I don't see anything wrong with engagement being a universal effect of melee combat.
If you fight up close with a dog and try to get away by turning and running, he'll lunge at you and bite you (or something like that).
Yeah well thats not what actually happens in the game, is it?
You can, at best - imagine that is what is happening, and that in a single fight or two with specific enemies but thats it.
You are not "turning and running", it happens whatever you do as soon as you move in any way, since you know, there is no option to perform any kind of side step, or attacking move or anything, while "moving" - except either facing the opponent - or NOT.
And you eat damage whenever your "not", or move in any way - while in this engagement.
With absolutely everything in the game all the time in every combat with any creature or enemy. Not just convenient dogs.
And everyone does it in a completely same way, no difference whatsoever. In anything. Automatically.
Also there are options we get for dealing with it - there are skills that increase engagement efficiency for your chars and there are other skills that offer possible ways to disengage without suffering an attack or to reduce how hard the attack hits.
After getting used to it a bit (on normal) I've switched to hard and get along quite well, using the engagement system to my advantage if possible.
Yes, but we are not discussing this in a sense of someone complaining that he fails at playing this mind-numbingly simple system, but that we dont fucking like playing this implementation for variety of reasons.
Its not bloody too complicated to get, or to play - its sucks playing it.
and, the items and skills you can get or take to basically remove it ... all they do is remove it. ok? its an absence of any kind of gameplay, a negation of options and possibilities.
In this case it minimizes or removes something that is not good to play "with".
so, you know... big deal?
Would it be that bad if the fighters had one more icon next to knockdown, like engage?
And if you would use it yourself, tactically.
What if it had options and talents to choose that modify it?
what if you would look at enemy composition and immediately tell if they have any fighters and what that will mean in a fight so you prepare for it tactically instead of every fuckin critter doing the same.
Isnt the most normal simple Ai capable of just attacking an enemy who is in range of its weapons? So if you dont have any "engagement" as it is now, and you move your character in combat, to sidestep or edge away a bit to the side or whatever smaller move you need - and the enemy keeps hitting you while you move... right? Isnt that enough already? In that most basic form, you still get hit while you are not hitting the other gay.
Why then have another extra damage that "magically" appears whatever youre doing with any enemy in the game... automatic, all the time, without your input or anything - how the fuck is that fun and engaging?