Vandraad said:Climbing is not unique to Pantheon. While it may have a broader application than other games, VR did not think up climbing on their own. This is merely an iteration of climbing from other games.
I find it hilarious that VR forgot to tout their disposition system, given how much they have spent developing it and make specific efforts to point it out on various streams.
That said, Acclimation is probably the one I'm most interested in, followed by Disposition.
"Dispositions" in the form of modified abilities or unique spells have been a staple of aRPGs since the original Diablo. WoW even has a similar system in their Mythic+ dungeon Affixes. I wouldn't consider "Dispositions" to be unique, nor particularly interesting (but that doesn't mean I would like to see it removed as a feature).
I think Climbing, while not particularly unique either, the way it's been implemented in Pantheon is. Flying mounts in other games added a sense of verticality, but also a sense of disconnection from the game world, since most often the "game" still took place on the X plane. Exploiting the Y plane in the third dimension, and to not be limited in it, has real potential to change how we explore the game world.
Personally, I don't see much use for it. I see it as mostly a gimmick feature, with little uses outside of being a little neat extra thing to do when exploring or bored.
I don't see terrain advantages being allowed in play, so climbing up to a ledge for a tactical advantage will likely lead to mobs slithering up walls, despawning or just instant heals.
I could certainly be wrong, I think it happened once if I'm not mistaken :), but I’ve yet to see any AI system capable of dealing with players without cheesing their way out with wall slithering ect, which negates any practical uses for me at least, and I'm skeptical on how much of the world was created to make climbing “needed” to progress to the next area, thus making it a necessity, instead of something left optional for die hard explorers..