Buffs and Buffers

[Sensai]

So how important do you all think buffs will be in aion, will it be more like WOW where you can basically go out and play with self buffs or unbuffed. Or do you forsee it being more like L2 where you cant even leave town without full buff bars. Also, if buffs are important, do you think eventuailly everyone will be walking arround with theyre own chanter buffpets. If anyone has played lineage since C2 they will have seen 70% of the high lvl people walking arround with 1-3 support classes on tow. This completly ruined the party system in the game and all the poor support mains had to fight the 2 boxes for a spot in the party.
Just somthing i was thinkin about while i trolled arround the forums.

[Gravity]

Unfortunately, if chanters don't turn out to be a good hybrid class, (DD and Support.) I believe they might be 2-boxed, unless of course you can only run one instance of the game. (People will find ways to bypass, but less people will.)
I also think they will be fairly important. Just look how long it takes a person to kill a mob. If full buffs shorten that time by 1/3 or more, you can guarantee you'll see people shouting "BUFFS AT WEAPON SHOP" And there will be a line of people in front of them.
That's why I'm playing Cleric. You can't 2-box a good healer. :P It's also the same reason I made a Bishop in L2.

[Yarieos]

Chances are the hardcore people will probably be boxing them if this game has any dependence on buffs. In Lineage 2, 2 boxing was unheard of before C1 and even I thought it was a stupid idea. But towards the end of my L2 career as a 79/78 TH/HE, I found myself running around with boxed Warcryer/Blade Dancer/Sword Singer/Bishop. Personally, I'd prefer that the game have some dependence on buffs; That way it takes more planning to accomplish things such as PvP as opposed to just "Hey, lets get some random guys together and go kill people."

[Rizzo]

i like buffs and not being a hard core gamer i'm sure ill still wind up with 2 accounts but would both be melee for some odd reason /shrug

id like to see the game some what dependent on buffs

[Xenicide]

I'm undecided on which would be better. I like how WoW you don't need buffs to kill, but I like how in L2 you get buffs and you kill stuff so much quicker. There has to be a limit though. L2 got old quick with archer classes getting buffs and 2 shotting everyone.

[Ecronyte]

I will really not be happy if buffs play as much of a role as they did in L2. Later in the game you felt absolutely worthless without a buffer, or two...or three. They become a burdensome prerequisite to exping and fighting. Pushing people to make their own buffers to be assured they always have access to the best buffs. It creates a major gap between the casual and the hardcore. A gap that is already wide enough by the very nature of their playstyles.

Buffs should give a nice boost. And they should be used to gain an extra edge in PvP and PvE. But I don't want to see it escalate to the point where you are absolutely worthless without them. Where a party can't operate if the buffer leaves. Where the same class, at the same level, with the same gear mops the floor with you, because you don't have a buffer in tow.

It was fine for L2, but since Aion is aiming to be more casual friendly, I hope they went easy on the buff system this time around.

[HunterX]

I totally agree with you.

[Kitten]

I agree with Ecronyte. I don't want to see people running around with little buff bots making Clerics and Chanters worthless. :[
Regardless I will still play a Cleric, nothing really beats a player who knows how to use a healer really well, and I've got over 5 years of experience. ;D

[Icarus01]

they realised the mistake and they said that the player buffs will be helpful but not over powered.

there is an overpowered buff from the chanter that increases like all stats by 500 but it only lasts like 15 seconds i think so

buff bots and the like really do suck and the basicly remove the chance for players to actually use that class because every 1 has one and that gets really annoying considering i know quite alot of people whos favorite play style is to be healer support...

[Calindor]

Originally Posted by Xenicide

I'm undecided on which would be better. I like how WoW you don't need buffs to kill, but I like how in L2 you get buffs and you kill stuff so much quicker. There has to be a limit though. L2 got old quick with archer classes getting buffs and 2 shotting everyone.

Archers can never 2 shot you unless you dont have buffs...and if you dont have buffs and you run into a fully buffed char does it mattery anyway? L2 is a buff based game, over half of a pvp party is supports.


I think buffs should be extremely usefull, but they do need to come up with a system that avoids the boxing....I'd like to see Buffers rely a lot on CC too, so it would be benefitial to have a real buffer.

[Jest]

Make buffers useful but not necessity. Rose Online was similar (or at least it sounds similar from what I'm hearing of L2) in the sense that EVERYONE had a buffer because without one, the already hellacious grind was damn near insurmountable (PvP in that game was only allowed in arena's the last I played). Other classes weren't USELESS per say, but you felt useless without the buffer class. Buffer's in that game could also solo grind effectively, so they were the easiest class for farming as well.

[BloodyAngel]

Just to say something none has said. Buffs in wow are VERY IMPORTANT! if you go to karazan or zul'aman or black temple without the right buffs and chars the failure has to be taken for granted. However it is said tha chanters and clerics will be dps too so we will be able to find active memebrs playing them. We will w8 and see how nc soft will organise these kind of stuff.

[granet]

Originally Posted by Jest

Make buffers useful but not necessity. Rose Online was similar (or at least it sounds similar from what I'm hearing of L2) in the sense that EVERYONE had a buffer because without one, the already hellacious grind was damn near insurmountable (PvP in that game was only allowed in arena's the last I played). Other classes weren't USELESS per say, but you felt useless without the buffer class. Buffer's in that game could also solo grind effectively, so they were the easiest class for farming as well.

Yes, sounds like Rose to me aswell, please I dont want another mmo like that.

[Otium]

If you want buffs to have a less important role than in L2, chanters will have a hard time finding a party somehow. Either way, concerning end-game you'll always need to have a buffer so it really doesn't matter if they are or not important. A person who has his character fully buffed by a chanter you'll neverthless kill his opponent who is unbuffed easily. I kinda agree that in L2 the dependence on buffs was really abusive, but even if you remove some importance from them, people will still bot because an unbuffed class will always be worse than a buffed one.

Originally Posted by Ecronyte

Buffs should give a nice boost. And they should be used to gain an extra edge in PvP and PvE. But I don't want to see it escalate to the point where you are absolutely worthless without them. Where a party can't operate if the buffer leaves. Where the same class, at the same level, with the same gear mops the floor with you, because you don't have a buffer in tow.

If I somehow can agree with you on the solo point, party areas should require buffs. In fact, I really doubt they will make dungeons or even Abyss areas playable without buffs. A party without buffs would kill slower than another with a Chanter, so no one would join a party without one anyway. If the buffer leaves, get a new one. People will always look for fast EXP and efficient DPS parties, and that can never happen without a chanter, or at elast I expect it doesn't.

[Szaman]

Given the dynamic nature of PvP in Aion (as seen in some videos) and the fact that the end-game content is based almost solely on PvP aspects, I'd really like to see a boxed cleric or chanter last more then 10 seconds... I really would.