[SUGGESTION] Make manual block behave more like auto block

[noil]

Right now if you block manually you could be blocking for hours and still be successful if somebody attacks you the way you expect. With auto block you can only block once the attack was initiated. I suggest the manual block work the same way.

[Plazek]

Manual block does work that way. If you auto block a direction before the attack and the attack is the same direction anyway, it will be blocked. Of course only players are ever that retarded.

[Orion]

Cutting down the window of time in which you can activate your block is pointless. Taking lag into consideration, it could actually become a problem with pings that are above ~70ms.

There's no problem with the current system.

[Regendur]

Agreed with Orion. A person holding a block in one direction while running is pointless anyway.

[wolfstriked]

What do you guys think of making attacks faster and making auto block faster.So auto block becomes all about timing.Yes it is all about timing right now but its way too easy for most weapons.If auto block was actually quick then the attacks can be sped up.Could make for faster more realistic looking combat.

Also I was thinking this change to melee combat.First is to have the whole animation of a swing happen(right now if you press block during a swing it jumps to attack bypassing the rest of the swings animation).Now think about a player attacking from left to right(he is now undefended on his left side since weapon is still swinging towards the right from momentum).The next change is

You block by pressing M2 and.......get ready now....when you release block you automatically attack.So quick block!!!-----release M2 with downward mouse and quick thrust.Your enemy quick blocks and releases M2 with upward motion so starts overhead attack.....You quick block and release M2 with left swing and enemy quick blocks and now releases M2 with quick right attack and BAM your hit.Its a quick attack to get in before your block so it probably doesn't even get thru your armor.

[Orion]

Sounds like a mess. Could be an interesting mess, but right now manual block duels tend to be short-lived anyways. Especially with the proliferation of multiple shields.

[wolfstriked]

Sounds like a mess. Could be an interesting mess, but right now manual block duels tend to be short-lived anyways. Especially with the proliferation of multiple shields.

Your right,just a thought and taleworlds has probably gone thru so many different ideas even coming up with what we have now.

[Archonsod]

What do you guys think of making attacks faster and making auto block faster.

I think "whose going to pay to lay fibre all the way to the M&B servers".

[wolfstriked]

What do you guys think of making attacks faster and making auto block faster.

I think "whose going to pay to lay fibre all the way to the M&B servers".

Hilarious! and depressing at same time since now M&B will be controlled by its multiplayer aspect....or might?

[Lord Mur]

Blocking is fine as it is, in my opinion.

You block by pressing M2 and.......get ready now....when you release block you automatically attack.So quick block!!!-----release M2 with downward mouse and quick thrust.Your enemy quick blocks and releases M2 with upward motion so starts overhead attack.....You quick block and release M2 with left swing and enemy quick blocks and now releases M2 with quick right attack and BAM your hit.Its a quick attack to get in before your block so it probably doesn't even get thru your armor.

interesting idea, but better to test it in single player I think

[ares007]

The melee is fine how it is.

I definitely won't claim to be a master of melee or anything (I'm not quite as good as Test at least), but a lot of times I can tangle with shield fighters without a shield and block most of their attacks (of course when people have a shield, they tend to spam the same attack and make it easier to block). If you've played with manual block long enough (like a month) you can do ok.

If anyone is having problems with manual block, I'd be happy to work with you to help you get better at it (assuming we could work out a time and there isn't too much lag  ).

[Johnny Morphine]

I'll admit - I'm probably among the top 10 worst people at manual block. But hell, I try.
I don't think there's any problem with the speed of the block, or anything. But there are two things I noticed way back in Native that can cause you to fail miserably whether you're good or not.

• If you're using a shyte mouse, chances are fair you're frequently going to block in the wrong direction simply because your mouse or your mousepad is junk. Old optical mice on inferior surfaces can destroy your manual block capabilities because of bad tracking. And if you're using a trackball mouse with a little bit of dust on the ball, you're hosed, period.
• Secondly, if you're one of those people who demands complete 360 degree awareness at all times, possibly playing with insane sensitivity on an expensive laser mouse so you can see what's behind you in a handful of milliseconds, you're also going to get destroyed while trying to manual block. If you've been playing Doom for the past 15 years you're probably playing like this (that's my problem). And anyone fighting multiple cavalry on foot is certainly gonna have this issue. The problem with manual blocking is that if you try to block an attack while looking around, it's going to switch your block to whichever direction you're turning under most split-second conditions.

Here's a solution I came up with half a year ago, but figured it would be too off the mainstream to get wide acceptance, despite the fact that it really changes nothing other than giving each player a new option by which to manually block an attack:

• Rather than using the mouse to control which direction to block, a player could choose instead to bind four keys for purposes of blocking - one for each block direction. These could be mouse buttons or they could be keys, but all would be definable in the controls screen if the player chooses to block "by key" instead of "by mouse movement."

Like I said before, this would not give anyone an unfair advantage on the manual block servers, seeing as they'd still have to respond to a swing in the same way. It would simply give players the option replace the roughly analogue system with a truly digital one, at the expense of having to press different keys for each block direction.

Personally, I wonder every time I punish someone with my short sword when they've got a two-handed axe, if they're not having one of the above two problems.

[wolfstriked]

I'll admit - I'm probably among the top 10 worst people at manual block. But hell, I try.
I don't think there's any problem with the speed of the block, or anything. But there are two things I noticed way back in Native that can cause you to fail miserably whether you're good or not.

• If you're using a shyte mouse, chances are fair you're frequently going to block in the wrong direction simply because your mouse or your mousepad is junk. Old optical mice on inferior surfaces can destroy your manual block capabilities because of bad tracking. And if you're using a trackball mouse with a little bit of dust on the ball, you're hosed, period.
• Secondly, if you're one of those people who demands complete 360 degree awareness at all times, possibly playing with insane sensitivity on an expensive laser mouse so you can see what's behind you in a handful of milliseconds, you're also going to get destroyed while trying to manual block. If you've been playing Doom for the past 15 years you're probably playing like this (that's my problem). And anyone fighting multiple cavalry on foot is certainly gonna have this issue. The problem with manual blocking is that if you try to block an attack while looking around, it's going to switch your block to whichever direction you're turning under most split-second conditions.

Here's a solution I came up with half a year ago, but figured it would be too off the mainstream to get wide acceptance, despite the fact that it really changes nothing other than giving each player a new option by which to manually block an attack:

• Rather than using the mouse to control which direction to block, a player could choose instead to bind four keys for purposes of blocking - one for each block direction. These could be mouse buttons or they could be keys, but all would be definable in the controls screen if the player chooses to block "by key" instead of "by mouse movement."

Like I said before, this would not give anyone an unfair advantage on the manual block servers, seeing as they'd still have to respond to a swing in the same way. It would simply give players the option replace the roughly analogue system with a truly digital one, at the expense of having to press different keys for each block direction.

Personally, I wonder every time I punish someone with my short sword when they've got a two-handed axe, if they're not having one of the above two problems.

I was thinking something like this awhile back but kept running into the issue of what buttons could you use for the 4 directions and how hard would they be to reach.But what if you had it so when you press block the WASD keys stop controlling movement instead controlling direction of block.Of course with shield equipped WASD keys work normally.Might work,might not.

[Johnny Morphine]

I was thinking something like this awhile back but kept running into the issue of what buttons could you use for the 4 directions and how hard would they be to reach.But what if you had it so when you press block the WASD keys stop controlling movement instead controlling direction of block.Of course with shield equipped WASD keys work normally.Might work,might not.

I know exactly which buttons I'd use: Shift for low block, caps for high block, and my fifth and sixth mouse buttons for the sides. That would work for me, since I use Z and X to strafe, C to attack, and M1 & M2 to move forwards and backwards. Sounds right batty, but it's worked well for over a decade.

Currently the manual block system gets screwed up by looking around, so I guess an option to have it screw up the way you move around wouldn't be much worse. I'd say that would be a fine option to add for players. I think in the end this will come down to more of a question of fighting style than anything.

Edit: Come to think of it, wolfstriked's method wouldn't necessarily screw with your movement terribly badly. That is, if the code was smart enough to keep the block in the same direction after the initial direction key is clicked, you could continue to move as normal as long as the master block button stays down. To change the block direction, just let go of the block key, hold it again and click a new direction. Sort of how manual block with the mouse is supposed to work. I still favor an optional four button blocking system, but I am starting to think this other idea is quite viable.

[Commodore_Frank]

I think allowing the option to assign buttons to block direction would be fair. When I'm playing with Johnny, I always laugh at how hard he fails at manual block, and that's spurred discussion between us about this subject. I've played Doom with him, and I'll confirm that the way he looks around during a fight is much like that of a Nord flailing a two-handed axe all over the place, except with actual reason behind that flailing. It wouldn't really give any huge advantage to either control scheme, and flexibility in control setup is always a good way to ensure you don't alienate any players in terms of available schemes.