a car. When you decide the wheeles should be square or the engine should be the size of a lawnmower it just doesn't work. Regardless of how innovative removing the trinity may be I have yet to see a single game where it works. Even EVE had healers (remote and focused rep mods) when I was there last. Not too sure if they are still useful though.
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Brιonα Renae
 
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Post » Tue Sep 17, 2013 5:02 am

The AI in TESO is meant to be far better than anything that has come before in any mmo. The devs have already said the "tank" will not be able to hold all the agro and if he does he will die no matter how much healing he gets.

The AI will split off and attack different players, those players have active dodge and block like we get in the Elder Scroll single player games. This is what is going to keep you alive other than healing. Forget about the standard mmo fare of combat or you will find yourself dying a lot in this game.

I am pleased they are trying to move away from the trinity system that EQ1 invented. Yes it was EQ1 not WoW. And to be honest I can't wait to try it out, if it was the standard trinity type combat I would probably pass on this game and wait for another one to come out that is willing to try something new. Why play another WoW clone when you might as well play WoW? Or EQ1.

Even SOE have found that the trinity is getting old and is looking at skill lines rather than a class system in their new mmo called EQ Next.

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Stay-C
 
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Post » Tue Sep 17, 2013 12:42 am

Yeah thankfully ZOS was smart enough to realize that getting rid of the Trinity also removes the group and teamwork dynamics, thus also removing the challenge and fun of playing the content.

Where there "innovation" lies is with how you utilize the trinity. Removing the class locked and strict class roles is how you can improve the system without gutting the reason why these games are played. Flexibility with how the trinity is played within the class system is where I think ESO will be a step above the rest. Yes you'll need to trinity for challenging and dynamic group play but you're not locked into only one role based on your class. You have flexibility in both how you yourself perform a role as well as the group as a whole in how the trinity roles are played out. Again, I think thats were ESO will shine and rise above the past games in its group content.

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