From a strictly artistic standpoint, I love the intricate work that your developers have put into the animations. They are exquisite. Masterpieces. However, from a player standpoint, many of them simply take too long (see below for some examples), and they steal from time we could be spending doing other things.
Love this topic hehehehe. Yeah, to be honest some spells are wayyy too long. Ra's animation is extremely slow, and in Tartarus the Death Minotaurs minions constantly cast that spell every round. Also, forest lord is pretty long as well. Also, I forget the name of the spell but it is the card that comes with the coldfire dragon that is EXTREMELY long.
I dont think Dr. Von would be as cool if you shortened it, but Ra can definatly be shortened. That spell is sometimes a whole minute long in pvp... maybe instead of stabbing the staff into the ground every time it could just stay there, and the hieroglyph could stay in the same spot the whole time, that way he isnt doing the whole annimation over again for every enemy.
It would be best to use the longer versions the first few times we use the spells then we use the shorter version especially in minion battles because they come twice and those unnecessary battles
I'm glad to see that you are beginning to understand that you need to take the "boring" out of the game.
The spells are fantastic ... amazing ... however, after the 10th, 20th, 50th time they become tedious. Boring.
I see 92% of the poll want the spells reduced ... that is extremely telling. Are you listening ... or are you stuck in your own fantasy? There is a moment when a Developer has to ask if they are keeping something in the game for themselves or for the good of the game.
There are factors to take into consideration: 1) The game takes too long. 2) Wizards are paying for wi-fi charges. I'm being told that I have to pay more for my broadband service due to the length of time I use it. 3) Wizards should NOT be sitting for so long in front of a computer. You already know the vascular issues that can arise from sitting for a long time. 4) Wizards have a life other than the game; visiting Grandparents; homework; work ... If a parent says "you can play on the computer for 1 hour, then that wizard is sitting there saying "hurry up" to the spells so that they can accomplish their quests and socialize.
Thank you for beginning to understand that the things wrong with the game are preventing the game from being discussed, frequently, in Gaming magazines, Blogs, and social media.
You did good ... in the beginning. Then, you have added new worlds but haven't fixed the foundation of the game ... where it lags. Do you even know exactly where wizards begin to lose interest in the game? What a waste of a good game. It isn't too late to fix it and bring it to the Gaming glory it could have.
I used to be one of your biggest cheerleaders. I spend/spent too much money in the game. You let us all down ... you could have been bigger than WOW ... but you didn't try to fix the game's foundation. You must be losing money for you to finallly ask us questions on how to fix the game. I hope it isn't too late.
Frost giant, storm lord, fire dragon, they all need to hit at the same time. Stunning spells should have all shields placed at once, especially in 4v4 PVP. Maybe wraith could be slightly faster?
Of all the spells in Wizard101, I can only think of six that are too long- Cyclops, Centaur, Dryad, Oorthrus, Medusa, and Dr. Von's Monster. Oorthrus has an automatic excuse because of the way the spell works- it has to be that long in order to deal two separate sets of damage. And I don't mind the length of the second three because they're fun to watch. And that's the key. It's not about how long the spell is. It's about how interesting it is. Cyclops, Centaur, and Dryad aren't particularly interesting to watch. Their animations are just creatures strutting their stuff. Medusa, and Dr. Von, however, engage the watcher a bit more. Medusa is a terrifying half-woman half-snake slithering around by fallen columns and hissing at you and swinging her swords. And Dr. Von is a crazy cat scientist cackling hilariously, messing around on giant machinery as he puts the final touches on his big patchwork creation. And nearly all the other spells are equally as enjoyable. You may spend a lot of your time in Wizard101 watching spell animations, but those spells are what make Wizard101 Wizard101. They are largely responsible for the character and charm that has kept this game hugely popular for six years. To shorten the spell animations would change the very face of the game. I'd even go so far as to consider it the end of an era. I don't know- maybe it's just me but such a decision wouldn't sit well with me at all.
Imagine a button existed that players simply click to turn on and off spell animation.
Now image this button is either on the deck or each spell card, and players get to choose if spell animation should be set to 1. Full Spell Animation 2. Less Animation 3. No Animation
I'm pretty used to how the spells are now, however, it would be nice if they were sped up a bit. By having the animation go faster, it won't take nearly as much time and people can still enjoy the full sequence.
I have to admit that on my Myth, the long Froggy animation gets old very fast.
I would appreciate a shortened animation of AE spells such as Ra, along some of the other previously mentioned spells. Thank you for taking the time to ask this important question, as I'm sure you will receive some great feedback.
Maybe you could select which type of spells you see at the start of the battle. Each player selects which type they want and majority rules? Also, as people join, the majority can change along with the spell type and if there is a tie, the shortened version will win because some people may have less time than others.
Just my opinions Sarai Thunderstrider Transcendent
Mine is off topic but what the hey..... I have noticed that while fishing people run up and send friend requests. This is HIGHLY frustrating when the fish is biting and a big brown box blocks the screen and you can't do anything until you accept or decline the request. It needs to be NO friend requests while fishing! I know we are all crammed into smaller space to fish, and that is why it is such a problem. I lost 3 fish the other day because I got requests back to back to back. It still takes my pet life, even though I couldn't do anything to catch the fish.... which means I lose money if someone sends me a friend request while I'm fishing. Changing servers doesn't help because no matter what server you are on, everyone is fishing since it is new, and there are loads of people at every fishing hole.
I love the full animations, but especially Ra can get annoying if you want the game to be sped up a bit or if someone is on a time limit like I am most of the time. If they were short and sweet like Power Nova then that would be great! :) Stunning opponents with Frost Giant and/or Storm Lord also can take awhile. Having a choice sounds interesting though if we people were to want to see the full animation once in awhile.
I dont know if this is possible, but I offer this advice:
Create some servers that do fast animations. By that I mean, while on these servers, all the pre-hit posturing is gone and individual effects from AoE spells all happen at the same time. then, watch how fast they fill up. Those of use who inhabit this forum are in the drastic minority, at least those of us who are vocal. Let those servers be your true judge.
Let me echo comments made already:
I LOVE the artwork and graphics you guys have put into the game! They're crisp, clean, and fun to watch...... but not after the 20th, 50th, 100th, time, etc.
I'll also make another comment here on how to speed things up (which is relevant to animation time):
Instead of using each blade and trap individually, use all traps, and give us the extra damage percentage added up, as ONE NUMBER over us with blades, and the same with traps. it takes a LONG time to run through all those blades if you're not soloing. if you're hitting the one in a million, it can take a minute of just blade and trap usage "screens" to run through them all. This would slice the time down drastically
As much as I've gotten used to the long spell anims (which, artistically-speaking, are awesome), they could stand to be shortened a bit. Why not give us the option to toggle them on or off?
My main character is a Balance wizard and I must confess that RA makes me want to sleep, its animation is dreadfully long. Try to imagine you having to wait its animation every time you are questing? I sometimes stick with either Power Nova or Sandstorm, especially when I have been questing all day long.
I think you guys should shorten most of the AoE spells by cutting the one-by-one hit, you could simply set it to hit all at once, as well as adding up the de-buffs/buffs all at once.
As mentioned, I also feel discouraged to go 4vs4, I frankly don't feel like putting myself through a battle that lasts 1 hour.
I think that AoE's don't need to have their animation shortened, just that when they attack everyone, they do it at once, just like Morganthe did. And for single attack spells, make them have 3 different animations.
