Thread: Threat Meter
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Unread 10-01-2010, 04:05 AM
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Whenever I see a discussion come up about something that will "trivialize the content" or "make the game too easy", I always wonder whether the individuals that claim such things are doing so only because it isn't in the game. Excuses such as "If you were a good player, you'd be able to accomplish something without such a feature" don't really say much - especially if such feature was some kind of notification or meter. Meters and notifications are created to make things easier on a user/player in the first place - none of them are really ever necessary. So saying such a meter would make the game "too easy" is the opinion of the individual - especially if they have no problems playing the game without it.

Do we need to see the exact numbers of our power or morale? Or even, do we need the bars in addition to the numbers? Do we need combat response indicators? Do we need fervour/focus/attunement meters? Do we need all those stat numbers/percentages? How about a casting bar? The answer to all of those is a no of course. All of these make the game a little easier to play, and some even give a player an advantage.

A meter in itself only gives information - it's up to the player to use that information as they see fit, and to the best of their ability. Some players embrace the numbers that an MMO is built on, and look at such meters as nothing different than a tachometer on a car. Sure, someone could operate a manual transmission quite well, just by listening to the sound of the engine - but only a tachometer will give you exactly how many RPMs the engine is turning, and allow you to shift at a specific point.

That being said - it is possible for a threat meter to reduce some of the challenge in an instance. However, unless DN is a completely different ballgame, most of the challenge in instances aren't due to simple threat mechanics. Between random threat, strategy, and execution of said strategy - only the worst groups fail an instance because the guard was in the bathroom, and the hunter thought going 4 deep in BM in strength stance was a great way to live longer.

That aside, threat is not a visible mechanic in the game - Turbine has always been very vague about threat - never using actual numbers and instead, using terms such as low, moderate and high. It's a mechanic that unlike even DPS/HPS is completely hidden from the player - where the only way to tell is whether or not a mob starts moving towards you. Should Turbine decide to make this mechanic more transparent, then I would agree that Threat Meters should be available - but as long as Turbine's hiding this mechanic behind a curtain, then I think it should remain there.
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