Turn-based is the best combat mechanic for RPG. It allow us to have total control on every aspect of the combat. While RTWP is chaotic, counterintuitive and can easily go out of control for many players especially the newbies.
Wrong. Maybe TB gives you the perception that you are in control of everything, but not me. There are many things I can do in combat in RTwP which a TB system does not allow me to do. A TB system forces me to act according to a script that has been determined for me by the system, which is the exact opposite of having control. And yes, RTwP is chaotic. Good. That is exactly how combat should be. It should be chaotic, messy, and result in outcomes that are sub-optimal. Anything else is fake combat.
Valid points. TB encounters are easier for developers to script and design how the encounter/battle should be resolved. Often in linear or scripted tactics/strategy. RTwP is chaotic and very hard for developers to manage the encounters and can even flung out balance for inexperienced developers especially like Larian as their strengths that they have shown were turn-based combat.
But one noticeable problem of RTwP in Pillars of Eternity 2 was pause spamming for me. This happen in my opinion possibly how the developers design the AI. They were moving too fast and AI changing targets without much penalty nor restrictions. Combining this with casting time and friendly fire, even with the introduction of the spell re-targeting doesn't solve the problem at all.
Very good points, although in Pillars 2 I never had a problem with the AI. But differemt people of course can have different experiences. Also, Pillars 2 does allow you to slow down time if you want.
But for me ultimately, it's not about whether time is running at real-time or slower or stopped completely (i.e. TB). It's about whether the actions of the various characters, both my party and the enemy, are scripted by the game to happen in a set order or whether I get to have the actions of my party happen according to my preference. Most importantly, I want a system where not only do I get to decide when each of my characters will do something but also where I can have two or more of my characters act simultaneously. And most of all, a system where my characters are not standing there magically frozen like statues while an enemy is wailing on them, where a character can even be killed without them having been able to have taken any actions themselves. That is just completely bogus and fake and immersion-breaking.
Now someone can tell me that that is just how D&D works. Well, if Swen is going to say he needs to change things in the D&D rules that don't work well in a videogame, then for me this is rule #1 that needs to have a stake driven through it's evil heart.
