Combat Feedback for Update 5.

[zealous]

Say you're a game designer on a new game and you want to convince others to add that feature into the game, how do you explain to them that "twitching" would be a beneficial to gameplay? Please describe how the mechanism would work first, too.

If you were a doctor and wanted to convince your patient with a bleeding wound that stuffing the wound with mouldy bread would make them better, how do you explain it to them?

This isn't the case of a new game and a new feature. It's the case of what is. What we have is a large group of players having spent time with the feature saying that it makes the game more fun.

The best I could come up with, personally, is this:

I would fire you on the spot. But then again, you're not being quite honest since you're not trying to "sell" twitch but rather present twitch in a bad light.

"I would like to add another feature to the game called 'Oscillation Acceleration.'

Not a very good convincing name, I'd call it "Real combat".

Whenever a character moves slightly back and forth, he gains a +10% bonus to attack speed that it cannot have if standing still.

This is not quite how twitch works. You might get that impression if your only experience is from watching the vids of Shade etc. Generally while twitching, rocking back and forth would be counterproductive since maneuvering into a advantageous position would be beneficial.

Look up a player that really can twitch on the move, or just take a moment to think about how much you can move between the swings of the moving attack, or try it out yourself.

Despite being counterintuitive

Actually, it's quite intuitive. Have you tried swinging a heavy object using only your arms?
Try it. Now try doing it while rotating your upper body while keeping the position of your feet locked. Then try doing it while rotating your entire body, and your feet e.g. by raising the heels from the ground. And finally take a step and swing.

It's about shifting balance and creating momentum, that's easier if you move a bit.

and a bit goofy,

Actually, apart from the axe moving flick o da wrist attack, it doesn't look that bad, kinda similar to the fourth standing animation, way better than the third standing animation.

I think it would be good for the game because it rewards players with the skills

Rewarding skill should be good, yah?

and patience to perform this overly repetitive act, over and over again.

It is more repetetive than holding the autoattack button? No it isn't.
Twitch requires some measure of timing, to make it work well and be fun you need to use the time of the moving attack to maneuver. It is highly variable though it is limited by your timing since missing the beat will launch you into the slower parts of the standing chain.

Gameplay test will show that most players don't like it, but they are not the targeted demographic.

I have seen accounts of players not quite being able to do it. The majority of accounts have been from players saying that it's more fun and makes the game more enjoyable.

Some people might not care for grinding the shroud, some people might not care for learning to twitch.

It is quite easy to get a grasp of the basics, just carry a 2h weapon and practice a few swings while waiting for player x to get back from his bio/arrive at the quest/join the group. Actually making it work in dynamic combat is a whole different beast, that takes some time but it's fun once you learn it.

It's aimed at very hardcore players, who will like being special - having both the patience and skill to do something most would not do."

That's just silly. I'm casual, I can twitch.

I don't know for you, but I would vote against adding such a feature to a game. Catering to hardcore players at the expense of casual players is rarely a good idea, especially with a mechanism that is both counterintuitive and looks goofy.

If twitching was like that aye, however, it is not.

The number is voluntarily off because Aesop said "twitching" should be "effective and a benefit without decimating the competition" so I put a number so would be closer to the ballpark she'd be aiming for, rather than the current number (whatever it is).

Wrong. That number is acctually fairly close though possibly a overestimation.

With glancing blows while moving, twitching brings a too large benefit. Without it though it is fairly close.

Twitching grants a ~25% attack speed advantage, glancing blows grants 0.3 times (base damage +30). So +15% base damage + 4.5 + effects for twitching.
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You are really missing the important point though. Irregardless of attack speed increase or not. Twitching makes it possible to maneuver without loosing efficiency. If you're 2wf or S&B, moving in any way generally results in a loss of efficiency. This is bad since one of DDOs greatest strengths is the dynamic combat.

Say you're a game designer on a new game and you want to convince others to add that feature into the game, how do you explain to them that "standing still" would be a beneficial to gameplay? Please describe how the mechanism would work first, too.

"I would like to add another feature to the game called 'Inertia Acceleration.'

I know we have this engine supporting dynamic combat with movement, reactions etc. But my idea is to make standing still advantageous so the game becomes more boring.