Aiming Is The Aim: Wildstar's Combat Trailer
Sorry, John. No WildStar for you. The lovely looking MMO's latest vidbonk (I'm trying that word out, let me know how it worked for you) details how different it'll be from traditional MMOs in its combat. Specifically how you'll aim. I'm sad that the fact that you will be aiming in an MMO is still a big deal, but it is. In WildStar you can use the traditional method of hitting TAB to face in the direction of enemies if all you want to do is cast off a spell in a general direction. I've always hated that form of combat, so the "freeform aiming" system, basically taking a bit more control of the direction, is more my thing, and it affects offensive and defensive skills. When the voice-over pointed out: "You'll know a good healer when you see one," I couldn't look John in the eye.
Here's John on healing.
I'm glad this is a bit more complicated than just aiming and firing. Enemies can miss as well, so someone who knows how to dodge and can aim will have a skill-based advantage. And it looks like whatever you fire fills the targeting shape, so if you funnel more enemies into that you'll do more damage to more people. You'll even have different cast shapes, so the same aim won't be true for everything. Cast (aha!) your eyes on the vidbonk.
Alec chatted to developer's boss dude the other day.