Combat system is purely subjective.
Yeah, its a system you'll either love, or not so much. I love it, but I dont know about its long term stamina. Of course, I'm not one to play an mmo for years at a time anymore, so I'm probably not the best to comment on that.
FORCING me to use hotkeys.
Heh, I've never been one to use many hotkeys in mmo's. This was a big change for me. I ended up doing a severe remap of keys (especially since I dont use wasd, I use sdfc). Once I finally got hotkeys I was comfortable with (i use qwerty for my skills, and then extended bar 1-7), the game got much more manageable.
it costs mana to block, and blocking is on a cool down timer and/or only last a few seconds.
I play a berskerer as my main. I'm not one to really go in depth on the mechanics of a game (I'm more likely just to play however I want, and If I totally suck, then so be it), but I've never noticed a cooldown timer on my block. If it has one, its really short.
The mana part you just get used to. My berserker loses mana all the time, even when just standing around. Default mana is 0. I have skills to regain mana, and all regular attacks build mana. You can even glyph block to give you mana every time a block is successfull. Mana for my berserker isn't really that big of an issue, really.
the mystic has a pet. it only lasts 10 minutes. no way to tell when it will end.
I do really wish the pets would give you a buff with a timer, so you could see when they end. But, the nice thing is you can recast the pet at any time, and the old pet will die and a new one gets summoned. It may change later on, but it doesn't cost that much mana to resummon at low levels. I usually end up recasting the pet after 5 minutes or so, just to make sure i dont lose the pet in the middle of a fight. That being said, more than once, I'll have to fend of mobs petless because I lost track of time
making the pet attack or follow you costs mana. The pet cannot defend you. You HAVE to tell it what to do. If it's done attacking it's target and you're still fighting, you have to take time to "cast" the pet attack skill again. why can't it just keep fighting?
Since I haven't played a caster up to higher levels, I dunno how bad mana gets. But, i seriously dont have a mana problem at lower levels (through, say, 25). So, I really dont have much comment on the mana part, except to say, so?
It would be nice if the pet would auto attack other members of a group after you send it after the first mob of the group though. The pet WILL attack any mob that hits you, without being told (and not swing and a miss mind you, but actually touches you with an attack). The pet controls could use some work though.
hrm, wouldnt know. I never pull the regular map up. There is a smaller, transparent map you pull up by pressing n instead of m. I keep that one up all time, so I never actually have to use the regular map.
HP and mana regen is extremely slow. Yes, they have items that drop from enemies that will regen this, but they are few and far between imo or never drop when you really need them. There's bandages which heal so little at a time it's not even funny. Some classes have spells to help, but again, it seems so negligible and there's a 10 sec (i think) cool down.
The hp regen does take alot of getting used to (see above about my thoughts on mana though). I've gotten used to carrying around alot of bandages. Usually slapping one or 2 on after a fight and you're good to go again. They aren't cheap, but the cost becomes less of an issue in the upper 20's, low 30's.
I think most people would say "just don't get hit ", since the game revolves around action combat, the goal is to not take damage at all. I'm not a good enough player to never get hit though, so I wont tell you that
stamina always dropping when you fight and requiring to use a fire pit to restore it.
This seemed like it was going to be a big issue at first, but I found out it's not really. Usually charging back up to full doesn't take that long, and there are plenty of free campfires scattered through the game. For those times I need one at a non campfire place, I get plenty of campfire loot drops, so I dont have to spend money on them
I'm not a fan of fighting groups of monsters at a time. SWTOR did this too. It's impossible to block all of those little mobs. Yeah, they don't do a lot of damage but sometimes there are a shit ton of them and that adds up quick.
Some classes can handle this much better than others.
Not a big fan of it either. I am, however, used to it. Been doing it since the first everquest, although most game save that for groups instead of solo. But, there are plenty of games I've played made me do it solo (city of heroes and everquest 2 come to mind).
I still prefer 1on1 fights though.
Lancer and Priest attack aiming is wonky. You have to aim almost perfectly to score hits. This happens with Slayer and Berserker too, but not as much imo. the attack speed is super slow, especially if you miss or the enemy steps back out of range or something. I get that Slayer and Berserker are wielding huge weapons and they are heavy. do they have to be so huge too?
Aiming definately takes getting used to. And, all the classes are different. So, if you're playing multiple classes at the same time, you might not ever get used to it. Probably best to stick to one class at a time.
The female characters all pretty much look like sluts. The armor is super skimpy. You're a tank and only 10% of your body is clothed/armored? Not that I mind hot chicks in skimpy outfits, but sometimes its just really stupid. Most of the male characters look like they stepped out of a Gay Twilight Calendar model shoot.
And the problem is? Yeah, not very realistic. AT ALL. I happen to like it that way though. I do understand the complaint, however.
The enemies - tree, horned tree, enraged tree, diseased tree, magic tree, chieftan tree. Plus the designs of some of these monsters are horrible.
I dont mind the designs. But, there definately could use MORE designs. You'll see the same mob, upgrade 5 times, during 5 of your levels. More variety please.
Elin and Popori -nuff said
Well, yeah, i dont want to make either of those 2 races for personal play
I don't care about the story AT ALL. other than some bad monsters coming to some island, i can't tell you a single damn thing about whats going on or what I am fighting for.
Heh, I dont know anyone who thinks the story is top notch in this game. Definately NOT the draw of this game.