So this came up in raid the other day so it made me wonder.. Why would anyone in today's game ever not play in some form of 3rd person view? As we have a couple that refuse for any reason what so ever change to some form of 3rd person view. So my question is simply do you ever play in 1st person and if so why?
When I first log in. Because I've not figured out how to let me stay in 3rd person mode between sessions
Always 1st Person. The only exception is when I'm sitting to meditate and need to watch 360 for roamers. This was one of the things that defined EQ for me in the beginning, having played a lot of Quake (Teamfortress) and Doom, that was my preferred way to see any game world. It helped with the immersion, and still does. This was also something I hated about WoW (or maybe it was DAoC, or both), their 1st Person implementation was bleh, because they really wanted you in 3rd person. I don't mind a top-down 3rd Person view, like Diablo, where appropriate for for the game, but not for 3D MMO's. It really wasn't until I started playing The Division that I got used to a 3rd Person view in any game character-based game. Driving games I couldn't do it until I started playing Rocket League. Still can't for regular racing games. 1st Person = I am my character 3rd Person = I am playing that thing I see on screen.
I'm in third person 99% of the time. Exceptions are with tight corridors. For many characters it's not super relevant because most of us are playing the UI. Not standing in fire or having to position mobs near you makes third person nice. I'd wager that it's less common for tanks to play in first person in a group setting.
It's a combination of both. For swimming and up/down orientation, first person some of the time is necessary. 3rd person viewing offers far better area perception for people who actually have to pay attention to the battle. Max shrink helps a lot. First person types hate max shrink, though. Get your giant carcass out of the way, trying to see here!
I try 3rd person periodically, and do not like it, I lose my immersion in the world. 20+ years of first person.. And I only hate Max shrink when I'm pulling because I trip over pebbles in the sand, or can't see over said pebbles to pull a mob.
Yes. It's more realistic, since in RL you don't watch yourself from above. Also, as noted above, after 20 years of 1st person.. trying to play 3rd person not only seems like playing an old-school scrolling Nintendo game... it is disorienting and harder to control movement, etc. when you aren't accustomed to it. However, there are times when 3rd person is useful to "see" stuff, like a roaming detrimental aura that might be coming up behind you. Otherwise with GINA / Audio Triggers, Extended Targets and similar... the "need" to see everyone & everything from above is lessened.
I use 3rd person mostly, but that is so I can keep an eye on my surroundings, especially in combat. When I swim or lev though, I go 1st person.
I go first person most of the time during group content, but on raids where I need to watch out for randomly spawning auras or adds coming in I'll flip it to third.
It depends on your play style, class and content you are doing. I'm in 1st person view most of the time because I'm a caster and I typically stand on a side of the fight. 1st person view from a side doesn't have a limit on how far you can see in the direction you are facing. It's not really different from the '2nd person' view where the camera is right behind you. However, in some select raids it makes more sense to use the 3rd person view with the overhead camera. For example, Mearatas for most roles (but again, not all roles). If you are a melee dps class, there is probably no reason not to play in 3rd person. But for ranged classes (and roles that need to see further away) that's different.
I mostly use 3P, but I'll switch to 1P when I'm swimming or while I'm soaring over the wall in PoFire.
As a tank you need to see 360 degrees around you to pick up mobs or move to certain specific positions etc. The mouse scroll wheel pull back allows you to move in and out depending on how tight quarters are and panning the camera around if / as needed. One thing I may do differently is I am 95% of the time Strafing. Even when moving forward to a mob I am strafing to it with the right mouse button clicked. I am not talking about crab walking to a mob, with the right mouse button pushed you just have so much control over your movement its become the norm.
Have always played in first person and never had any issues. This reminds me of a conversation a few of us in guild were having regarding who plays in what perspective, and we were posting pictures of our UI / setup. What stood out to me was that there was a really wide range of style. These were all players who were on the the high end of performance in guild and had great situational awareness. And every perspective had a few people who played in it, across all class archetypes. UI varied from very complex to shockingly minimal. Commonly people would remark “How do you play like that?” where ‘that’ would be a perspective or UI that they found unusual or surprising. The reply was always, “I just do.” People make all sorts of thing work.
1st person most of the time because of immersion and personal taste. For sure 3rd person view gives you more knowledge of what is going on, but since we have extended target I’ve been able to manage reasonably well, even in groups... Though I’m not scared to switch when the situation demands it, and it does happen sooner or later.
First person is nice. Makes it feel like you are in the action. Years of raiding though has forced me to play 3rd person long enough that it is the new normal. It is so easy to spot people who can't or will not play in 3rd person, especially when they : - back up and fall off a ledge. - fail to move when some nasty aura is roaming around the raid. Anyone who still plays 1st person in raids is IMHO doing a disservice to their fellow raiders.
I only play in 1st person except when I need to look around a corner or check my surroundings while feigned.
Good thing about strafing while tanking is that mobs won't extrapolate your position when deciding to summon. Sometimes while tanking a group I'll tap forward to get in a better position and the mobs will extrapolate my position to the other side of the room, run over there and then summon ping pong me.
