Taking from here:
…but focusing on the skill system
It’s clear that the current skill system (both GUI and actual structure of skills) is not satisfying enough. It’s quite confusing at times and not easy to read and understand at first sight. And even after one gets used to the lay out and all the possible choices, it still can make one feel like this little girl:
Most recently, @majorvex, @bucfanpaka and @Tagris (among others) shared some interesting views/ideas on what need changing to make it better.
However, we don’t really know how far are the devs ready to go if it comes to reforming this aspect of the game. That kinda makes it pointless to go for all kind of wild suggestions. Would be good to know(@james) what kind of ideas would be discarded (no matter how good they are). So: are the dev team ready to only tinker with existing system without changing its core, or are they open to a complete change of how skills work in game?
I will try (regardless) to use some critical views and ideas for change already existing and shared in forums and put it together with my own thoughts on the subject. And I will remain within an existing system core, only showing how lay out and some skill-tree branches could be changed (hopefully for better).
FIRST, what makes me react like that girl from the ad?
- The one page lay out, making me scroll up and down.
- Basic skills/abilities needing skill points (meaning obvious skill/attribute choices that are needed regardless the chosen role in game).
- Epics put together in the same sections without much order.
- Attributes deciding about 2 different stats (like Power giving both damage and vigor bonus).
- Regarding 2: the need to a) figure out what skills/attributes are a must no matter what, b) extract skill points needed for them to be finally able to say how many skill points do I actually have for the role/specialization I want.
- Regarding 4: special bollocks for forging bonuses shoved in there to share physical stats bonuses: Power and Vitality).
So, these are probably some of the things that make the current skill page/system not so great.
Another post will follow where I will say how I imagine those to be improved.