Forgive my ignorance, but TWISTING?

[catharsix]

what exactly is the "twisting mechanic" that i keep seeing mentioned? i've looked around a bit to try to find out *what* it is, but every reference to it seems to assume the reader already knows. can anyone give me a brief explanation so i can know what everyone is talking about in reference to this?

thanks all!

[Harken_Pherae]

You are aware that the chosen has several Aura ability's right? You can only have one aura activated at a time. However, when you turn an aura off its effect lingers for a few seconds. Twisting is the act of switching your aura constantly to get more than one effect. For example lets say you have an aura that slows the movement speed of all nearby enemies and a different one that lowers the strength attribute of nearby enemies. Normally you only get one of these effects but since each effect lingers a short time after you switch to a new aura if you keep switching you can lower both the speed and str of nearby enemies.

[Drathuu]

It relates back to Everquest bards twisting spells.. Never did play a bard so the exact execution i do not know in that game..

Some examples are a buff with very short duration that whilst you have it "casting" or channelling it stays on the player.. when you stop channelling it stays on the player but only for short period of time (20 secs .. 30secs) whatever..

You can then cast it on someone else, or another spell (twisted spell).. so you can stack multple buffs with countdowns..

You would cycle this through a party or some players casting over and over as your buffs drop on timer to keep them all up or active.. In essence, your required to continually cast/move keep range.. and "Twist" spells.. (overlap them) to keep as much advantage on your friendlys as possible..

I havent read how/which class uses this kind of mechanic in this game yet.. so it may vary some to this vague description..

Some love it.. some hate it.. (Constant finger pressing rotations, button mashing)... but then most combat is like that,..

ANyone please elaborate the mechanic for war as i havent had time to read into this game enough yet.

<EDIT> Damn beaten to it

[catharsix]

Originally Posted by Harken_Pherae

You are aware that the chosen has several Aura ability's right? You can only have one aura activated at a time. However, when you turn an aura off its effect lingers for a few seconds. Twisting is the act of switching your aura constantly to get more than one effect. For example lets say you have an aura that slows the movement speed of all nearby enemies and a different one that lowers the strength attribute of nearby enemies. Normally you only get one of these effects but since each effect lingers a short time after you switch to a new aura if you keep switching you can lower both the speed and str of nearby enemies.

i see the basic concept now, but how exactly is this different from the buffs and debuffs in a game like WoW for example? (which i choose because ii is the only MMO i've ever played).

if i am playing a Warlock in WoW i am constantly throwing up debuffs, which eventually end, and then i put them up again (if my target isn't dead). how is twisting different from this?

is twisting a mechanic which allows temporary stacking, or rather the overlap, of multiple buffs and/or debuffs? for example, i cast buff A, which lasts 10 seconds, and then 5 seconds later cast buff B, which also lasts 10 seconds. while technically buff B cancels buff A, buff A's effect persists 5 more seconds, thus overlapping with buff B for those 5 seconds?

and finally, is this an intended mechanic? i can't imagine it wouldn't be, since it's obviously not a new concept if it's been used in previous MMOs.

[Specter]

twisting was not in wow, but to use the analogy, it would be like when a warlock would cast a curse on a target and follow it up by another one (which in wow would cancel the first one) the first one keeps active for a few seconds after the second has started. in this way it would be possible to have 2 or more curses on a target.

for buffs, simply replace warlock with paladin and curse with blessing :P

now, they havent elaborated yet on what they may mean with twisting in WAR, so it might be that they have something entirely different in mind.
for example, ive read that each aura unlocks certain skills or smth, so fast switching of auras would be beneficial in some cases (although thats more accurately labeled as aura/stance dancing).
hope that helps

[Lucien]

Originally Posted by catharsix

i see the basic concept now, but how exactly is this different from the buffs and debuffs in a game like WoW for example? (which i choose because ii is the only MMO i've ever played).

if i am playing a Warlock in WoW i am constantly throwing up debuffs, which eventually end, and then i put them up again (if my target isn't dead). how is twisting different from this?

is twisting a mechanic which allows temporary stacking, or rather the overlap, of multiple buffs and/or debuffs? for example, i cast buff A, which lasts 10 seconds, and then 5 seconds later cast buff B, which also lasts 10 seconds. while technically buff B cancels buff A, buff A's effect persists 5 more seconds, thus overlapping with buff B for those 5 seconds?

and finally, is this an intended mechanic? i can't imagine it wouldn't be, since it's obviously not a new concept if it's been used in previous MMOs.

Yes it is a temporary overlap. don't think of it as an effect lasting 10 seconds. Think of it as your curse (in wow terms) is only active as long as it is the active effect..ie as soon as you hit a new one it fades. Now it takes 5 seconds to fade if you hit a new curse. so in order to keep 3 curses up you had to constantly rotate your abilities and time them so that each one was refreshed before the effect faded. Thats basically twisting. I'm not sure if it's intended but thats how it works. Most people who hate twisting is not because of the devs or the mechanic itself, it's from other players forcing you to twist as many effects as possible or you get kicked from a group. also don't think because a concept has been used before means it's not going to be in this game. 90% of all ideas/concepts/mechanics is any MMO has been used in some form before, new mmos just change and perfect the idea to suit thier game.

[DeathTrap]

To put it in smple WoW terms for you, it would be like if the paladin auras had a short duration after you switched them, instead of instantly fading. So you could put up devotion aura and switch to say retribution aura, and back and forth so they overlapped and you got the armor buff AND the returned damage. But the chosen's auras are more debuffs against enemies than buffs for you and your party.

[WarDragonZ]

Shaman drops windfury totem (applies 10 sec buff to weapon to give 20% chance to get an extra swing. Then instantly drops Grace of Air (+90 agility to everyone in party), redrops WF totem every 10 seconds to refresh it and also maintain GoA. Ala WoW.

[Dolash]

As the auras are generally balanced thinking each aura-user can only have one aura up at a time, twisting can allow for having several auras active per player, which is generally unbalanced and overly powerful. Not only that, but the aura-using class is then expected to perform the (often difficult and frustrating) twisting maneauver in groups, otherwise groups will prefer to bring along an aura-user who's willing to twist for the greater advantage.

[Axxar]

As the Chosen is designed to have multiple auras running, you can expect them to balance the Chosen assuming he'll be running multiple auras at once.

[Yazus]

Well, this Twisting Mechanic is known even by devs so if they don't remove it it's because they want to keep it and because it's balanced or meant to be used.

If they remove it... well it's because Auras are very strong and having 2 auras at 1 time would overpower Chosens

[Kardikek]

As long as switching auras mean your global cooldown ticks it should be fine.. As long as you keep twisting you can't do any other action so it'd balance out.

[Mel]

This sounds like a glitch caused by server limitations. This is a guess, but it seems it would happen because the aura just puts out a pulse every few seconds to "refresh" the buff. This would mean it would have to make less server checks than a system where it fades almost instantly like in Wow.

Honestly it sounds stupid, did it occur in DAoC? If not I would bet money it wont be in War.

[lupa]

yes Mel, it did occur in DAoC, and it is possible to do in WoW as well. I don't have much experience with other games but I imagine its in them as well. the way you stop it from happening is a Global cooldown and a higher than desirable cost to activate each spell, we'll see if either of those are effectively implemented.

[Mel]

Originally Posted by lupa

yes Mel, it did occur in DAoC, and it is possible to do in WoW as well. I don't have much experience with other games but I imagine its in them as well. the way you stop it from happening is a Global cooldown and a higher than desirable cost to activate each spell, we'll see if either of those are effectively implemented.

It was? I never even heard this term during my two years playing wow. I can see why though, it would keep you tied up with little benefit.