How awful was no friendly melee damage?

[Bryggan]

I never had the opportunity to play no friendly melee damage.  How bad was it?  I started a single player game for the first time in aeons, mainly to practice my blocvking, but what I did find was I improved my foot work and the knowledge of my surroundings.  It felt great.  Currently in C-RPG it seems very Iliad-ish, in which only heroes duel while the less elite are htere to die.  A very skilled warrior can currently kill 5 enemy surrounding him, only because no one dares hit for fear of TWing.  This seems unnatural and weird.  The greeks got rid of individual heroics thousands of years ago. No more Achilles or Gil-Gameshes.  I mean really, the whole idea of formation was so regulars could spam the elites to death.

While I was not there to experience what happened, it would seem to me that friendly melee damage only helps the elite, ie the top 10% who makes 90% of the kills.  Unfortunately we all tend to respect the elite, and tend to bow to their wills,  I personally believe that if ten mediocre guys ganged up on an Achilles, he would die.  This would never happen in the Iliad, where Hector thought he could win if his cousin? brother? (I forget) helped him fight.  But that was 600 BC, not 1257 AD.  Or whatever time we virtually live in.

So, tell me more...

[John]

When there's no teamwounding, the game plays pretty much like singleplayer.  When outnumbered, you hold S while a bunch of guys all facehug you at once while mashing their left click until you die.  Sure that would be even easier to kill the outnumbered person, but I think most people prefer there being some sort of skill involved in ganging up on people. 

[Tristan]

In a lot of ways op is wrong.

The wise let one or two skilled people handle the other skilled people perhaps supported by polearms.

If everyone chases into the clusterfuck, like when a cav has been dismounted, you can often provoke 1-3 tks.

Same with cav trying to snipe enemies among allies but bump 2 of your freinds and kills the third letting the enemy get away.

Assign roles, pick your target and chose your strikes.

[okiN]

I never had the opportunity to play no friendly melee damage.  How bad was it?

It was pretty stupid. With no melee FF, teamwork = whirling ball of longaxe death, 100% spam mode.

[Phazey]

No. Just no.

Imho, team damage should be 100%. Dumbing down the game to make it 'easier' is not the way to go.

[Corwin]

Nah, everyone would just start spamming like crazy. It would kill the gameplay.

[Gnjus]

team damage should be 100%

[woody]

Awful.

Removes loads of skill. Line up five guys with poles all spamming and charge - who could fight it?

When Im outnumbered with no allies near I go spam crazy - no friendly damage and that becomes default.

I much prefer an xp penalty for team damage, eg 100 xp lost per point of damage, to reduce team wounding.

[Ylca]

Causing teamwounds through footwork is a tactic i never want to see leave. A guy on the defensive might not be able to do anything but keep his shield up, but if he can beeline towards the nearest poorly skilled twohander, dodge to the side of him, and get him to teamwound 2 of his buddies and possibly kill a third before dying i think that defender has done quite well.

One does not necessarily have to strike with his sword to strike back, and i think that makes the game quite a bit more interesting. Also FF makes people think before they swing, which in turn allows defenders to actually use positioning to their advantage. Too many enemies? Dart and weave near that archer while stabbing around him, either you'll get a kill or they'll get tired of being careful and kill their teammate for you.

There are tons of tactical options in this game, removing FF would remove a lot of them. Beyond that i don't think you honestly want to see the day when pikes can constantly thrust forward through their ranks, or when the flamberge wielding plated infantry can stand behind the shielder and simply swing left and right- creating an impenetrable field of death.

[Christo]

No. Just no.

Imho, team damage should be 100%. Dumbing down the game to make it 'easier' is not the way to go.

I support this, it would turn the life of spammers into a nightmare. 

[Phazey]

As a shielder especially, i love facing multiple opponents. And i'm not talking two. I'm talking about facing half a dozen guys at the same time.

Stepping in between opponents as they try to surround you is great fun and a very valuable and viable strategy. Without teamdamage, this would not be possible.

Teamdamage is an important part of cRPG. Think about it.

[CtrlAltDe1337]

It was pretty stupid. With no melee FF, teamwork = whirling ball of longaxe death, 100% spam mode.

Pretty much.  I remember when Armagan first added FF in multiplayer during the beta, and I hated it at first.  But then I realized it cut down the spammers (a big mob couldn't spam like mad at you anymore for fear of hitting eachother).  The system ain't perfect, since IRL you would have more control over your weapon.  That's why I prefer a 50-75% FF setting, but I'm not in charge of that.

[Zisa]

Pretty much.  I remember when Armagan first added FF in multiplayer during the beta, and I hated it at first.  But then I realized it cut down the spammers (a big mob couldn't spam like mad at you anymore for fear of hitting eachother).  The system ain't perfect, since IRL you would have more control over your weapon.  That's why I prefer a 50-75% FF setting, but I'm not in charge of that.

The game was a lot faster then as well, you could actually sweat moving your mouse around.

Anyhow FF is a must - getting enemies to kill each other is a perk.

[Tears of Destiny]

I prefer FF to be at 50% or 100%, and then Reflective damage at 1% just so you flinch if you hit a teammate. That is all.

[Rangerbob]

Agreed FF makes the game fun.  I remember one of the DTV servers had FF on and we would just swing through a shielder and nobody could even get close. 

As a rule of thumb 1 good player vs 3 average players will lose if one of those 3 players has a pike or long spear is a cavalry.