Post by Azoth on Jan 19, 2017 1:01:37 GMT
"Combat System"
the definition of strength
Originally, this Roleplay followed a freeform style of play. Players were given free reign over how they controlled their characters and were allowed to essentially do as they wished. The only restriction on them was the time in which their skills were available to them. In the skill section, skills were given durations, cooldown, animation times, and other numbers much like there would be in an actual MMO. This gave players a foundation in which they could RP and allowed players to, essentially, develop their own pace of combat in the thread they were battling in. However, this came to be an issue. With no real set "time" in a post, it was difficult and confusing for people with different post times to collaborate with one another. I personally, as an RPer here on this forum and other forums with this idea of "Free Form Combat", have come across the issue of being unable to properly judge the times of my partners and opponents simply because of the obscurity of posts and 'time".
Thus, it was decided to eliminate this obscurity. Instead of leaving up the assumption of time to randomness and expectations, a Post-Based Combat Timing System will be put in place. This system is extremely simple and piggybacks off the expectations listed above while streamlining combat for all parties involved. This eliminates the headache of Post Length, Duration, Time, or whatever else you wish to call it. Posts will be given a specific time frame based on their word length and expectations in a thread and skills will reflect this expectation of time. Rather than take "seconds", as they were previously listed as, Skills will take lengths of posts in order for things to be completed. This allows for all posts to take the same amount of time universally for all players and allows people to properly place their characters into a specific timeframe in a thread.
And it only matters for DM/GM threads.
What does this mean?
So, I will make this as simple and easy to understand as possible without the big words.
Before, we had a setup which was based on pure freeform. You got to decide what happened in your post, you decided your own timeframe for the post, and you also decided how many skills you used based on the roundabout number of somewhere near 6 seconds. Well, in theory it works out and everyone gets along. In practice you have someone use the same skill several times in the same post, when the skill takes about 5 seconds to cooldown, 2 seconds to be animated, and then about 3 seconds to act out. That's a 27 second long post. I want you to sit there and do nothing for 27 seconds, then come back and answer this; Was that a long time?
Yes. Yes it is.
This system removes you being able to determine your post's time length. For DMed threads, it is imperative that everyone is on the same page and sticks to the same length of time in their posts. Each post occurs at the same time in a single cycle. You don't move after someone else. You move at the same time. If you're fighting the same monster, you are in the same room. When one person casts a spell, there is no reason why you have to stand there and wait for them and describe them doing their thing. No. Instead you should be doing your thing and maybe making glances or responding to them as you play. If you attack with a skill that takes one post length of time, and your partner also uses a skill that uses one post length of them; you will hit at the same time.
For example;
- Players A, B, and C fight Boss A.
- Boss A roars and attacks, targeting Player B.
- Player B blocks and casts a defense-up buff that takes half a post, returning to guard position at the end.
- As player B is targeted and attacked, Player A circles behind the monster. Movement takes half a post; Player B is finished blocking as Player A sets up. Player B begins to cast his buff spell as Player A casts an attack spell, which takes half a post to trigger, at Boss A's back. Spell is in route at the end of the post.
- Player C gets into position behind Player B as the fight ensues. Halfway through Boss A's attack, Player C casts a skill to heal Player B. Skill takes half a post. Three-quarters through his post, after Player B is hit and halfway through Player B's buff spell, Player C heals Player B. Player C takes the remaining few seconds to step back and reach into their back for a mana potion.
- End Cycle.
That entire cycle took a total of 6 seconds. 6 seconds for all four members of the cycle to perform their activity and at the start of the next cycle, they are all in the same position at the end of the cycle. The Boss is the only oddball because they set the tone for the Players. The Players move in relation to the Boss, so the Boss actually gets around 7 or 8 Seconds it seems like, and the players only get about 5 since 1 Second is generally used up with "seeing" the Boss do things. Yet we don't exactly count this, we just let the time-fairy deal with that crap.
With the previous system, Players end their turn at various points in time and it is hard to judge where you begin and where you end. Instead, you're forced to sort of RP based off what you see the other player doing in their post, or you don't mention what other people are doing unless what they do is actually important. In this style, it is similar. However instead of assuming at when something happens and at what point it happens, you can assume and calculate what point in time something occurs based on where you are in your own post. If a post is 6 seconds in length, and you're at about 4 seconds with your actions, you can properly judge where you are in the timespace.
This puts every single player in a room on the same page. As a DM/GM, this also makes our lives easier. At the end of our post and at the start of our next one, we simply can pick up from where we left and move the Boss/Enemy/DMed Thing a lot more naturally. If Player A took the 6 seconds to get to the back of Boss A, Boss A is still more likely to simply focus on Player B and C unless Player A's skill is a heavy attack skill and acquires aggro. However, we won't be able to whip around in an instant. With the 6 second time limit to the post, we can assume it will take 1 to 4 seconds for the boss to turn, depending on their speed and size. The remaining 2 to 4/5 seconds we would then spend on responding to the player. And on the cycle goes.
This allows for freeform play while keeping Time and flow of the thread natural. Without this marker, players are random and in their own timespace, skills are used randomly and without particular care for cast time, and if you do the math it actually puts some players ahead, or behind, others depending on activity in the thread and movement of the character.
The hope is not to restrict you in what you do. You are still free to play however you wish. Yet the time frame set is meant to be enforced in order to make you narrow down your actions in the thread. Skills take time and if you're running around for 20 seconds and everyone else is only moving for 8 or 10, then they spend the remaining 10 doing absolutely nothing and you're actually in the future.
How does it work?
Alright, so let's get down to the nitty-gritty. How does this system actually work? Well, it's easy. First off, it's not a system. I named it the "Combat System" because it only matters when you're in combat and when you're in a GMed/DMed thread. That is the only time it is enforced. If you're off an about socializing, you don't have to worry about this. If you're soloing, you don't have to worry about this. If you're in a player-run quest with no DM and fighting boars, following this is suggested but not necessary. However, everyone in your party will benefit from you not being a time-leech.
There is only one rule and one component to this system. One. That's it.
Every Cycle is 6 Seconds Long[, and every player in the cycle is allotted 6 seconds for their post.
Bam. We have a combat system. Right, if it were only that easy.
In most forms of Tabletop Games or even in Chat-Based PVP RPs (like where I originated from), there is some sort of timeframe in which you are allotted for your actions. You are given this timeframe to do whatever you want and as long as you don't go over the number presented, you are in the green. Those that go over the time are shunned and their actions bleed into making the cycle feel odd simply because now you're 12 second rant left everyone standing there sucking their thumbs for 6 seconds since they all followed the 6 second rule. Granted, there are games where there is no time. You do your turn and your move, and then everyone reacts and makes it all kind of stick together because of imagination. But when you're fighting, it can be agony without a guideline.
In essence, by implementing the 6 Second cap, we hope to limit the random Power Playing and God Modding that occurs in threads. We urge people to calculate their movements before posting and we highly suggest you pick out your skills based on the knowledge that you may get stuck in a DMed Thread at some point. If a skill actually takes 10 seconds, then that's a post and a half spend standing still if you're a mage. Quite a bit of time when you're fighting a boss, eh? Yea. If you're soloing then I hope your character enjoys being a punching bag because a 10 second long cast time is a recipe for death.
TLDR;
- This is not a Combat System. That is just a fancy name.
- This "Combat System" is a restriction on GM/DM threads.
- Each cycle in the the thread will take up 6 seconds. Thus, each player has 6 seconds for their post.
- Skills have time frames. Depending on the time frame, it will take up a certain amount of your post.
- Going over the 6 seconds will get you punished.
- At the end of the cycle, everyone is assumed to be at the same point in time even if their post was not actually 6 seconds long. But, if they took up more than 6 seconds, refer to the bullet above.
- Neglecting this rule will eventually get you a PM from the Staff. Further neglect will ultimately result in you either forfeiting rewards, or even being banned from DMed/GMed threads entirely.
6 Seconds, people.... 6 seconds.
