Healing - Immediate vs. Regeneration

[Eschaton]

I'm considering the idea of having potions (not spells) raise the target's hit poit regeneration rate rather than recovering a certain amount of hit points.

While this would make the game more immersive and verisimilar, it would make it harder.

I ask if this trade-off is worth it? Is it a formula for rage-quits?

 

[Alexander Amnell]

I like it better that way. The way I've got it set up the only ways to heal are through potions that heal a good bit 30-50%) but can only be used outside of battle and are toxic so you can't just chug 10 of them in a short period. Second way is first aid supplies that can be used inside and outside of battle and heal overtime however in battle they are less effective. (On map it might heal 10% every 20 seconds for 60-100 seconds while in battle it heals 5% per turn for 3-5 turns with a chance of being interrupted when damaged) Healing magic is limited in my game as there are only two playable magic users in a game with three separate protagonists with their own parties, but the strongest healing spell won't heal more than 25% probably. I feel that as long as you take the time to balance it properly and make sure that it is a matter of proper preparation in order to survive and not a matter of constantly dying regardless of preparation then the number of people who will rage-quit because of it is going to be limited. (not sure on commercial games, but at least if it's non-commercial pretty much everyone who plays it will be an rm'er/friend and family and the community here tend to prefer harder games as a whole, as long as they are balanced properly.)

 

[kerbonklin]

I would say anyone wanting faster-paced battles would go for immediates most of the time. And well, most gamers don't like RPG battles that last long periods of time, unless it's a TBS but even then those have it's limits.

 

[Cozzer]

Well, I guess everything would have to be balanced around that.

For now, I think the result would be that during hard battles, instead of healing characters when they're hurt people would try to keep everybody under potion-state, using new potions as soon as the regeneration fades away.

 

[Berylstone]

I'm considering the idea of having potions (not spells) raise the target's hit poit regeneration rate rather than recovering a certain amount of hit points.

While this would make the game more immersive and verisimilar, it would make it harder.

I ask if this trade-off is worth it? Is it a formula for rage-quits?

It's an interesting idea but I would have know more about how your battle system works before I could recommend it one way or the other.

If your adversaries are capable of doing large spike damage to the player I would likely say it's a "formula for rage-quits".

But on the other hand - if your combat consists of steady yet manageable damage then I don't see why it wouldn't work.

 

[Eschaton]

Still in the planning stages, but I might opt for an ABS or a TBS.

 

[Clord]

IS it formula for rage quits? definitely not as long it is balanced well.

 

[SLEEP]

Play Minecraft. Find an old download for minecraft, like Beta 1.5 or something I think. Give the combat a whirl. How does it feel? Great. Now, play minecraft. The most recent version. Combat time again. How is it different?

You see, Minecraft made the shift from an instant healing system to a regenerating health system, chasing some sort of "realism". When it first made the shift, it was clunky and unbalanced. Combat used to be a simple dance between hitting an enemy, chugging a slice of meat, and hitting them some more until you needed to down more meat or until they were dead. With the addition of regenerating health, the strategy became unviable and difficult, as health would deplenish faster than you could recover it. It also felt better to have instant regen, because then you'd instantly know where you'd stand. To mitigate the difficulty added by regen health, minecraft nerfed the damage foes dealt, and added potions that could serve the same purpose as meat once did.

Obviously minecraft's combat is bad, and an RPG is different, but it's an accessible case study with a popular game.

 

[kerbonklin]

Play Minecraft. Find an old download for minecraft, like Beta 1.5 or something I think. Give the combat a whirl. How does it feel? Great. Now, play minecraft. The most recent version. Combat time again. How is it different?

You see, Minecraft made the shift from an instant healing system to a regenerating health system, chasing some sort of "realism". When it first made the shift, it was clunky and unbalanced. Combat used to be a simple dance between hitting an enemy, chugging a slice of meat, and hitting them some more until you needed to down more meat or until they were dead. With the addition of regenerating health, the strategy became unviable and difficult, as health would deplenish faster than you could recover it. It also felt better to have instant regen, because then you'd instantly know where you'd stand. To mitigate the difficulty added by regen health, minecraft nerfed the damage foes dealt, and added potions that could serve the same purpose as meat once did.

Obviously minecraft's combat is bad, and an RPG is different, but it's an accessible case study with a popular game.

Until players learn that food poisoning from Rotten Meat was actually not a bad thing and abusable as an easy to get, abundant health source.

 

[CWells]

If balanced right it can be quite beneficial. You wont waste turns on healing and can let it work in the background while you work on other actions. Perhaps you might include some skills to boost the regen effects so that there are bigger heals later in-game?

 

[Chaos17]

Why choose one when you can do both ? ^^

 

[Eschaton]

Why choose one when you can do both ? ^^

Good point.  I actually planned on having magic healing be almost instantaneous.