Time Stop thoughts

[EinarMal]

I realize Time Stop won't be in until after Mod 9, but thought it would be interesting to consider how to translate/implement it for DDO (Mod 10???).

When first thinking about TIME STOP.... you kind of envision a system where everyone else including monsters in the instance basically gets lagged for 1d4+1 actions while you get to do whatever you want. It would be totally epic and you'd be the most awesome hero ever [Language].

But then... I'm thinking most players and the mobs... don't really want to lag around while you do whatever you do to waste time. We already deal with enough actual lag.

Also... if you read the language of the spell, your targets can really only be self and general AOE's near you, like grease or fwall... but not monsters or other players though self-centered AoE's would begin to take affect at the end of the Time Stop.

Hence one method to implement time stop would be an action-chain that you can fill with self-targetted spells, AoE effects, click activations, feat toggles, etc. And maybe having a few of these action-chains to presetup... sort of like adding in weapon slots. The only thing this sort of "prebuilt" timestop wouldn't take care of is the much higher movement rate you can achieve during a time stop. I believe you could take care of this by making time stop give an abundant step like speed bump. If you don't want to move somewhere really fast... then just stand still.

Of course the complications are... how do you reconcile a prebuilt setup of actions with a random amount of time (1d4 + 1 rounds) to do them. Most like you dont... you toss out the randomness and set it to 3-5 actions. But now how do you take into consideration casting time... or what if the caster has quicken enabled? This could get either really complex where you translate all casting time into require X of your action slots or you could just assign all cloud/summon type effects as taking 2 and everything else as 1.

Less heroic but more plausible for an MMO. How do the first person shooter games resolve their stop-time-bullet-action type abilities in their online deathmatch settings?

Wouldn't time stop essentially work like mass hold monster (except affects everything)? I think you would have to make other PC's immune and just freeze the mobs ala hold monster with a gold hourglass around them or something.

[Gratch]

I realize Time Stop won't be in until after Mod 9, but thought it would be interesting to consider how to translate/implement it for DDO (Mod 10???).

When first thinking about TIME STOP.... you kind of envision a system where everyone else including monsters in the instance basically gets lagged for 1d4+1 actions while you get to do whatever you want. It would be totally epic and you'd be the most awesome hero ever [Language].

But then... I'm thinking most players and the mobs... don't really want to lag around while you do whatever you do to waste time. We already deal with enough actual lag.

Also... if you read the language of the spell, your targets can really only be self and general AOE's near you, like grease or fwall... but not monsters or other players though self-centered AoE's would begin to take affect at the end of the Time Stop.

Hence one method to implement time stop would be an action-chain that you can fill with self-targetted spells, AoE effects, click activations, feat toggles, etc. And maybe having a few of these action-chains to presetup... sort of like adding in weapon slots. The only thing this sort of "prebuilt" timestop wouldn't take care of is the much higher movement rate you can achieve during a time stop. I believe you could take care of this by making time stop give an abundant step like speed bump. If you don't want to move somewhere really fast... then just stand still.

Of course the complications are... how do you reconcile a prebuilt setup of actions with a random amount of time (1d4 + 1 rounds) to do them. Most like you dont... you toss out the randomness and set it to 3-5 actions. But now how do you take into consideration casting time... or what if the caster has quicken enabled? This could get either really complex where you translate all casting time into require X of your action slots or you could just assign all cloud/summon type effects as taking 2 and everything else as 1.

Less heroic but more plausible for an MMO. How do the first person shooter games resolve their stop-time-bullet-action type abilities in their online deathmatch settings?

[Angelus_dead]

Wouldn't time stop essentially work like mass hold monster (except affects everything)? I think you would have to make other PC's immune and just freeze the mobs ala hold monster with a gold hourglass around them or something.

But if you do that, you've basically given them Mass Time Stop instead. That might be OK for epic casters, but not yet.

[Angelus_dead]

When first thinking about TIME STOP.... you kind of envision a system where everyone else including monsters in the instance basically gets lagged for 1d4+1 actions while you get to do whatever you want. It would be totally epic and you'd be the most awesome hero ever [Language].

That would be the obvious way to do it, but that's untenable in a realtime multiplayer game. If they want to do Timestop, they'll have to make it something like self-only Ultra Haste: short duration +300% attack and running speed and -80% casting time and cooldown. Using prebuilt chains shouldn't be necessary, because currently players' spellcasting is more limited by animations and cooldowns than by your ability to hit icons fast.

That achieves the effect of allowing the caster to perform several actions before anyone can stop him, but neither obstructs nor buffs the other players.

[Gratch]

That would be the obvious way to do it, but that's untenable in a realtime multiplayer game. If they want to do Timestop, they'll have to make it something like self-only Ultra Haste: short duration +300% attack and running speed and -80% casting time and cooldown. Using prebuilt chains shouldn't be necessary, because currently players' spellcasting is more limited by animations and cooldowns than by your ability to hit icons fast.

That achieves the effect of allowing the caster to perform several actions before anyone can stop him, but neither obstructs nor buffs the other players.

I prefer my chained-action setup. You shouldn't have +300% attack as it doesn't seem you can affect things outside your sphere during the time stop. Though the resulting Bennie Hill animation speed might be comical.

While the time stop is in effect, other creatures are invulnerable to your attacks and spells

How many keys do most players hit in a few seconds usually? Plus I don't know if the underlying engine is really ready to accept actions as fast as you can hit them. There's an underlying 1s global cooldown timer with some buffering. I don't know that Time Stop should force the arcane player to be a keyboard/right-click dervish.

[EinarMal]

But if you do that, you've basically given them Mass Time Stop instead. That might be OK for epic casters, but not yet.

That is pretty easily balanced by duration and area of effect. I would center it on the caster, and make it work like a haste/bless type circular spell (maybe with an even smaller diameter). Heck you could make it hard to hit more than a couple of mobs if you desired to make the area small enough.

Epic time stop would have a longer duration and at least double the diameter.

That would be way easier to implement than chaining key strokes.

[gamblerjoe]

first of all, you can not cast offensive spells while time is stopped. this part would be easy, just grey out those spells while timestop is in effect.

since the spell only effects the caster (it gives the caster great speed and alacrity, merely making it SEEM as though time has been slowed to a near halt) it would be difficult to implement. the ideas of halting the parties actions or speeding up the caster seem impractical.

i dont think they are going to make this spell.

[Gratch]

i dont think they are going to make this spell.

Kate Paiz noted that they want to give us Wish and Time Stop and tried to put them in for Mod 9 but have since decided to hold them for a later Module.

I still think my defensive spells/summoning slotted actions plus abundant step idea holds up the best as giving you a number of actions under an instant cast spell window.

In pen and paper it is supposed to be:
melees take their first attacks... now we hit the wizards initiative... he cast time stop... everyone else go take a bathroom/rebeering break while the wizard tells me what happening in this time window.

He's not hasted as per A_D.

And I'm not sure how you work the radius thing given the players of raid/quest and their mobs can be in completely different areas of the quest and YOU CANNOT PAUSE OTHER PLAYERS IN AN MMO and pausing all the mobs for all the players is beyond what should happen from the the level 9 Time Stop.

[lolwagon]

make it effect an area similar to hypnotic pattern. all players and enemies in the area or entering the area effected by time stop are frozen until the spell ends.
that stops lag, misuse, etc.

[Riorik]

It'd have to be a huge area - because that's technically how it works. Nobody acts while you are acting.

I can see something like this generation some serious complaints in-game.

[lolwagon]

It'd have to be a huge area - because that's technically how it works. Nobody acts while you are acting.

I can see something like this generation some serious complaints in-game.

but there were several mods for neverwinter nights that came out to make it more of a radius or bubble area short range spell to make it so the game didn't suck to play online in large groups of people.