Feedback:User/Psyko/Variable Energy Regeneration

=Variable Energy Regeneration=

Author note - After a considerable time thinking this system over, I have come to the decision that it is not at all doing what I had hoped, or what is needed. Personally, then, i dont mind what happens to this, but as i can not find the delete button personally, if this does get deleted, i wont mind.

Because of a discussion about the energy system in Guild Wars 2, I began considering what other energy systems could be used instead of the system currently in place.

Why
From what I have read, the idea is that the energy system in Guild Wars 2 has become bland. It turns combat into nothing more than a skill spamfest because people no longer need to think about the short term of their energy expenditure. Also, Potions are an unimaginative way to work around situations where players start to run out of energy.

The intent of this system is to improve the energy system's potential for smart and creative play as well as keeping the idea that the energy bar can be a test for how difficult fights are.

=The System=

The basic idea is to vary the regeneration rate of energy in response to combat or situations that will expend a player's energy.

The system would be comparable person in real life. If a person does a bit of light lifting, over the course of a few hours, that person might get a bit tired, but can continue to work without any ill effect, and taking a half hour rest every once in awhile will return them to prime condition. However, if they were to increase their physical expenditure, their energy would drain more quickly, and they would require a longer time to recover that energy.

So, start with a reasonably large energy pool, one that functions in the same way as the ones present in Guild Wars 2. Then, in addition to skills using energy from that pool, they also temporarily deplete or take away a bit of the energy regeneration

As an example, I will use instances from GW1 to make the comparison. A character has 1000 energy and 10 pips (2 points of energy per second) of energy regeneration.

So the character gets into a fight that requires them to swing their sword twice for a kill. That requires two skills, and their energy regeneration quickly refills the energy. Likened to when someone is sitting in a recliner. Lifting the remote and changing the channel every once in awhile wont effect their energy supply.

Each sword swing costs 10 energy and takes away one pip of energy regen.

1000-(10x2)=980

10-(2x1)=8

At the end of the fight, you are left with 980 energy and 8 pips of energy regeneration(16e/sec.) which would refill your energy in 2 seconds. The purpose of this system in this case is to be able to quickly refill the character's energy, so the initial regeneration would have to be set at something higher than adequate. This would provide that characters in areas they are too powerful for are not taxed for energy, this of course means that the opposite is true.

Now, when the character starts using skills more rapidly, their energy regeneration begins to drop. Lets say the enemy the character is fighting is now considerably harder to kill, meaning they need to swing their sword 10 times. each successive swing will reduce your energy regeneration rate, so you begin to eat at your energy reserve. In addition, it takes time for your regeneration rate to reach what it was, so it takes your energy more time to refill.

10 sword swings x 10e each is 100 energy, and 10 swings - 10pips = 0 energy regeneration. Now, lets say for each 5 second interval you don't use a skill, one pip of regeneration is renewed.

5sec at 0e/sec = 900e

5sec at 2e/sec(1pip) = 910e

5sec at 4e/sec(2pips) = 930e

5sec at 6e/sec(3pips) = 960e

5sec at 8e/sec(4pips) = 1000e - full after 25sec

5sec at 10e/sec(5pips)= full

5sec at 12e/sec(6pips)= full

5sec at 14e/sec(7pips)= full

5sec at 16e/sec(8pips)= full

5sec at 18e/sec(9pips)= full

5sec at 20e/sec(10pips)= full

after 55 seconds you are back to your 20e/sec. If you choose to keep fighting (using skills) then assuming you wait for full energy, but not full energy regeneration, you start the next fight with 4 pips of energy that take 4 sword swings to reduce back to 0. if you keep using the same 10 swings per fight, you naturally start running out of energy without replenishing it.

If you spend extended time activating and using skills, your regeneration stays at zero and you eventually run out of energy as well. Of course, the more costly the skill, the more quickly your energy depletes, but at the same time the more often you use the skill the less quickly your energy restores after that.

The argument for this system has three major points.

The first it keeps the relation of fight difficulty to energy usage. In easy fights, a character can continuously fight without any ill effect. As the fights progress in either difficulty or time (such as boss fights, or generally tougher enemies) the energy bar represents this by starting to deplete to much more extreme degrees. It accomplishes the goal of being a "tough fight" litmus.

The second is that it doesn't require a new bar, or some additional mechanic to function. It only requires a variable energy regeneration rate. Its a simple fix.

Third, it emphasizes skill in a way potions fail to do. While it does not provide for an instant energy replenishment, it offers an option of spacing out your skills in order to stay on top of your energy, or backing out of a fight entirely to regenerate energy faster. It gives you more options in HOW you regain your energy, instead of a flat increase in moments of panic. It awards smart playing.

Cautions
Of course, this mechanic in specific relation to Guild Wars 2 would have to be tweaked for it's own numbers and situation, as well as how the developers want their player's progressing, but overall the system outlined here is flexible enough to be optimized in many different ways.

For example, the bottom level of energy regeneration does not necessarily have to be zero. It could be capped at 5%e/sec, 10%e/sec, whatever level for whatever reason deemed appropriate.

As well, the number of skills it takes to decrease your regeneration rate, or how much a single skill decreases the regeneration rate, needs to be balanced for the specific situation in which the system is used.

Revisions
It has been made clear to me that this system does require some kind of visual queue to link the decreasing energy regeneration with the use of skills.

An idea so far are a color gradient. As you use skills, your energy bar progresses from light to dark blue.

I will update this with other ideas as I think of them.

=Potions=

Obviously, variable energy regeneration does not directly negate the use for potions. Instead, I would suggest a "second wind" mechanic (on it's own cooldown, maybe represented by a flash on the screen or something) that makes use of variable regeneration. When a player hits zero energy, "second wind" would come into effect, decreasing the time it takes to recharge pips of energy, or even removing the effect skills have on regeneration. This would allow the character emergency energy in the form of increased regeneration.

For this to be an acceptable way to gain emergency energy is only if the maximum energy regeneration were above adequate, so the return in this situation would be substantial enough to provide a difference.

This could be something activated under certain circumstances, or a player activated skill, or even as an activate-able skill that can only be used while below some energy threshold. (say, 10%, or any level deemed appropriate)