R
I don't think anyone really knows what "Action Combat" actually means. It's a buzzword that some media person came up with to show your game is "hip and groovy".
Usually it means is that the company is trying to make a game that translates from PC to console or mobile. Except that since a PC has more input and graphics capability, you are sacrificing a lot of functionality to make it compatible. When you naturally compare it to other sctrictly PC MMORPGs most "action" games feel lacking. Even in games where the built in user base is used to action style input (like ESO and BDO) there's complaints and resistance from PC players who prefer more traditional movement and view setups. It's telling that most of the top and longest lasting MMORPGs are traditional input.
I dl'd this game hoping that "action" meant the GW2 hybrid model, which works really well for both style preferences (I think part of why GW2 is so popular and long lasting), but I was dissappointed with an orthographic MOBA style movement and combat. I mean, if I wanted that, I'd go play a MOBA. It's really uncomfortable for an open world.
If you look at the year end responses, I see people lamenting that there's no decent new MMOs, and yet so many new MMOs have such a short life. Maybe it's the fad trend for new games to try to appeal to both PC and console/mobile, thereby sacrificing the advantages that are unique to each.
If you make a PC MMORPG, then make it traditional mouse movement and keyboard combat style. If you want a console game, dumb it down with gamepad style input. And if you want mobile then make it easy to use with a touchscreen.
