How to explain WoW's battle system

[Mithost]

I'm currently having a debate with my cousin on why I dislike games with the battle system you can find in WoW. I told her I like the battle system in games like Monster Hunter or Vindictus, or even Dragons nest, over World of Warcraft.

She claims that because I cannot explain the main difference between them, I am not allowed to say I didn't like WoW when I played it. I have played WoW clones and I have had a taste of WoW on a friend's account, but I'm missing the one variable or point that I need to explain why I'm allowed to have the opinion I have, because apparantly I am unable to have my opinion if I didn't play a game I didnt like.

Could someone help me explain the difference between the two games in terms of the BATTLES?

[Vinzix]

If you mean by battles, the combat, that's mostly just about preference. This isn't a discussion that will go from one way to another, but will stay continuous.

To put it short, most of us have grown up with tab-selecting and hotkeyspam MMORPG's. They are in no sense less superior then the other, however. What is noticeable is the skill level required on both parties. While others might say games action based (aka console combat) games take no skill over WoW's combat is in a lot of ways incorrect. It is the same in the opposite direction. The factor that matters is how indepth you can go into the game. Just mindless slashing on an action game or spamming 1 ~ 9 with skills that are in any shape and form similar is an invalid point on this discussion. No matter the case, people still enjoy both. Either those people are brain-dead or looking for mindless fun.

Now, with games like WoW, or for instance Dragon Nest, where it's not spam all of the time and you can't mindlessly press 1 ~ 9 is a whole other aspect. Those games can also be equally fun with some dedication or knowledge. Same goes for the 15 million plus people that tend to enjoy games like League of Legends. It's a discussion that can be compared with religious discussions. There is no end to them and and you hit the same wall each time. It's all bout dat preference.

It is mostly a matter of what you grew up with, I think. It's funny to see that a lot of console gamers tend to hop on the MMO-scene, because they are just tired of playing by themselves. Especially now with the rise of action MMO's.

Edit: To put it short; you just can't explain it or you can, but the other party won't agree if he / she has a different view.

[Saex Conroy]

[Rya.Reisender]

Two letters: 4S (Stand Still Spam Skill)

The difference you mean is basically the dodging, though. In WoW when someone casts a fireball spell on you, it will always hit you even if you try to dodge it. In action MMORPGs you can jump to the side and avoid all damage from the fireball.
The other way around of course too, you need to be careful where to cast your skills so you actually hit the enemy effectively with them.

[Mithost]

Originally Posted by Rya.Reisender

Two letters: 4S (Stand Still Spam Skill)

The difference you mean is basically the dodging, though. In WoW when someone casts a fireball spell on you, it will always hit you even if you try to dodge it. In action MMORPGs you can jump to the side and avoid all damage from the fireball.
The other way around of course too, you need to be careful where to cast your skills so you actually hit the enemy effectively with them.

This is what I was looking for. I like battles to be based more on my ability to read attacks and be able to dodge them, instead of having to prepare for the imminent fate of being hit by most of the attacks that are not melee (that are aimed at me, of course).

In monster hunter, you can take down a high level monster fairly easily if you take the time to learn it's patterns. It might take longer due to you not having much attack or defence against the monster, but it is much easier to pull off than getting 1hit by a monster because you literally could not prevent an attack from hitting. The flip side to the coin is that if you have no idea what you are doing and you go into the quest spamming one of the attack buttons, you are going to get 1 hit because you didn't bother to try the evade mechanic.

I recently watched some PvP matches of WoW, and it definately looked better later game than it did at the start, but I still saw no sense of evasion aside from rogues using some invisible spell, and paladins using what seems like a class specific guard buff.

[Vinzix]

Oh wow. 4S is just a nickname that got scattered around here. I also misread your thread so hello wall of text, lol. The original name ain't 4S but is something different. Now I'm doubting it's rock-paper-scissors combat or what it was. I read it somewhere, though.

[Rya.Reisender]

I always just called it "generic combat" in the past. =p