From a design standpoint, what's the rationale behind no fall damage?

[EdgeTW]

O.o

You have alien nanotech in you, you can go invisible, can send out a hologram, aliens have come to earth, etc etc and you are talking about "realistic"

This is a poor line of logic. We can apply it to virtually any concept. Why can't we fly like supermen? Why can't I look at my opponents and turn them into slices of french toast with a thought?

Good science fiction and fantasy often try to remain realistic where possible. It's why Frodo didn't just throw the ring in the volcano all the way from the Shire, or why Luke didn't just hop out of his Xwing and take a whiz into the Death's Star exhaust port to overload the reactor.

At some point tossing out the things that ground us to reality just makes a concept silly.

You want to suggest that Arkhunters are modified in a way that allows them to fall from abnormal heights and take no damage? That's fine. You want to suggest that Arkhunters are modified in a way that allows them to fall from orbit and take no damage? That's where I say "well that's stupid". Especially if you're going to wound me a minute later with a physical mass making impact with me while travelling at high speeds (also known as a bullet, or the planet Earth.. take your pick).

At any rate, the original poster asked for the design reason behind the decision, not loopy speculation behind the science fiction. The truth is there are advantages to having falling damage in the game from a design perspective. It can make your game space seem larger than it actually is, for example. If you have to fight your way down a mountain path to reach an enemy base in the valley below, that's going to keep the player entertained with an objective for longer than allowing them to simply hop off the mountain above, thus bypassing all the opposition between them and the objective.

[Chio Raver]

Sure there are plenty of non-real things here and that's fine. Maybe they could have just "explained" the no-death from falling idea within the context of the game, like maybe we could get anti-grav boots or something. That way death from falling would be a threat UNTIL you mitigated it via some tech or whatever.

Again like i said before were secretly wearing aperture science patented long fall boots! sleek stylish and fit neatly under our arkhunting outfits. Don't have a pair call 1-222-737-8873 (1-22A-PER-TURE) for the low low price of 1000 scrip. Act fast fast because this offer will end soon!

[Psion]

Because making the fall damage calculations not buggy is something that most online games haven't pulled off. Case and point: GW2, The WarZ, etc..

You'll always find that one tiny slope that manages to take half your health for no reason.

[Over00]

No damage when in a vehicle I can understand, as it is a major part of the game (fun with vehicles) but not dying while on foot needs to be addressed.

[NalkorRN]

Because making the fall damage calculations not buggy is something that most online games haven't pulled off. Case and point: GW2, The WarZ, etc..

You'll always find that one tiny slope that manages to take half your health for no reason.

I've seen pvp videos of Dark Souls where someone got caught on a ledge just 5 feet above a bonfire and they glitched and kept going through the fall animation before finally hitting the ground and dying because the game thought they fell from a fatal height. So yeah, I think one reason is because sometimes the game bugs out on you, you try to jump out of a crevice between two rocks and a cliff but you can't complete the landing, so to the game you're still falling. Under the fall damage rule, that would lead to death because of somewhat shoddy terrain issues coupled with poor maneuverability.

[EdgeTW]

No damage when in a vehicle I can understand, as it is a major part of the game (fun with vehicles) but not dying while on foot needs to be addressed.

Actually, vehicles can be destroyed from falling damage and that puts them on a respawn cooldown before you can use them again.

Yes, you are tougher than a car.

[AmishWarMachine]

Yea I like the no fall DMg because I would die millions of times

^ This ^

[mimneotic]

"Is dying due to falling damage fun?" No.
"Is falling down then taking enough damage to make you halt briefly to recuperate your health fun?" No.
"Is fall damage in PvP fun?" No. Maybe if you damage an enemy and he then kills himself with fall damage, but being that player dying to fall damage? Hell no.
"Are any of the weapons in Defiance realistic?" No.

Emphasis on that last one, by the way. You want realism in an unrealistic video game for the purpose of realism at the cost of HAVING FUN; the whole reason you play video games like this (if not, then I pity you; but probably not anyway).

Name one reason besides realism or watching your enemy die due to fall damage which is FUN that could make a game developer go "hey, let's add fall damage". Try it, I dare you.

[TearsInRain]

Because making the fall damage calculations not buggy is something that most online games haven't pulled off. Case and point: GW2, The WarZ, etc..

You'll always find that one tiny slope that manages to take half your health for no reason.

I find it hard to believe that it would be -that- difficult to code a reasonable fall damage mechanic in ANY game because I've seen games where it works just fine. Just becasue you can cite a few games that have apparently over-complicated the situation doesn't make it a bad idea for new games like Defiance to account for the natural effects of gravity and "sudden deceleration".

If you want a game where your characters can fall hundreds of meters with no obvious tech/magic to save them there are plenty of superhero games still around...

[Ciannon]

It totally breaks immersion. Just wondering.

Probably because nobody in the show is going g to die from falling?