I have seen the use of shields successfully executed on a much older game
The shield massively reduced damage intake and, combined with WOW Gold well timed healing, the player prevailed.
Problems with server lag have been mentioned before and should be addressed again here because lag can cause back attacks that otherwise shouldn't occur. This is, admittedly a problem and should be a limiter on the more devastating impacts of positional warfare.
However, I have seen the use of shields successfully executed on a much older game (ie. AC) using a much more primitive internet connection (ie. dial-up). From time to time as I gamed in the OHN I encountered heavy lag which caused some back-attacks and the unfortunate see-saw effect as I ran through a swarm of bugs. Yet the effects were generally short term, even on dial-up.
Now days where there is an expectation that MMO players all have DSL, cable, or fiber-optic connections server lag is far less frequent and severe making the implementation of shield arcs even more viable.
Now that we've addressed the more simple shields, I'd like to go back and look at body armor locations again.
The technique of specific target location can be very complex and potentially difficult to balance, but perhaps there is another way that captures its intent in another way.
