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Here is a window into my experiences of succesful and not so succesful Healing in MMOs
I am going to preface this by saying my healing experience comes from TERA, Archeage, Elder Scrolls Online, FF14, Wildstar, WoW, Guild Wars 2, New World(yikes). There is a combination of factors in all these games in what makes or breaks how fun the healing is. As shown in your demo healers are not limited to just Healing, and should have access to a variety of abilities. Heals/Buffs/Debuffs/Shields/Cleanse/CCs/Resource Regeneration/Mobility Abilities to name a few. The one thing I see most games miss is that Healers should have the same dynamic abilities as other classes, just because it is a healer it should not necessarily be simplified to all targeted or circle AOE abilities.
I want to go into some examples:
Archeage
Archeage Healing will always have a special place in my heart in terms of feeling the impact of your healing in both Raid V Raid Combat and Small Scale. Great Raid Frames/Clickable Player Health Bars were ESSENTIAL for this system to be effective. Archeage's system of combining classes together inherently allowed for Diverse healer roles. Mobility is a HUGE factor in the success of action oriented combat.
(I Played all Classes)
Notable ability attributes:
* Healing and other abilities would combo together. Ex: Applying a single target HoT would Strengthen your Single Target Nuke or Proc an Effect with your AoE Mend Ability
* Variations on healing abilities Ex: Hearts or single target nuke heal could be applied as infinite lighting fast small ticks(mana limited).. 5 medium instant ticks.. Or One Large HoT for tanks.
* Variation of Classes allowed for several Healer Variants.. My favorites were Pure AOE Nuke Healers.. Healers with Crowd Control.. Healers With buffs and Songs.. Healers Dedicated to Resurrection through attack speed/ CD Reduction. All had their own strengths and weaknesses.
* Mobility Mobility Mobility Multiple teleports / back drops / stealth variations
(Not my Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XimZ7_qdc_s
Tera
Tera had one of the best healing systems ive ever played in terms of engagement and action oriented gameplay in an mmo. With the "Painting" targeting system and a small variety of healing abilities it set the priest apart from healers in other games. Tera had its limitations in the AoE placement but more than made up for it with the action-oriented fast gameplay.
(I played Priest)
Notable ability attributes:
* Notice the engagement of normal healing abilities have when you paint the target.
* 4 second Cooldown AoE Circle Cleanse in front of the Caster (IMO way better than the Typical Single Target Cleanse abilities and makes you aim or be in danger to cleanse)
* Dynamic AoE Healing abilities that spawn on target or where you place it. (More on this later)
* Access to Buffs and Shields(Magic barriers not Literal Shield)
(Not my Video) Loud Sound Warning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ABRTYyxoFk
Wild Star
Wildstar was a great example of action combat with no tab target abilities and innovation in Shaped AoE abilities. Within Healing it is often forgotten that there are more shapes than a circle. Wildstar was able to utilize its telegraph system to create several distinct healer archetypes.
(I Played Medic.)
Notable ability attributes:
* Healing was action oriented and telegraphed with different Shapes and locations where you aimed creating interesting healing gameplay
* Including but Not limited to Frontal Cones.. Diamonds.. Lines.. Circles.. Solid and void.. Random.. Pulsating/Changing
* Clear Ally/Enemy AoE indicators
* Different available builds to focus Healing/Shields/ or dps focus all in one class.
* Ability to choose effects on certain abilities.
(Not my Video)
https://youtu.be/Rh57C1nWDD8?t=40
Elder Scrolls Online
Elder Scrolls Online had some great moments when it came to Healing Action Combat but was limited by its active ability pool.The ability to place aoe's anywhere was a good move. The ability to block.. roll.. crouch.. sneak.. were all great features.This unfortunately was accompanied by auto-targeted Aoe abilities around the caster. This system was way better than whatever New World was trying to do with their targeting system but i still feel it lacks when you start to add more skills into the mix and doesnt allow for good skill based Healing.
(I played Templar)
Notable ability attributes:
* Healing was action oriented and abilities were only limited by Global CDs and resources
* Clear Ally/Enemy AoE indicators
* Had a decent variety of Healing builds
* Mobility Mobility Mobility dashes / teleports / back drops / stealth variations
* Ultimate Healing Ability
(My old Video) lol.. 7 years ago.. sheesh time flies by
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOABs77JHwE
World of Warcraft Classic/Retail
WoW was not my first MMO and maybe that is why I am so hard on it, but Typically (Before DragonFlight) Healing in wow was severely limited by the tab targeting system. This is accompanied by classes and abilities that largely heal the same way(throw your hands up Resto Druids). If you didnt have some huge text pop up saying you are some type of CCed you wouldnt know what was going on because a lot of the animations are very similar and characters don't react in an action way. I think the new Evoker class starts to break this trend and is a step in the right direction for them in terms of engaging combat.
I Played Holy Priest in Classic and Pres Evoker/Resto Druid/Monk in Retail)
Notable ability attributes:
* Mostly Traditional Healing Mechanics with low mobility
* Good variety of Healing Abilities Instant/Hots/AoE/Totems. Skills also combo with each other within the class
* Preservation Evoker is great step forward in action engaging combat with skills that cause movement/AoE/Charging Healing Skills/Aimed abilities
* Typically good amount of skills and options
(Not My Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVswqXwk8JE
Evoker Gameplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoeuQiYc4Ow
New World
I followed New Worlds Development and the regression in the amount abilities one could use blows my mind. You would imagine as a game goes on development you would increase the amount of skills, lets hope ashes does not go down this path. Healing in a game without raid frames.. Is this some kind of joke? The botched targeting options are a convoluted joke. The gameplay is spamming the same few abilities over and over and over again. I Digress.. They are at least trying action combat.. but why give healer targeting if nothing else in the game uses this..
(I Played enough.. with life staff and void gauntlet)
Notable ability attributes:
* Mix of action and target that fails in my opinion. There is no advantage to not targeting an ability. The aiming of the one aoe ability you do have is not good.
* You have what you have.. all 3-6 skills that have terrible customization.
* The ability to block.. roll.. crouch.. sneak.. were all great features.
* Trying to be positive here.. Skills trees/Ability Modifiers have potential..
(Not My Video)
https://youtu.be/ycbHWStMEY0?t=70
In final, my point of this post was to highlight different examples of Healing archetypes spanning multiple games. The elements of a successful Healing experience come from not only the abilities, but also the user interface and how you interact with the game. Allowing different healing builds focusing on one thing while providing another helps to alleviate stagnant gameplay of repeating the same thing over and over again. Unreal Engine with the use of Niagra has the potential to create some wild AoE effects and shapes so absolutely it should be used to produce new innovative AoE abilities. Imagine particle effects actually having collision with players and that is what provides the healing.. Not just a circle on the ground. For some reason I have always really loved healing in video games knowing that I have the ability to keep whole raids alive or changing the outcome of a battle with good timed or placed abilities. It just feels good.
Anyways.. I could go on for hours.. Feel free to let us know your thoughts and share your great MMO Healing Experiences..!! Lets make Ashes Awesome! =D
I am going to preface this by saying my healing experience comes from TERA, Archeage, Elder Scrolls Online, FF14, Wildstar, WoW, Guild Wars 2, New World(yikes). There is a combination of factors in all these games in what makes or breaks how fun the healing is. As shown in your demo healers are not limited to just Healing, and should have access to a variety of abilities. Heals/Buffs/Debuffs/Shields/Cleanse/CCs/Resource Regeneration/Mobility Abilities to name a few. The one thing I see most games miss is that Healers should have the same dynamic abilities as other classes, just because it is a healer it should not necessarily be simplified to all targeted or circle AOE abilities.
I want to go into some examples:
Archeage
Archeage Healing will always have a special place in my heart in terms of feeling the impact of your healing in both Raid V Raid Combat and Small Scale. Great Raid Frames/Clickable Player Health Bars were ESSENTIAL for this system to be effective. Archeage's system of combining classes together inherently allowed for Diverse healer roles. Mobility is a HUGE factor in the success of action oriented combat.
(I Played all Classes)
Notable ability attributes:
* Healing and other abilities would combo together. Ex: Applying a single target HoT would Strengthen your Single Target Nuke or Proc an Effect with your AoE Mend Ability
* Variations on healing abilities Ex: Hearts or single target nuke heal could be applied as infinite lighting fast small ticks(mana limited).. 5 medium instant ticks.. Or One Large HoT for tanks.
* Variation of Classes allowed for several Healer Variants.. My favorites were Pure AOE Nuke Healers.. Healers with Crowd Control.. Healers With buffs and Songs.. Healers Dedicated to Resurrection through attack speed/ CD Reduction. All had their own strengths and weaknesses.
* Mobility Mobility Mobility Multiple teleports / back drops / stealth variations
(Not my Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XimZ7_qdc_s
Tera
Tera had one of the best healing systems ive ever played in terms of engagement and action oriented gameplay in an mmo. With the "Painting" targeting system and a small variety of healing abilities it set the priest apart from healers in other games. Tera had its limitations in the AoE placement but more than made up for it with the action-oriented fast gameplay.
(I played Priest)
Notable ability attributes:
* Notice the engagement of normal healing abilities have when you paint the target.
* 4 second Cooldown AoE Circle Cleanse in front of the Caster (IMO way better than the Typical Single Target Cleanse abilities and makes you aim or be in danger to cleanse)
* Dynamic AoE Healing abilities that spawn on target or where you place it. (More on this later)
* Access to Buffs and Shields(Magic barriers not Literal Shield)
(Not my Video) Loud Sound Warning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ABRTYyxoFk
Wild Star
Wildstar was a great example of action combat with no tab target abilities and innovation in Shaped AoE abilities. Within Healing it is often forgotten that there are more shapes than a circle. Wildstar was able to utilize its telegraph system to create several distinct healer archetypes.
(I Played Medic.)
Notable ability attributes:
* Healing was action oriented and telegraphed with different Shapes and locations where you aimed creating interesting healing gameplay
* Including but Not limited to Frontal Cones.. Diamonds.. Lines.. Circles.. Solid and void.. Random.. Pulsating/Changing
* Clear Ally/Enemy AoE indicators
* Different available builds to focus Healing/Shields/ or dps focus all in one class.
* Ability to choose effects on certain abilities.
(Not my Video)
https://youtu.be/Rh57C1nWDD8?t=40
Elder Scrolls Online
Elder Scrolls Online had some great moments when it came to Healing Action Combat but was limited by its active ability pool.The ability to place aoe's anywhere was a good move. The ability to block.. roll.. crouch.. sneak.. were all great features.This unfortunately was accompanied by auto-targeted Aoe abilities around the caster. This system was way better than whatever New World was trying to do with their targeting system but i still feel it lacks when you start to add more skills into the mix and doesnt allow for good skill based Healing.
(I played Templar)
Notable ability attributes:
* Healing was action oriented and abilities were only limited by Global CDs and resources
* Clear Ally/Enemy AoE indicators
* Had a decent variety of Healing builds
* Mobility Mobility Mobility dashes / teleports / back drops / stealth variations
* Ultimate Healing Ability
(My old Video) lol.. 7 years ago.. sheesh time flies by
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOABs77JHwE
World of Warcraft Classic/Retail
WoW was not my first MMO and maybe that is why I am so hard on it, but Typically (Before DragonFlight) Healing in wow was severely limited by the tab targeting system. This is accompanied by classes and abilities that largely heal the same way(throw your hands up Resto Druids). If you didnt have some huge text pop up saying you are some type of CCed you wouldnt know what was going on because a lot of the animations are very similar and characters don't react in an action way. I think the new Evoker class starts to break this trend and is a step in the right direction for them in terms of engaging combat.
I Played Holy Priest in Classic and Pres Evoker/Resto Druid/Monk in Retail)
Notable ability attributes:
* Mostly Traditional Healing Mechanics with low mobility
* Good variety of Healing Abilities Instant/Hots/AoE/Totems. Skills also combo with each other within the class
* Preservation Evoker is great step forward in action engaging combat with skills that cause movement/AoE/Charging Healing Skills/Aimed abilities
* Typically good amount of skills and options
(Not My Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVswqXwk8JE
Evoker Gameplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoeuQiYc4Ow
New World
I followed New Worlds Development and the regression in the amount abilities one could use blows my mind. You would imagine as a game goes on development you would increase the amount of skills, lets hope ashes does not go down this path. Healing in a game without raid frames.. Is this some kind of joke? The botched targeting options are a convoluted joke. The gameplay is spamming the same few abilities over and over and over again. I Digress.. They are at least trying action combat.. but why give healer targeting if nothing else in the game uses this..
(I Played enough.. with life staff and void gauntlet)
Notable ability attributes:
* Mix of action and target that fails in my opinion. There is no advantage to not targeting an ability. The aiming of the one aoe ability you do have is not good.
* You have what you have.. all 3-6 skills that have terrible customization.
* The ability to block.. roll.. crouch.. sneak.. were all great features.
* Trying to be positive here.. Skills trees/Ability Modifiers have potential..
(Not My Video)
https://youtu.be/ycbHWStMEY0?t=70
In final, my point of this post was to highlight different examples of Healing archetypes spanning multiple games. The elements of a successful Healing experience come from not only the abilities, but also the user interface and how you interact with the game. Allowing different healing builds focusing on one thing while providing another helps to alleviate stagnant gameplay of repeating the same thing over and over again. Unreal Engine with the use of Niagra has the potential to create some wild AoE effects and shapes so absolutely it should be used to produce new innovative AoE abilities. Imagine particle effects actually having collision with players and that is what provides the healing.. Not just a circle on the ground. For some reason I have always really loved healing in video games knowing that I have the ability to keep whole raids alive or changing the outcome of a battle with good timed or placed abilities. It just feels good.
Anyways.. I could go on for hours.. Feel free to let us know your thoughts and share your great MMO Healing Experiences..!! Lets make Ashes Awesome! =D