05-29-2009, 05:38 PM
Ulfen Wrote:Which ties in to my other pitfall which is quick pvp battles, instant or near instant kill abilities are gay, 1v1 pvp fights should last minutes not seconds, and large scale pvp should last an hour or more.I used to agree with that but I don't anymore, or rather, I think it depends on how you design the game. (I discussed this in some other thread...PvP Game Design I think?)
A 1v1 FPS fight that lasted 60 seconds would be pretty terrible. You'd both just be shooting the hell out of each other trying to whittle down the other guy's health faster than he whittled down yours.
In WAR/WOW, I agree that fights need to last for a decent amount of time because that's where the "skill" comes from -- activating a variety of skills in a strategic fashion, plus maneuvering. Same thing for POTBS. In an FPS, though, the skill is in who aims and shoots faster/better and it's best if fights resolves themselves very quickly, so that the player with the best awareness and quick aiming gets rewarded for that part of his skill.
So really, fight duration depends on fight mechanics. The important thing is that they "require skill". Then you have to decide what skills you want the fights to emphasize. Long, slow fights emphasize strategy and maneuvers. Quick fights emphasize surprise and reaction.