Solution to "blinking"

[Didgist]

This involves a menu, or even an on/off switch, where you select equipment from your inventory to be displayed in.

The game displays you wearing whatever you selected to be shown in. This would allow players to display their "Town Gear" in action, while giving mages and other support type jobs a much needed breather. Client side you would still blink/swap gear etc. but to other characters you wouldn't.

Blinking personally hasn't been an issue, but I think it would go a long way to preserving old achievements as well as promoting having your own sense of style.

[Kavik]

First off i HATE it when melee blink and then get irritated that the 'mage' is not doing their job when they die, when they blink so bloody much that you target yourself and toss a totally useless cure 6 instead of saving their butts. Anyway! i think this would be a fun idea, i would love to fight in gear like the pumpkin head from the holloween event and still have the stats of my orison cap +1 on.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

The issue to blinking is <p01> <p02> <a01> <a02> etc....

That said, wouldn't it just be easier to block the blink effect, and therefore the armour currently equipped when you select the target?

[Cream_Soda]

First off i HATE it when melee blink and then get irritated that the 'mage' is not doing their job when they die, when they blink so bloody much that you target yourself and toss a totally useless cure 6 instead of saving their butts. Anyway! i think this would be a fun idea, i would love to fight in gear like the pumpkin head from the holloween event and still have the stats of my orison cap +1 on.
Because that is not a valid excuse. If they die because the mage can't target them, it is 100% the mage's fault.

Why? Because you don't need to be targeted to be cured. There is MORE than 1 way around it. If you cure using the most inefficient method, then yes, you are a bad mage.

[QUOTE][ The issue to blinking is <p01> <p02> <a01> <a02> etc..../QUOTE]
There is also <stpt> and <Stal> which lets you pick the person directly from the pt/ally list w/o having to target them at all and them changing gear has 0 affect on the cure.

If someone dies on your watch and you blame blinking, you are a terrible mage.

Step your stuff up.

[Ordoric]

no its not always the mage stop blameing us. old senario kirin melee 40% health run @ kirin whorlwind blink ws dead /poing and lol

[Cream_Soda]

no its not always the mage stop blameing us. old senario kirin melee 40% health run @ kirin whorlwind blink ws dead /poing and lol
Blinking should never be the reason a DD dies. Again, how could you not cure someone blinking w/ <stpt>, <stal>, <p01> <p02> <a01> <a02>.

If they're not in your party, you can even type their name

/ma "Cure V" Cream

and put that in a macro.

IF the mage is prepared, there is no reason anyone should ever die due to blinking problems, ever.


If you're a mediocre mage, then yea, if people don't want to die, then they'll have to adjust their play style, but at that point, I'd just replace the mage before I'd replace the play style. Nobody should have to lower their performance so that you can be lazy.

[Didgist]

Name one other MMO where swapping gear causes your character to blink and shed everyone's targeting of them. This would completely destroy people in PVP, something that FFXI hasn't been able to expand on due to forced gear locking. I am not the biggest MMO player but 1-2 second full character blink only still exists in FFXI unless I am mistaken. Personally, I love the game as it is and just have fun with content as it is added, and would prefer things the way they are.

However a lot of DD and Tanks decide to blame players for the oversight or limits of the Development Team. It is not XWhite Mages fault you blink and people miss target on you, it's the coders who never went back and fixed a massive hole in battle mechanics. What White Mage has 4 pallettes dedicated to just casting Cure 5 and Cure 6? How is this efficient? How do you quickly sort through 40 macros looking for one that is not named, only numbered?

Implementing this system would allow for gear swaps during Ballista, alleviate issues with player targeting, and overall really iron out a long standing issue in this game.

As you can see, it causes a lot of misguided arguements.

[Cream_Soda]

I said <stpt> not <stpc>.

<stpt> and <stal> work directly from the pt list. You never target the person in the entire process, so blinking has 0 effect on it.

Maybe you should try it sometime and learn how it works (as well as read the post, as nobody said <stpc> until you came along) and you won't make a fool of yourself when you post.

Edit:

It is not XWhite Mages fault you blink and people miss target on you,When they don't have to target you at all to cure you, what does targeting have to do with it?

[Didgist]

I said <stpt> not <stpc>.

<stpt> and <stal> work directly from the pt list. You never target the person in the entire process, so blinking has 0 effect on it.

Maybe you should try it sometime and learn how it works (as well as read the post, as nobody said <stpc> until you came along) and you won't make a fool of yourself when you post.

Edit:
When they don't have to target you at all to cure you, what does targeting have to do with it?

I'm just saying anyone who complains about mages when you can easily make your own is definitely worthless to other players and is the exact reason I do everything myself.

[Cream_Soda]

I don't complain about mages. I just replace them.

It's the mages here complaining about the swaps. Not the people here complaining about the mages.

[Alhanelem]

People need to start using <stal>.

This was added specifically to help people deal with blinking.

[Cream_Soda]

Oh wow. I never thought we'd agree on anything

[Kavik]

As i have multiple jobs leveled for different things that cover the spectrum of jobs in this game, support DD cure buff whatever i have gotten myself killed blinking too much on my DD jobs, and i have tossed useless cures on myself because some melee i manually targeted out of the alliance list changed gear when i hit cure and <stal> just helps you Toggle to someone in alliance which i already do manually, and making a macro set change for every single person in your alliance sounds like the most inefficiant thing i've ever heard of since even someone zoning can change the way the party list is oriented. Typing it in, if your tossing cures at the rate i do... is a total pain the ass.

[Cream_Soda]

<stal> just helps you Toggle to someone in alliance which i already do manually,
More people who don't know how <stal> works.

Manual toggle and <stal> are not the same thing. Manual toggle actually changes what you're targeting. You can keep player 2 targeted and cure player 3 w/o ever changing target w/ <stal>, which is why blinking doesn't matter, because you never target that person.

As far as curing people outside of the alliance goes, and your comment on making individual macros for people is inefficient, the person you're curing not being in your alliance to begin with is very inefficient.

[Sarick]

I said <stpt> not <stpc>.

<stpt> and <stal> work directly from the pt list. You never target the person in the entire process, so blinking has 0 effect on it.

Maybe you should try it sometime and learn how it works (as well as read the post, as nobody said <stpc> until you came along) and you won't make a fool of yourself when you post.

Edit:
When they don't have to target you at all to cure you, what does targeting have to do with it?


Actually, I've had the cures fail with <stpt> <stal> when I was targeting myself and selecting someone else. When I blinked the target was on me and depoped. I've also had a problem where in congested abby parties where I could use <stpt> and <stal> just fine but the player wasn't spawned so it treated them as too far away even though I was standing right next to them.

You lack knowledge about how some platforms and systems react. Not everyone has the same advantages/disadvantages. All SE needs to do is create an option >>

/noswap on

Bam problem fixed when a character changes gear the system will ignore all visual gear updates.

using >>

/noswap off

Would force an update and re-enable auto updates on gear swaps.

Currently anytime someone changes gear the *client* forces and update. If that feature could be turned off then it wouldn't be an issue for anyone. Currently if you swap belts an nonn-visble gear you don't see blinking. THe reason you see blinking is because visible gear was swapped and had a forced update. This is all very simple to fix at the client side.

[Dmer]

The solution is <stpt> <stal>. I have played WHM at all end-game events for years now, And I have not complained about blinking since these variables were added. Blinking is no longer an excuse for bad healers. Update your macros and stop making these threads, please.

Now if SE could make some way for PT members to not run away from my Pro/Shellra casts I would be even happier. ^^

[Sarick]

The solution is <stpt> <stal>. I have played WHM at all end-game events for years now, And I have not complained about blinking since these variables were added. Blinking is no longer an excuse for bad healers. Update your macros and stop making these threads, please.

Now if SE could make some way for PT members to not run away from my Pro/Shellra casts I would be even happier. ^^

The solution is not fixed yet.
Situations like these still exist. >>

#1 Outside healing, a mage can't use <stal> or <stpt>
#2 If you are a mage like RDM there aren't enough macros to have all the Erase, Silena, para, etc macroed. So these aren't main job macroed.
#3 The keyboard shortcuts F1 to F6 only work if you're in a party.

Some spells and situations need to use <t> or menued. These instances are incompatible with <stpt> and <stal>. The <stpc> will work but it has the same blinking issues. The ability to disable gear updates is a 100% fix no strings attached it'd just block blinking.

I can't believe you read what I posted and think it's fixed.

[Zarchery]

So the solution to blinking is to rewrite your macros every single time?

[Kennocha]

The windower team solved this ages ago using what I still feel is the best method.

When in combat, you would not blink and you would stay visually the same no matter what gear changed. After combat it would update to the new stuff. Seems like the easiest solution to the matter.

[Sarick]

Rewriting macros and using 3rd party tools aren't solutions for everyone.

Why would you need to rewrite macros?

Like I said best fix is a vary simple client side option to disable the forced updates. It'd be equal to the option to put damage to screen, text box or both wouldn't alter anything but cosmetics.

[Cream_Soda]

20 macro books with 10 pallets per book.

You're right. There is no need to rewrite macros.

[Kennocha]

Would never suggest using 3rd party stuff. Just stated that they had a great way of handling it that I think is perfect and couldn't have been too hard if they did it.

[Camate]

We brought this matter up with the development team and we were informed that unfortunately it’s not possible to change. As many of you have stated previously (in other threads as well) it is possible to prevent targeting problems through the use of certain macros ( stpc, etc.). We encourage and recommend that you utilize these as a way to avoid targeting issues with frequent blinkers.

[Duelle]

Name one other MMO where swapping gear causes your character to blink and shed everyone's targeting of them. This would completely destroy people in PVP, something that FFXI hasn't been able to expand on due to forced gear locking. I am not the biggest MMO player but 1-2 second full character blink only still exists in FFXI unless I am mistaken. Personally, I love the game as it is and just have fun with content as it is added, and would prefer things the way they are.There's only two games I know of that allow gear-swaps mid-combat. This one and Lineage II. L2 doesn't have the character blink, so that part is a non-issue. Since FFXI's UI has to reload the whole character whenever gear is changed, it is really the only MMO that has this problem.

That being said, it was a bad move to design so much of the game around swapping gear, because it does create issues (both on the end of inventory space, not to mention ruining any semblance of immersion and making things harder for people that are not keyboard masters or who can't quickly type things in mid-combat due to the blinking itself).

PS: Stop blaming the mages. This is purely a design issue that we happen to get hit by more than other classes.

[Glamdring]

You know, when a mob casts on us as players we are temporarily stunned for all intents and purposes. I think this is why malicious players used to be able to interrupt crafters by casting, too. If the same mechanic applied to friendly casts, "blinking" players wouldn't be able to blink out of your cure.

Other possibility, once the casting command has hit the server it is "in queue", meaning regardless of what the paper doll does the spell will proc, barring caster interrupt, which will also go "in queue." And there is a queue; if you get hit via DoT to take you to 0 but should also regen at that same time, the kill shot goes through first, the regen after, not a straight take DoT for -7, regen for +10=3 point regen/tick, so if your HP is 6 at the time it ticks, you die.

[Kaych]

Like you said:


There's only two games I know of that allow gear-swaps mid-combat.

That only you know of^_-

But I agree on the swapping of gears. Its annoying. You should get a "bonus" from locking gear at MH or something.

[Antipika]

I am just wondering why DEVs says that it isn't -possible- to change. Not technically possible? Cannot be true as we all know that certain tools allow players to perform a such thing. If something can be performed by a third party tool, how come it cannot be implemented natively?

I am not encouraging anyone to use third party tools don't get me wrong. That's a violation and can get you banned.

Yet I have a hard time accepting such an answer : "not possible". I wouldn't mind if DEVs were saying "We want players to re-acquire their target manually everytime". But saying that is isn't possible is like saying that Final Fantasy XI will never be playable in Windowed mode on PC...

[Kennocha]

I am with Antipika, if there is tools that do this, and can do it flawlessly. I do not buy into your it's not possible.

[Valient]

... certain macros ( stpc, etc.)...

<stpc> is great start but I would like to see the F# keys work when in that mode then it would be 100% indistinguishable between the 2.

[Rambus]

I understand why it can be hard and such but I do not understand why people can work around it and make thier own programs for it ( blink me not i think it is called?) but SE can't

[Merton9999]

Actually, I've had the cures fail with <stpt> <stal> when I was targeting myself and selecting someone else. When I blinked the target was on me and depoped.

I had this problem with <stal> and <stpt>, when the equip change needs to be before the spell cast. I just changed my macro like this:

/target <stpt>
/equip head "Warlock's Chapeau"
/ma "Refresh" <lastst>
/equip ...

It targets the person first before it swaps your gear, then casts the spell on the stored target. My only gripe with this is it requires an additional macro line, so less room for equip swaps. I only need to do it if I have an equip change before the spell cast, like for FC gear. If the gear can be switched after the cast line, I just use /ma "Spell" <stal> first , then the swaps. I've never lost my target if my equip change is after the spell like that.

I don't really see the issue with RDM. I have every single spell and JA macroed, with lots of room left. Some creative uses of /macro set and /macro book make this pretty easy imo.

[Firesped]

The idea was to add a function that would allow you to select the gear you wished to always appear to wear, even if it isn't what you have equipped. In theory this would mean that you would not blink since your model would not have to reload when you change equipped gear. it would be limited to head, body, hands, legs and feet. So the question to the devs, "Is this possible?"

I've seen other MMOs with this option and special gear is also made only for these appearance slots.

[RAIST]

I am just wondering why DEVs says that it isn't -possible- to change. Not technically possible? Cannot be true as we all know that certain tools allow players to perform a such thing. If something can be performed by a third party tool, how come it cannot be implemented natively?

I am not encouraging anyone to use third party tools don't get me wrong. That's a violation and can get you banned.

Yet I have a hard time accepting such an answer : "not possible". I wouldn't mind if DEVs were saying "We want players to re-acquire their target manually everytime". But saying that is isn't possible is like saying that Final Fantasy XI will never be playable in Windowed mode on PC...

It isn't that it can't be done in general....it is that it can't be done on the PS2 because of a hardware limitation (forget if it was system or graphics memory limitation, but it was at least one of them). The same core code from the PS2 is used in both the PC and Xbox version to maintain continuity of code as well as the gameplay.

[Elexia]

I understand why it can be hard and such but I do not understand why people can work around it and make thier own programs for it ( blink me not i think it is called?) but SE can't

Pretty simple and obvious - their change only runs and takes effect in conjunction of another program, Square's change would have to be an actual design change which is probably nestled so deep these days it's almost pointless to go back and do it.

Anything is possible but impossible could just mean it's out of reach or would take time away from more important matters.

[Raksha]

<stal> is ok for what it is, but not bringing up the targetting arrow kinda sucks (especially for SCH since we need to be able to gauge how many party members we can hit with aoe spells) It is also annoying to have a cure macro that can't cure people outside of the alliance. <stal> is a sloppy bandage that's just covering the wound but not fixing it.

P.S. need to fire the guy who said it was impossible to make characters stop blinking.

[Sekundes]

The problem with blinking as far as I am able to tell is one from the very backbone of the game engine. When you change gear your character model reloads, this includes the name and frame as well as the actual visual appearance of gear. Third party tools work, I can only assume, by disabling this and forcing a character to stay on screen and in the prior gear. This is not really a solution to the game's issues as it ends up causing others. The only way to stop blinking and not change the nature of the game would be to disconnect the name and targetable character from the actual gear and visual data that it is merged with. This would require, if my understanding is correct, a complete re-haul of many in game systems.

Can it be done? Yes, programming is powerful, you CAN do a whole ton of things.

Is it practical? I can't say. It would probably be beyond expensive to make these changes but I honestly would be one who would say it is worth it. Blinking, cure-lock and event skip are some of the most aggravating parts of this game. I know that more than anything they could fix as far as glitches and annoyances this is my top priority as it is for many.

You cannot have a game that possesses such a fatal flaw in the very system that makes it stand apart from the competition. Why should players have to use a work around just to do the things the game was originally designed to do? The <stpt> and <stal> commands do not allow you to see a cursor above the players heads which is an indicator that I use when I cast on PC's. They make things easier for certain but perhaps the dev team could consider the costs and trials to fixing this issue and weigh it with how much better the game would be as a whole with this change.

[Alkalinehoe]

There's only two games I know of that allow gear-swaps mid-combat. This one and Lineage II. L2 doesn't have the character blink, so that part is a non-issue. Since FFXI's UI has to reload the whole character whenever gear is changed, it is really the only MMO that has this problem.

That being said, it was a bad move to design so much of the game around swapping gear, because it does create issues (both on the end of inventory space, not to mention ruining any semblance of immersion and making things harder for people that are not keyboard masters or who can't quickly type things in mid-combat due to the blinking itself).

PS: Stop blaming the mages. This is purely a design issue that we happen to get hit by more than other classes.
No. There is no reason mages should be letting DDs die because of blinking. There are macros to prevent that, pressing CTRL+1 is not being a "keyboard master."


Like you said:



That only you know of^_-

But I agree on the swapping of gears. Its annoying. You should get a "bonus" from locking gear at MH or something.
I doubt it would offset the "bonus" of TPing in full haste and WSing in full WS gear.

[Sarick]

I had this problem with <stal> and <stpt>, when the equip change needs to be before the spell cast. I just changed my macro like this:

/target <stpt>
/equip head "Warlock's Chapeau"
/ma "Refresh" <lastst>
/equip ...

It targets the person first before it swaps your gear, then casts the spell on the stored target. My only gripe with this is it requires an additional macro line, so less room for equip swaps. I only need to do it if I have an equip change before the spell cast, like for FC gear. If the gear can be switched after the cast line, I just use /ma "Spell" <stal> first , then the swaps. I've never lost my target if my equip change is after the spell like that.

I don't really see the issue with RDM. I have every single spell and JA macroed, with lots of room left. Some creative uses of /macro set and /macro book make this pretty easy imo.

There are only 6 lines per macro and your solution although works in some extent a line of code is lost. These limitations are also limited by design when there are macro book switches on the fly but that's another story.

[vyhakeyo]

As someone that is on the 360, and has played since it came live for the 360 users, I must say blinking people is a major problem and not the fault of the mages. <stal> and <stpt> is an ok solution if I kept my keyboard on my lap at all times so I can tab though my party....But I dont. Now I know accessories like Back, Belt, rings, and ear rings dont cause a blink, just the main gear everyone can see and ranged causes a blink. So let me give you a healers perspective. Trust me DD and Tanks, I understand yours....I've heard it enough about why the gear change is needed...Improves WS....Improves casting time of shadows....Gets faster TP. I get that....So here is the healers side playing on the 360.

A few years go...Doing Dark Ixion...PLD is tank...I'm on WHM and main healer. Party set up was 1 whm, 1 rdm, 1 brd, 2 plds, alliance set up was rngs, blms, and smns. PLD dances around to avoid Lightening Stance and Wrath of Zeus. The PLD blinks for WS, Shield Bash, and his cures...NP...Ranger gets stomped on for getting hate...Not in my pt so out goes <stpt> and <Stal>...So scroll though macro book to get other cures for out side pt and cure them...Mean while as I get that done, PLD gets slapped around pretty hard, RDM is spaming Cure IV on PLD. I get back to my page for tank party and resume keeping the tank alive. Now, PLD dances the wrong way to avoid Ixion's move, runs out of range, Ixion makes the PLD die...Second PLD is up. Second PLD had a very bad habbit of changing gear for everything. Exact same gear as the first pld, but changed gear for cure, flash, and everything you can think of. <stal> helped here, but every time someone else took hate, I had to scroll though my macro book to get to the cure macros to cure them then have no choice but to go back for the blinking pld....Who no one could target including the rdm because he blinked so much. He was hardly ever on the screen he blinked so much. Stressful? Oh hell yes...Took a lot of focus and stress to heal in this situation. By the time Ixion was dead I was worn out because I could not take my eyes off the TV, had to read every bit of info to take of debuffs, and keep them alive while stressing though macro book to do it. Is it right? I dont think it is. And yes, I did get blamed for deaths even when they ran out of range. What would of been easier? Being able to stay in the same macro set and use the D pad to target the different members of the alliance...A lot less stress. It didnt matter what HNM we did, it was always this way.

Recently I was in a regular Abyssea party on WHM...Only WHM too (sigh). Everyone blinking in the different alliances. I had no choice but to use my general cure macro set to keep people up....And it's very annoying when you just get the person targeted, hit the left trigger for the macros, and they blink. Then go and re target them, hit the left trigger, and they blink again. Rinse and repeat until I finally get the stupid cure off...And by then someone else is hit and needs a cure. Stressful? Yep...And so annoying that I just wanna throw my controller across the room. And people wonder why no healers can be found for Abyssea parties on Ifrit. Maybe us healers should demand all the DD to always sub dnc and keep yourself alive if you want to blink....Thats like blaming us healers for not being able to target out side of their party easily and DD die.

Like I said <stpt> and <stal> are good for the same party the healer is in, but once you get out side of that party and into the alliance, those dont work. I'm not saying force people to lock one certain type of gear....That would kill even me on my BLM, which requires gear changing as much as a regular DD...If not more....But I dont think it is right for people to blame the healers for them dieing in a game. What I think SE can do is once the mob is claimed and the fighting music starts for those members, visually lock them in that gear where they can not blink until the mob is dead. I'm not saying totally lock them in that gear, just visually....What we see when looking at them. They can gear change during it, but we dont see it and stops the blinking. That way they can have their TP/Haste gear, Cure Gear, and all the other gear everyone feels they need, and change it as they want, but we see them still in their original gear they started their fight with. Only way to find out if they are gear changing is by checking them during the fight. So if a NIN starts off in TP gear, thats all we see even though they have changed several times during the fight. Or if there is a way, what the person that is changing their gear sees is the blink and the gear change, and the rest of us still see his locked in gear at the start of the fight. I mean we can turn off the animations others can do, so you dont see other brd songs but your own, or other blm nukes but your own....Why cant you put in a blink solution under that? Where we have the choice to see them locked into a certain gear yet they can still change it and stop the blinking? I know I would have that turned on at all times!

Ok shutting up now. Oh and as I tell people I'm healing...."Blink as your own risk"

[Simian]

Perhaps it is time for the Dev team to seek these 3rd party groups and make an alliance with them to incorporate their technology so it is no longer a violation. Clearly the mechanics are available. But they are available outside the current framework of the game. The only real problem is the balance issue where this is not something that everyone will have available to them. we are at a point where the Dev team will have to decide that upgrades are more important to the life of the game than supporting outdated game systems that can no longer keep up. Sorry PS2 users, but it is the major thing that is holding the game back, those limitations of that system. The PS2 systems according to what has been posted is at max capacity. So much so that we do not even get new relevant translations without having to sacrifice older ones.

Something to think about.

[Sarick]

We brought this matter up with the development team and we were informed that unfortunately it’s not possible to change. As many of you have stated previously (in other threads as well) it is possible to prevent targeting problems through the use of certain macros ( stpc, etc.). We encourage and recommend that you utilize these as a way to avoid targeting issues with frequent blinkers.

Did they give details as to why It can't work. Just making a statement like this after me explaining how it could be fixed on the client end seems oblivious to what's really stopping the solution.

If you can change a belt without blinking because it doesn't affect the character display then the gear swap updates could be filtered on the client end. There where cases also in extremely laggy situations where gear swap updates where completely ignored/filtered without critical side effects to the clients. In fact this could benefit players who aren't effected by the swaps as well because the Updates do consume extra data transfers and CPU to swap.

To me the lack of a descriptive explanation just sounds like a cop out to avoid a basic engine change because it circumvents the core gear-update. It's just like the excuse that the title menu volume issue couldn't be fixed where simply reducing the music file volume or disabling it completely was a viable solution. As a programmer sometimes the ability to think outside the box can allow amazing features to be implemented without sacrificing stability or function.

As I stated before having the ability to shut off the gear swapping updates by filtering them is a a viable fix for many issues. If the outside client can turn on a filter to not update visible gear then no blinking should happen. The gear blinking is because aesthetic changes. It has no effect on the status of a third a party other then the targets visible appearance.

[Alkalinehoe]

As someone that is on the 360, and has played since it came live for the 360 users, I must say blinking people is a major problem and not the fault of the mages. <stal> and <stpt> is an ok solution if I kept my keyboard on my lap at all times so I can tab though my party....But I dont. Now I know accessories like Back, Belt, rings, and ear rings dont cause a blink, just the main gear everyone can see and ranged causes a blink. So let me give you a healers perspective. Trust me DD and Tanks, I understand yours....I've heard it enough about why the gear change is needed...Improves WS....Improves casting time of shadows....Gets faster TP. I get that....So here is the healers side playing on the 360.

A few years go...Doing Dark Ixion...PLD is tank...I'm on WHM and main healer. Party set up was 1 whm, 1 rdm, 1 brd, 2 plds, alliance set up was rngs, blms, and smns. PLD dances around to avoid Lightening Stance and Wrath of Zeus. The PLD blinks for WS, Shield Bash, and his cures...NP...Ranger gets stomped on for getting hate...Not in my pt so out goes <stpt> and <Stal>...So scroll though macro book to get other cures for out side pt and cure them...Mean while as I get that done, PLD gets slapped around pretty hard, RDM is spaming Cure IV on PLD. I get back to my page for tank party and resume keeping the tank alive. Now, PLD dances the wrong way to avoid Ixion's move, runs out of range, Ixion makes the PLD die...Second PLD is up. Second PLD had a very bad habbit of changing gear for everything. Exact same gear as the first pld, but changed gear for cure, flash, and everything you can think of. <stal> helped here, but every time someone else took hate, I had to scroll though my macro book to get to the cure macros to cure them then have no choice but to go back for the blinking pld....Who no one could target including the rdm because he blinked so much. He was hardly ever on the screen he blinked so much. Stressful? Oh hell yes...Took a lot of focus and stress to heal in this situation. By the time Ixion was dead I was worn out because I could not take my eyes off the TV, had to read every bit of info to take of debuffs, and keep them alive while stressing though macro book to do it. Is it right? I dont think it is. And yes, I did get blamed for deaths even when they ran out of range. What would of been easier? Being able to stay in the same macro set and use the D pad to target the different members of the alliance...A lot less stress. It didnt matter what HNM we did, it was always this way.

Recently I was in a regular Abyssea party on WHM...Only WHM too (sigh). Everyone blinking in the different alliances. I had no choice but to use my general cure macro set to keep people up....And it's very annoying when you just get the person targeted, hit the left trigger for the macros, and they blink. Then go and re target them, hit the left trigger, and they blink again. Rinse and repeat until I finally get the stupid cure off...And by then someone else is hit and needs a cure. Stressful? Yep...And so annoying that I just wanna throw my controller across the room. And people wonder why no healers can be found for Abyssea parties on Ifrit. Maybe us healers should demand all the DD to always sub dnc and keep yourself alive if you want to blink....Thats like blaming us healers for not being able to target out side of their party easily and DD die.

Like I said <stpt> and <stal> are good for the same party the healer is in, but once you get out side of that party and into the alliance, those dont work. I'm not saying force people to lock one certain type of gear....That would kill even me on my BLM, which requires gear changing as much as a regular DD...If not more....But I dont think it is right for people to blame the healers for them dieing in a game. What I think SE can do is once the mob is claimed and the fighting music starts for those members, visually lock them in that gear where they can not blink until the mob is dead. I'm not saying totally lock them in that gear, just visually....What we see when looking at them. They can gear change during it, but we dont see it and stops the blinking. That way they can have their TP/Haste gear, Cure Gear, and all the other gear everyone feels they need, and change it as they want, but we see them still in their original gear they started their fight with. Only way to find out if they are gear changing is by checking them during the fight. So if a NIN starts off in TP gear, thats all we see even though they have changed several times during the fight. Or if there is a way, what the person that is changing their gear sees is the blink and the gear change, and the rest of us still see his locked in gear at the start of the fight. I mean we can turn off the animations others can do, so you dont see other brd songs but your own, or other blm nukes but your own....Why cant you put in a blink solution under that? Where we have the choice to see them locked into a certain gear yet they can still change it and stop the blinking? I know I would have that turned on at all times!

Ok shutting up now. Oh and as I tell people I'm healing...."Blink as your own risk"
So much wrong in this post.... I don't even know where to begin. Basically, it was your fault.

[Catsby]

Too much is tied to the character model. It would be best to separate it all even if it means dramatic changes.

I would KILL for a technical update that introduces 0 new content and simply makes gameplay smoother. Everyone can name at least 3 seemingly small things related to UI that if changed would lower the frustration level of the game dramatically. For me it's;

1. blinking. because too many other things are needlessly tied to it.
2. menus that offer you a selection from a list. atmas, assaults, campaign ops, reward lists etc. 3 options visible when there are 10 pages with 10 options each and the game has to redraw the menu every time you go back or forth a page drives me insane.
3. any doorway that hijacks your controls to show a cutscene of your character walking through it.

[Antipika]

It isn't that it can't be done in general....it is that it can't be done on the PS2 because of a hardware limitation (forget if it was system or graphics memory limitation, but it was at least one of them). The same core code from the PS2 is used in both the PC and Xbox version to maintain continuity of code as well as the gameplay.

Well that isn't what was being said. When something couldn't be done because of "PS2 limitations" SE always said it that way.

I don't see also how it can be hardware/memory related. Simply give a player the ability to freeze -all- armors change with no exception. It doesn't consume more resources, actually it does use less resources as armors loaded into memory will just remain there as long as player is locking them.

[BorkBorkBork]

We brought this matter up with the development team and we were informed that unfortunately it’s not possible to change. As many of you have stated previously (in other threads as well) it is possible to prevent targeting problems through the use of certain macros ( stpc, etc.). We encourage and recommend that you utilize these as a way to avoid targeting issues with frequent blinkers.

Even SE is telling bad mages to stop crying and fix their macros. Honestly if people can't figure out how to target a party member that "blinks" you should either
A: Never play any kind of job again that requires targeting other player.
B: Quit and go play WoW or something that has a 3rd party tool that will auto target and cure people so you truly never have to do anything.

All this crying on these forums about not being able to target people can be chalked up to people being lazy or horrible at their job.

[Sekundes]

Even SE is telling bad mages to stop crying and fix their macros. Honestly if people can't figure out how to target a party member that "blinks" you should either
A: Never play any kind of job again that requires targeting other player.
B: Quit and go play WoW or something that has a 3rd party tool that will auto target and cure people so you truly never have to do anything.

All this crying on these forums about not being able to target people can be chalked up to people being lazy or horrible at their job.

Yep, we should just suck it up and use a work around for a basic game mechanic flaw. Also, Camate told us to use <stpc> which will not avoid being blinked out. A <stpt> is the one for that. While many of us will do just this and suck it up, it is hard to get friends in to the game when they have to learn tips and tricks that the game never teaches you just to get by. They get frustrated and quit before they ever get to the fun parts of the game. FFXI is an old game with an exceptionally clunky menu system and just clunky in general. Problems need to be fixed to keep this game competitive, not excuses made why it's too hard to do or lie to us saying it is "not possible". I for one would be more than happy to completely forgo an expansion and new content just to get some of the flaws that have been in the game since it's conception fixed or at the least lessened to some extent.

[BorkBorkBork]

Crying about it is just silly. It's part of the mechanics of the game and it's not hard to work with it. Long story short, it is what it is, it's not hard to work around and be an effective Mage. I've played both sides of the mage/melee fence for a long time and if someone dies A: They got one shotted and it couldn't be helped, B:I was watching TV and wasn't paying enough attention if someone changed gear. If people get frustrated take a few moments to have a little pride in what you do in game and get a little better by learning how to work within the current game mechanics. Learning to get better at a game used to be part of the fun but maybe I don't get kids these days :D

I'll say it again if blinking makes you a horrible healer play something different instead of shaking your fist at SE over something silly. Save your fist shaking for something good like Walk of Echoes.

[Sekundes]

Not saying you can't get around it and still be a great player. I'm saying we shouldn't have to, yes it is a mechanic of the game but it is a flawed mechanic. It makes SE look sloppy and lazy and I honestly want people to think better of the game and not have to make excuses for it.

[Catsby]

It's like a pile of dirty clothing in the corner of your room. you would clean it up but you have other stuff to do and the clothing smells so you don't even want to get close to it.

[Gamiina]

if you were so inclined you could replace every body armour dat with one particular one and do that for every slot for every race.

then no one would ever blink on your screen.

However everyone would all look alike and the game would be very lame, lol

[Glamdring]

the really sad part of all this is you don't actually need the gear changes to be that effective. I've done it and chosen not to do it (other than my brd instruments and status bolts, and swapping pet food for jugs). I usually make changes which don't effect the ability to target me (the exception is swapping in my terra's Staff for elegy and back to Apollo's for everything else). The gain from armor switches is really negligible. I am VERY effective in my parties, never blow the hate control (although my pet does, ASA, MKT, and ACP gear have it boosted through the roof), consistent damage throughout and always fulfill my role in the party build. Seriously, I can pull hate off tanks with my bard in base gear... and I don't even have the ability endgame to do damage with my casting. I get a good base set, do my changes with the accessory pieces (when I even bother) and just get the job done anyway.

[Windblade]

I haven't partied much since <stpt> came out. I wasn't even aware of it until I read this thread, so I'll give it a try. I just hope I can still use <stpt> with the F1-F6 keys. I've been using F1-F6 and <t> macros.

And if you want a solution to blinking, how about this: Set up all gear changes so there's a 30-second wait before the gear change actually takes effect. That's the solution. Just put a stop to gear swaps. Gear-swapping is silly, anyway, from a game-world realism point of view. I know that infuriates those of you who perhaps cannot accomplish anything without six changes of clothes in your inventory, but it's incredibly unrealistic in battle: "Oh, wait I have to change my shirt and boots before I use this special ability." Do you think that in a real-life battle against a monster, the monster would wait for you to change clothes before using weapon skills or abilities? While you're standing in front of a vanity mirror admiring your change of rings, earrings and gloves, the monster would have his mouth around your head, ready to take a chomp.

So yeah. I like the idea of a 30-second wait for gear changes to take effect. If I have to wait 30 seconds to use a water tank or a warp cudgel, why not implement the same wait for STR+5 and DEX+7? Seems like basic stat boosts are more important than when you can use a water tank.

[Sarick]

So yeah. I like the idea of a 30-second wait for gear changes to take effect. If I have to wait 30 seconds to use a water tank or a warp cudgel, why not implement the same wait for STR+5 and DEX+7? Seems like basic stat boosts are more important than when you can use a water tank.

Elemental stave's beg to differ. Why would you want to punish players who utilize the benefits of multiple pieces of gear. I play RDM, swapping a staff is not only logical its critical to the jobs effectiveness most of the time. I see that when I cure a 15-40% cure light affinity bonus really is useful. It can also be just as harmful if I need to cast sleep or another darkness based ability.

As I stated before the blinking is caused by visible armor swapping. It has nothing to do with the stats being altered. If the visible swaps can be set to filtered on the client then problem is SOLVED. I cannot stress this enough, if the gear swaps visible updating can be filtered the issue is fixed.

I think that the the development team is over thinking the issue. They think we want visible gear swapping and no blinking. If the client is forced to update the visible gear appearance the game engine can't fix the blinking because the core process unloads and reloads the visible data. This is what the developers say can't be fixed. They might change their point of view if someone actually tells them "What if you allow the players to disable the visible gear updating while in combat or in general on the client end" they might see a solution does really exist. It's unfortunate that this concept is beyond translation or downright ignored.

It's sad, People don't think outside the box where creative geniuses excel. It's like the issue where the zones are limited in the core engine. Has anyone thought of splitting the world up into multiple clients that use the same engine? It's not that hard to unload the client and load another one for another part of the world and expand it. Things aren't as impossible if you have creative minds finding solutions.

Stop assuming in all these limitations are legitimate, Storage etc have all been proven to have work a around if solutions are found outside the box. The 30 second limitation you proposed will hurt the game design and punish players when less destructive solutions are available.

[Laciante]

like Glamdring said, most equip swapping isn't necessary, and the blinking was originally implemented for the purpose of punishing gear swapping. It's understandable to forget this when we are expected to gear swap, and have macros that subvert it, but I think it's still relevant: If you want to play at the peak of perfection, use everything at your disposal (gear swaps and macro'd spellcasts)

[Rya]

Note: This is probably the first time I've posted without reading the whole thread... but my vision is blurring. Sowwies :(

I saw a lot of: "I can't target to cast on people."

But what about: "I can't target to locate people." ?

Someone did mention distance for AoE SCH buffs, but there are a number of things that require you to be aware of distance from targets, and especially with 18+ people, you might not know exactly where PT#2's BRD is or whatever. Perhaps the quickest way to size up someone's distance is to target them (such as via PT list) and lock-on.

Yes, you can "target" him with <stpt>/<stal>, or by typing:
/ma Paralyna Bardvark" (awesome name btw)
...but you still don't know if he's in range.
-- Or what direction to run in, if you get SE's patented Red Text of Almost!

So, now if you can't tab/arrow/xyz through the list (esp. due to blinking), then you would need to type:
/ta Bardvark
...but that seems time-consuming doesn't it?


Still, <stpt> & <stal> were the best thing ever when they came out, and I pretty much barfed my delicious tasty beverage all over my computer screen when I read the update notes, due to excitement. Needless to say, I use them both religiously, all day every day, on every job, for every ability, constantly, forever. They're the bestest! Thanks SE! :D

Sidenote: If you try to lock-on right when someone blinks your cursor away, you ANNOYINGLY heal! (takes forever)

[Venrymel]

A point that I think exists and I'm confused nobody brought up:

Sometimes people are battling a foe with more than 17 other people at their side. Party leaders can do things to assist the targetting issue, but Targeting someone outside the alliance (which is the three parties as one) without the potential nuisance of a "blink" requires typing out their name. Typing, like any skill, is something some people are really good at and others aren't. It's that simple. You don't become a horrible person for not having a particular skill. You're just flawed like everyone else. Nobody's perfect, but as the Japanese say: がんばって＾＾。

I don't understand the problem people have expressed with <stpt> and <stal> not solving the issue. When I learned about these, I duplicated my books (SMN, WHM, SCH, RDM, BLM—I'm a mage if you haven't already guessed) so that one set had <stpc> and the other <stpt> and <..al>. The <stpc> sets haven't been updated in a while, because I have very infrequently found myself needing to target an adventurer who is not currently in my alliance (again, which includes all three parties). I have not been very involved in endgame activities, but I usually wind up using the menu list of spells or typing out someone's name with a spell (Dynamis) when they're altogether not accessible by <stal> (not to be confused with creating a macro which contains specific player names).

Point: For any spell/ability that works only on my party OR only on myself, I use <stpt>. For everything else, I use <stal>, due to the afformentioned seldom occuring necessity of targeting someone outside my alliance (in other words: any one who is not one of the 18 people in it).

I do sometimes have problems with my spells activating (as if I had used a dead macro), but as this also happens with summoning an avatar, I don't think it's the same problem. It might have to do with the order of my macros lines, I'll need to look into it. It seems to only happen when there are a lot of people and things are really hectic and my fingers are flying across my keyboard, so I really have no better idea what the problem might be. Me? Computer? Bandwidth?　かも知れない。

I wouldn't use "bad", I'd just say "less experienced". To compare life to ingame: EXP drops off at "too weak". Logically, to continue gaining EXP, you need to move on. Similarly, in life, only so many things can be learned from any one thing, but variables make quantifying that quite difficult. Nevertheless, improvement is best had through further experience, not through mulling over the same issue ad infinitum.

Insulting other players over knowledge they don't have is just plain rude. People get irritated, it happens.

Even adding a menu option to filter away blinking adds code to the game. It's possible developers don't deem blinking as important an issue, since the secondary party/alliance tags already exist and seem to negate the problem and the PS2 is nearing max capacity.

I wonder if it's possible, instead, to add an arrow to the field that is tied to the <stal> type tags. I also wonder if it's possible to alter player names' colors to differentiate between the players of extra-party alliance members; different colors for each party, so they can be located as easily as the person's (自分の) party.

This would help with WHM and SCH effects that can perform AoE on allies.

Perhaps the <stal> tags can be made to induce the same lighting effect that manually targeting anything causes.

[axlzero]

idk how it is on other servers but just about everyone cheats on alexander useing windower and plugins. I tried lvling whm to 42 and i complained about it myself other players told me to just install windower and use blinkmenot app i wouldnt so i just went whm/nin i had club capped from pld and soloed to 42 on whm. Lolz belive it or not a whm/nin with combat gear capped combat skills and good hammers solos very well in one party i even tanked as whm

[darkvision]

using <stal> <stpt> etc is not hard to understand, people are just too damn lazy to change thier macro's i know tis a pain in the ass to go through everything but in the end of the day you can become more efficient. yes mages get bitched at for "i cant target [insertnamehere] to cast on them", this is not an excuse these days, every DD/Mage/support want to be as efficent on thier job they are playing. this will require alot of blinking but they are more effincent and performing to ther best on thier job as they can.

if your in a situation like vyhakeyo mentioned being tank PT mage having to cure a whole alliance + more as the tank PT mage then you need to sort that out with who ever made up the allience. if i am mage then i focus priority as my PT > my Ally > all else, every PT should have some sort of healer imo, so that come down to poor planning.

any good mage wont use the excuse that "i could not target you to cast [spellname] spell" because they prob dont have that problem with people dieing coz they utilise the functions available. none the ls member in the shell i am in have that problem. they tel people new to mage to use <stal> or <stpt>

i remember about 1 month ago i was doing CC and 1 RDM said i had to blink less. me being on NIN with top gear and utilise it properly, i blink for almost everything, i think, the main thing that i was getting moaned at was coz i changed to enity gear for provoke/yonin/warcry/berserk then having to change to utsusemi set which is haste/eva gear then having TP to Blade Hi. all i said was "learn to <stal> <stpt> etc" at the time the RDM didnt understand. after that fight i had a reliable WHM change place with him and after that run i explained to him how stal stpt etc works and the benefits.

the person then changed all his macros and i done another run ( cant remember what) and he had no problem with me blinking, he even thanked me for helping him out, and he become a better mage for it.

while blinking is a pain for people that are not used to the functions available or dont know they exist, some times its best just dealing with how they play at that time then after explaining how it would make them more efficient and not have that problem in the future. some people are not willing to learn and that is thier fault.

the solution to blinking is to teach others about the functions they dont understand or do not know about. if they are not willing to learn then stop. The use of <stal> <stpt> etc is the solution.

also sent people to http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/White_Mage_Macro_Guide which tells you all about <stal> <stpt> etc. also you might want to rethink your mage priorities too if you are in an alliance that is having to do the work of 3-4 mages of your own back.

i can manage to play 2 characters at the same time, NIN and WHM with the use of the <stal> <stpt> functions and keeping 1-2 PTs alive, mainly coz i can dictate the flow of a fight. if your curing outside of PT/ally then try work out who to focus on and have a seperate macro set for that so you can easily change names on your cure macro's. i personally have been able to keep 3 MNK/DRK (back at lvl75 Dynamis Lord Zerg) at full HP.

you can solve alot of problems through the use of proper comunication, sadly alot of people lack these skills

tl;dr version? read the bold parts

[Duelle]

using <stal> <stpt> etc is not hard to understand, people are just too damn lazy to change thier macro's i know tis a pain in the ass to go through everything but in the end of the day you can become more efficient. yes mages get bitched at for "i cant target [insertnamehere] to cast on them", this is not an excuse these days, every DD/Mage/support want to be as efficent on thier job they are playing. this will require alot of blinking but they are more effincent and performing to ther best on thier job as they can.

if your in a situation like vyhakeyo mentioned being tank PT mage having to cure a whole alliance + more as the tank PT mage then you need to sort that out with who ever made up the allience. if i am mage then i focus priority as my PT > my Ally > all else, every PT should have some sort of healer imo, so that come down to poor planning.

any good mage wont use the excuse that "i could not target you to cast [spellname] spell" because they prob dont have that problem with people dieing coz they utilise the functions available. none the ls member in the shell i am in have that problem. they tel people new to mage to use <stal> or <stpt>

i remember about 1 month ago i was doing CC and 1 RDM said i had to blink less. me being on NIN with top gear and utilise it properly, i blink for almost everything, i think, the main thing that i was getting moaned at was coz i changed to enity gear for provoke/yonin/warcry/berserk then having to change to utsusemi set which is haste/eva gear then having TP to Blade Hi. all i said was "learn to <stal> <stpt> etc" at the time the RDM didnt understand. after that fight i had a reliable WHM change place with him and after that run i explained to him how stal stpt etc works and the benefits.

the person then changed all his macros and i done another run ( cant remember what) and he had no problem with me blinking, he even thanked me for helping him out, and he become a better mage for it.

while blinking is a pain for people that are not used to the functions available or dont know they exist, some times its best just dealing with how they play at that time then after explaining how it would make them more efficient and not have that problem in the future. some people are not willing to learn and that is thier fault.

the solution to blinking is to teach others about the functions they dont understand or do not know about. if they are not willing to learn then stop. The use of <stal> <stpt> etc is the solution.

also sent people to http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/White_Mage_Macro_Guide which tells you all about <stal> <stpt> etc. also you might want to rethink your mage priorities too if you are in an alliance that is having to do the work of 3-4 mages of your own back.

i can manage to play 2 characters at the same time, NIN and WHM with the use of the <stal> <stpt> functions and keeping 1-2 PTs alive, mainly coz i can dictate the flow of a fight. if your curing outside of PT/ally then try work out who to focus on and have a seperate macro set for that so you can easily change names on your cure macro's. i personally have been able to keep 3 MNK/DRK (back at lvl75 Dynamis Lord Zerg) at full HP.

you can solve alot of problems through the use of proper comunication, sadly alot of people lack these skills

tl;dr version? read the bold parts

In other words, accept the design flaw and like it?

[darkvision]

what i am trying to say is use the functions that are avilalbe to you and stop trying to take they easy way out. maybe SE designed you to have blinking on purpose? maybe its a deliberate game mechanic?

and my point was that alot of good mages dont moan about the blinking and all the crap ones do, blinking has been part of the game since i started, some people worked with the the functions available others dont. anyone i know and my self included do not have this problem since we use <stal> <stpt> just learn to use them and update your macro's already

[Zirael]

What I'd like to see is config options to:
1- Disable blinking of other players
2- Disable blinking of self
3- Disable losing "Locked" and target on mob when blinking.

For those who like to see what you or others equipped in every second of your gaming time, just keep the settings as OFF. I'm more interested in utility/functionality of the game and I wouldn't mind if everyone around was shown in 'frozen' gear or even naked if "PS2 limitations" kick in again. I don't think anyone has mentioned this, but you also lose target when you cast a spell (nuke, enfeble etc) on mob and blink in elemental staff etc, meaning you have to <stnpc> and waste time tabbling through all the mobs around you every time you want to cast something.
If I'm interested to see what others/me are wearing, there's a /c command. There's at least 1 macro piece for every JA/spell/WS in this game,; losing target focus on others or mobs every time a blink occurs is plain s...illy. Yes, there are workarounds for it made by SE recently, but they are, as the name says 'workarounds', not user friendly design.

[Catsby]

It's a classic problem that occurs a lot in software engineering. Somebody or a number of people put together their code and don't properly comment or document what it does, how it does it and why. These people then leave the project and whenever a new coder has to use the code it might involve some guessing on the new coder's part and a lot of "that will take too much time to fix or rewrite" on the manager's.

Actually... this problem occurs a lot anywhere. Look around the room you are sitting in. I'm sure there is something there in the room you've been meaning to do but haven't because meh you'll do it some other day.

[Raksha]

and my point was that alot of good mages dont moan about the blinking and all the crap ones do,

You realize that these "good mages" probably are using windower right?

[darkvision]

You realize that these "good mages" probably are using windower right?

actually not all are

[Retsujo]

Personally, I use <t> in my macros and use F-keys to target party members. Alliance members can get annoying sometimes, but it's really not so bad.

[Raksha]

You realize that these "good mages" probably are using windower right?


actually not all ADMIT IT

Fixed that for you.

http://www.jpbutton.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/graph8windower.png

[Mirage]

while stal is good, it sometimes is very annoying to not know how far away your target is. Without blinking, you could use stpc and always know exactly where your targets are, within the party anyway.

A way to "lock" a character model while in battle would be excellent, then the gear could update whenever you /check them or he was no longer in combat.

[Laraul]

I am just wondering why DEVs says that it isn't -possible- to change. Not technically possible? Cannot be true as we all know that certain tools allow players to perform a such thing. If something can be performed by a third party tool, how come it cannot be implemented natively?

They mean it's not easily do-able unless they do a major rebuild of how the game works. And there are serious consequences to disabling the ability for the game to redraw the character's updated equipment. "Blinkmenot"... the third party tool you are likely referring to, demonstrated. When activated, it disables updated gear changes. Including your own. This becomes an issue when fighting beats that have abilities that remove equipment. You can be fighting campaigning and have NO idea you character is not swinging it's sword but fighting bare fisted.

[Laraul]

Want to point out the issue isn't blinking, it's the fact that the target is lost upon a gear swap. Blinking has nothing to do with anything here.

[RAIST]

Want to point out the issue isn't blinking, it's the fact that the target is lost upon a gear swap. Blinking has nothing to do with anything here.

loosing the target is the side effect of the redrawing of your toon, so they go hand in hand. If the toon isn't redrawn, the target is not lost. That's why <stal> and <stpt> work around it--the actual targe is on the menu and not toon.

[Miera]

I agree to some people here on this situation, <stpt> and <stal> doe have some pros and cons. I use stpt a lot but it still has a big disadvantage like when targeting them and the game telling you he's too far away moving closer and doing it again, it nothing because for some reason he is too far away by that time that person is already dead. Just because a mage complains about someone blinking and the tank, Mele or whoever dies doesn't automatically make it the Mage's fault. people need to lighten up.

[Windblade]

We brought this matter up with the development team and we were informed that unfortunately it’s not possible to change. As many of you have stated previously (in other threads as well) it is possible to prevent targeting problems through the use of certain macros ( stpc, etc.). We encourage and recommend that you utilize these as a way to avoid targeting issues with frequent blinkers.

I tried using <stpt> when I was engaged fighting the monster and the annoyance there is that I have to grab my mouse and click the name in the party list, which slows me down considerably. I never touch the mouse for anything when playing FFXI. <stpt> would be great if I could still use F1-F6 to target people in my own party while also fighting the monster, instead of having to use the mouse.

[Windblade]

Elemental stave's beg to differ. Why would you want to punish players who utilize the benefits of multiple pieces of gear.

It's not punishing them. It's fixing something that never should have been there. Why not replace blinking with an animation of that character changing clothes? That's what they're doing: changing clothes right in the middle of a battle. And if one MUST carry five body armors, sixteen rings, five pairs of boots, etc... just to have success in a fight, then the monster is overpowered. Selecting armor and weapons should be about finding a good balance. Get more attack or less defense. Get less defense or more attack...but taking a bunch of gear so you can change it all out for every move you command....well, I understand that's what some people want to do. I actually do it, myself, sometimes with rings, belts, and neck pieces. But it wouldn't bother me to sacrifice it if it means characters stop blinking. And again, I also wouldn't mind if gear swapping remained as long as the player's character actually has to be animated physically changing his gear, during which time he would NOT be hitting the mob....but changing clothes.

[RAIST]

I tried using <stpt> when I was engaged fighting the monster and the annoyance there is that I have to grab my mouse and click the name in the party list, which slows me down considerably. I never touch the mouse for anything when playing FFXI. <stpt> would be great if I could still use F1-F6 to target people in my own party while also fighting the monster, instead of having to use the mouse.

I don't use keyboard mouse (hooked up PS2 controller via cheap $5 USB adaptor), but I would think you could use your arrow/Enter keys just like you can with other menus....just a thought.

[Yugl]

I like how some of the mages refusing to upgrade their macros to <stpt> and <stal> are the same people complaining about PS2 players not upgrading.

[Urteil]

This only highlights their incompetence.


Get some real programmers.

[Ihnako]

Name one other MMO where swapping gear causes your character to blink and shed everyone's targeting of them.
Name a game besides FFXI that allowes exzessive gearchanging while fighting?
Most MMOs I know force you to have one gearset for each situation that occur and you have to change it before you fight.

But back to topic
The option to "bind" the appearence of yourself and/or other players wouldn't hurt while there's still one problem to solve - what about weapons? It would be confusing to see someone hack'n'slash a NM with a slow swinging weapon like on drugs cause he's actually using daggers/katanas.


This only highlights their incompetence.


Get some real programmers.
Before you state that SE doesn't have the men(tal)power for a solution, write an application so SE could hire you.

[Catsby]

Before you state that SE doesn't have the men(tal)power for a solution, write an application so SE could hire you.

Wouldn't matter. FFXI is JP onry. Go look at their credits.

[Mirage]

But back to topic
The option to "bind" the appearence of yourself and/or other players wouldn't hurt while there's still one problem to solve - what about weapons? It would be confusing to see someone hack'n'slash a NM with a slow swinging weapon like on drugs cause he's actually using daggers/katanas.

Easy, don't allow locking of weapons.

[Hyaki]

I can't believe some people still think stpt/stal can solve the problem entirely.
I use stpt/stal since the first day they came, I just tell you: that's not as easy as somebody ever thought, there are still problems.
I can't trust someone who claim to be playing support role jobs but don't understand how stpt/stal won't work with F# keys, how many times you need to hit your arrow keys and how hard to *guess* the distance between you and your target without using third party application if you can't see the arrow mark on your target.

Do not ever try to teach me how to play with macro, even since I can feel these problem, I cure MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE than some WHMs who may not think blinking is a problem.
And I do write my own code parser in my work, if you really have question on my "macro" skill.

Blinking is a problem unless you use BlinkMeNot. If you don't admit it, you are not really playing support role jobs.
Can handle the cure job doesn't mean we should ignore the problem.

[Hyaki]

OMG A THREAD NECROMANCER!?

[Ihnako]

I can't believe some people still think stpt/stal can solve the problem entirely.
I use stpt/stal since the first day they came, I just tell you: that's not as easy as somebody ever thought, there are still problems.
I can't trust someone who claim to be playing support role jobs but don't understand how stpt/stal won't work with F# keys, how many times you need to hit your arrow keys and how hard to *guess* the distance between you and your target without using third party application if you can't see the arrow mark on your target.Even without 3'rd party tools and direct targeting you have to guess the distance. So I don't understand what you'r talking about.


Do not ever try to teach me how to play with macro, even since I can feel these problem, I cure MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE than some WHMs who may not think blinking is a problem.
And I do write my own code parser in my work, if you really have question on my "macro" skill.What do you want to say? You don't like to use macros or alternative ways of targeting?
Let the DD's die but don't blame the game for your playstyle.


Blinking is a problem unless you use BlinkMeNot. If you don't admit it, you are not really playing support role jobs.
Can handle the cure job doesn't mean we should ignore the problem.Again - It's part of your playstyle. Not mine and I don't feel that it is that bad. I can use alternative ways like the allready named one and I don't need a 3'rd party tool for that. Regardles of low men events or full alliances.

Remember cause the traffic light is red - it's up to you if you want to cross or not.

[Raksha]

Even without 3'rd party tools and direct targeting you have to guess the distance. So I don't understand what you'r talking about.


normal tagetting brings up the gold arrow on the character so you can see how far away he/she is. <stpt/stal> brings up a little blue arrow on pt/alliance sidebar that gives you no indication of where the character actually is. If for instance all of the melee run in to blitz you might not be able to see the guy you're targeting.




What do you want to say? You don't like to use macros or alternative ways of targeting?
Let the DD's die but don't blame the game for your playstyle.


I think you read that incorrectly.



Again - It's part of your playstyle. Not mine and I don't feel that it is that bad. I can use alternative ways like the allready named one and I don't need a 3'rd party tool for that. Regardles of low men events or full alliances.


Play style doesn't matter. Unless you use blinkmenot you have to use half-assed workarounds to effectively heal.
Just because There are imperfect solutions doesnt mean we should stop trying to fix the problem.

[Mirage]

Not being shown visually where the target is is probably the most annoying thing about stal/stpt. The other is that F1-F6 is much quicker, was it not for the chance of losing your target when something blinks.

[Ihnako]

As a supporter I'm not interested where my target is. That's not my job/concern.
I'm supposed to heal and support and not watch a beautifull landscape therefor it's easiere to target with the little blue arrow cause I'll stop right there where my spell should land regardless of where my target is right now (left, right, in front or in my back and that's what you can't do with the other arrow)

And I didn't read it incorrectly - to get personel - you blame the game for the fact that it didn't match your playstyle. But the game is out there for years and you'r still not adepted?

And again - there are severeal workarounds that work even better than direct targeting.

[Raksha]

As a supporter I'm not interested where my target is. That's not my job/concern.
I'm supposed to heal and support and not watch a beautifull landscape therefor it's easiere to target with the little blue arrow cause I'll stop right there where my spell should land regardless of where my target is right now (left, right, in front or in my back and that's what you can't do with the other arrow)


If my target is out of range, that is of interest to me. As a SCH who has AoE buffs/cures, I need to know where my target(s) is(/are) so I can hit everyone I need to hit. You CAN do all of those things with the gold arrow -- as long as no one blinks.




And I didn't read it incorrectly - to get personel - you blame the game for the fact that it didn't match your playstyle. But the game is out there for years and you'r still not adepted?


Well for starters you weren't responding to me, but it seems to me that you did indeed read it incorrectly. He uses macros and uses them to the best of his ability. Sure we're blaming the game for having a lametarded targetting system. but he says (as it seems to me) that he uses the workarounds and keeps everyone healthy. You accused him of letting the DDs die, which as I read it was nowhere in his post.

I shouldn't be defending another person anyway, so take it up with him.



And again - there are severeal workarounds that work even better than direct targeting.

Such as? Writing the tanks name into your macros? Making a macro for every <p1-x> in the alliance?

I'd rather use blinkmenot, saves a lot of time and headache.

[Mirage]

Hey guys, reverse ergonomics is cool!

But do you know what I think would be really fun? If the game controls were right mouse button to run left, space to run right, and escape to move forward. It's no problem, we just have to get used to it!

[Laraul]

You should never select party/alliance members with right or left. UP and DOWN only! You should be able to target them even if they aren't on the screen. You can't using LEFT or RIGHT so you use UP and DOWN.

If you are too far away... try /follow <lastst>. Remember also to use /lockon and auto targeting. You toggle the lock with the heal key/button.

[Mirage]

You can? Cool.

[Ihnako]

So all you say is - cause the game has to load the whole character while the player is exzessive gearchanging - it's the games fault that you have to use 3rd party tools (btw. they are forbidden) or have let to die someone cause you'r not willing to use a workaround?

Sorry to say this again - but it's your playstile that didn't adept to the game. You can't drive on the right side while everyone is forced to use the left side by law. Learn to deal with it but don't blame anyone else but you.

[Arcon]

So all you say is - cause the game has to load the whole character while the player is exzessive gearchanging - it's the games fault that you have to use 3rd party tools (btw. they are forbidden) or have let to die someone cause you'r not willing to use a workaround?

Sorry to say this again - but it's your playstile that didn't adept to the game. You can't drive on the right side while everyone is forced to use the left side by law. Learn to deal with it but don't blame anyone else but you.

The purpose of these forums is feedback from the community. Part of that is pointing out mistakes and flaws in the current game design, not how adept we are at adapting to those flaws. Workarounds exists, and people use them, but they don't have to be happy about it.

[Ihnako]

The forum mods also answered to this issue and you still complain knowingly that to correct this issue would mean that the whole game has to be rewritten what also would mean that at least for the next 12 month nothing new would be implemented cause of a simple game mechanic you start to dislike after 5? 6? 7? 8? 9? years?

[Arcon]

The forum mods also answered to this issue and you still complain knowingly that to correct this issue would mean that the whole game has to be rewritten what also would mean that at least for the next 12 month nothing new would be implemented cause of a simple game mechanic you start to dislike after 5? 6? 7? 8? 9? years?

They didn't say the game would need to be rewritten, they didn't say anything other than "won't do it right now". And we know for a fact, that the whole game would not have to be rewritten, but that solutions exist which are small and efficient and were developed by people who don't even have access to the game's own source code.

And we've always disliked this, only before these forums people didn't have any real means to communicate with SE.

Edit:
And to answer your question, personally I would love SE if they took a year off to release FFXIv2.

[Ihnako]

The people who wrote the 3'rd party tool just disabled a function of the game itself.
That's not the solution - it's just another workaround.
Blinking wasn't a problem until 3'rd party tools became common.

So the solution - and I agree with you - would be to implement an option to disable the refresh of your/partymembers/others character models.
But then again:
- How could you tell that you/a certain partymember/aso. got (partialy) striped?
- How could you tell that you/a certain partymember/aso. use the right weapon (since it's part of the charactermodel)?

In the end - BMN is a halfhearted workaround and not a solution since you can't answer the two questions above without exzessively checking yourself/others or even more exzessively gearswaping.

[Arcon]

The people who wrote the 3'rd party tool just disabled a function of the game itself.
That's not the solution - it's just another workaround.
Blinking wasn't a problem until 3'rd party tools became common.

So the solution - and I agree with you - would be to implement an option to disable the refresh of your/partymembers/others character models.
But then again:
- How could you tell that you/a certain partymember/aso. got (partialy) striped?
- How could you tell that you/a certain partymember/aso. use the right weapon (since it's part of the charactermodel)?

In the end - BMN is a halfhearted workaround and not a solution since you can't answer the two questions above without exzessively checking yourself/others or even more exzessively gearswaping.

It's definitely not perfect, but SE's lazy try at a workaround, which was <stal>, is even worse. There are "perfect" ways to do it, which would be still allowing characters to blink, but not lose the target. We already know you can target objects without models (like before a player model loads or targets that don't have a model like ???s). So we already know the tools are there, it's just a matter of using them. No one wants the blinking to stop, we just want to be able to target people through blinking. That's the real issue, and that is the issue to which the mods haven't even replied yet, which is what frustrates me.

[Kristal]

But then again:
- How could you tell that you/a certain partymember/aso. got (partialy) striped?
- How could you tell that you/a certain partymember/aso. use the right weapon (since it's part of the charactermodel)?


/blockblink on
Characters will only reload their model when a weapon is swapped or they are out of sight and not targetted.

[Ihnako]

It's definitely not perfect, but SE's lazy try at a workaround, which was <stal>, is even worse. There are "perfect" ways to do it, which would be still allowing characters to blink, but not lose the target. We already know you can target objects without models (like before a player model loads or targets that don't have a model like ???s). So we already know the tools are there, it's just a matter of using them. ...
The problem is you'll lose your target when it get's invisible (spell/tools) and that's part of the game and it's ok (for invisible).
And the game itself doesn't distinguish between the spell/tool and/or a gearswap cause it's the same sub (has to reload the charactermodel anyway).

[Arcon]

The problem is you'll lose your target when it get's invisible (spell/tools) and that's part of the game and it's ok (for invisible).
And the game itself doesn't distinguish between the spell/tool and/or a gearswap cause it's the same sub (has to reload the charactermodel anyway).

You don't lose target on invisible, and it's not the same thing. It still has a model loaded when invisible (which you notice because the cursor isn't on the floor, which it would be if the target model didn't load yet), the model is saved but just set to transparent.

[Ihnako]

You loose target in case your target becomes invisible.

[Kristal]

You loose target in case your target becomes invisible.

Auto-follow + Invisible = Dead Man Walking!

[Retsujo]

You don't lose target when someone casts invisible, just when they swap gear. Your auto-follow cancels, however.

But that's what target-lock is for :3

[Ihnako]

Still the same issue

[Arcon]

You don't lose target when someone casts invisible, just when they swap gear. Your auto-follow cancels, however.

That's what I've been trying to tell them. Going invisible will not lose your target. If you're on /follow, it'll cancel, but that has nothing at all to do with targetting, since you can target anything you want while you /follow someone else. And, in fact, it will still not lose the target, just cancel the running. You can see this easiest if you "ghetto-follow" (auto-run + target lock), then you won't lose target, and thus you'll keep following them even if they go invisible.

[Ihnako]

In case your target get's invisible - you'll lose target regardless what you do. You still can target but that's not the question cause you also can target a blinking target.

[Retsujo]

In case your target get's invisible - you'll lose target regardless what you do. You still can target but that's not the question cause you also can target a blinking target.

But you... don't... lost target when someone goes invisible (Spell, Ninjutsu, Jig, etc). Only when they blink from swapping gear.

[Arcon]

But you... don't... lost target when someone goes invisible (Spell, Ninjutsu, Jig, etc). Only when they blink from swapping gear.

That's what I've been trying to say the last five posts. You do not lose target on invisible, not under any circumstance. Either he doesn't believe it or.. something else, I don't know.

[Mirage]

Maybe it would satisfy Ihnako if after this issue was fixed, there would be an option to keep target loss when blinking, so that s/he could keep this fantastic feature.

Also, lol at "no gear swap before 3rd party tools". If SE didn't want us to swap, they could just implement a 10 second delay for stats to take effect when changing gear.

[Hyaki]

Admit it, Ihnako:
We are not playing the same game.

Or you are just trolling here.

I am one of those so-called "good healer" who doesn't really need BlinkMeNot to handle the job, I played support role jobs long enough without using any third party tools.
But wrong means wrong, nothing can change it.
And <stpc> really works better than <stpt>/<stal> in many cases, if you have a heart of REAL supporter, you KNOW what I mean.
Also, I never lose my targets due to casting Invisible on them.
Try and learn it yourself.

[Hyaki]

Maybe it would satisfy Ihnako if after this issue was fixed, there would be an option to keep target loss when blinking, so that s/he could keep this fantastic feature.

Also, lol at "no gear swap before 3rd party tools". If SE didn't want us to swap, they could just implement a 10 second delay for stats to take effect when changing gear.

I really think SE should implement a delay, since I believe SE doesn't want us to swap too.
But "no gear swap before 3rd party tools"? Who said that? What does that mean?

[Ihnako]

Admit it, Ihnako:
We are not playing the same game.

Or you are just trolling here.
Obviously cause I don't need (forbidden) 3'rd party tools to be a good supporter.

EDIT: Nobody said "no gear swaping before 3'rd party tools." But with 3'rd party tools it got overboard/easier since you can swap gear with one button considering day/weather/weapon/food/aso.

[Retsujo]

3rd party tools has nothing to do with the fact that you do not lose target when someone gains the status enhancement of invisible, so I don't understand your argument.

[Laraul]

Question... has it ever occurred to anyone that maybe you should swap the 8 gears pieces that lead to your character "blinking" less often? Or just focus on swapping the gear that doesn't make you "blink" like rings and waist/back gear? I mean this is a non issue for the most part. Adjust your style of play just a little... and everyone will be a little happier...

[Arcon]

Question... has it ever occurred to anyone that maybe you should swap the 8 gears pieces that lead to your character "blinking" less often? Or just focus on swapping the gear that doesn't make you "blink" like rings and waist/back gear? I mean this is a non issue for the most part. Adjust your style of play just a little... and everyone will be a little happier...

No, it has not occurred to me. It has not occurred to me to play worse, to not have to deal with flaws in the game. It still doesn't occur to me. And if it occurs to you, then you just admitted yourself that you're, knowingly and willingly, a worse player than you could be.

[Retsujo]

Swapping gear is a "Problem" for a reason, and anyone who doesn't take full advantage of swapping the gear they have to some other gear they have that better enhances the ability/spell you're about to use is just plain being lazy. Why would you settle for less when you could do so much more?

[Mirage]

I really think SE should implement a delay, since I believe SE doesn't want us to swap too.
But "no gear swap before 3rd party tools"? Who said that? What does that mean?
Ihnako said that, i was disagreeing.

[Ihnako]

Ihnako said that, i was disagreeing.

In posting?
In case you quote quote with the right lines and not what you'r wishing.

[Mirage]

Don't see why i should have to. Don't you read your own posts?

[Ihnako]

I read my own and I never wrote what you imply.
So - where and when - posting #?

You can't so you'r spreading a misstatement.
Have fun.

[Raksha]

The people who wrote the 3'rd party tool just disabled a function of the game itself.
That's not the solution - it's just another workaround.
Blinking wasn't a problem until 3'rd party tools became common.

So the solution - and I agree with you - would be to implement an option to disable the refresh of your/partymembers/others character models.
But then again:
- How could you tell that you/a certain partymember/aso. got (partialy) striped?
- How could you tell that you/a certain partymember/aso. use the right weapon (since it's part of the charactermodel)?

In the end - BMN is a halfhearted workaround and not a solution since you can't answer the two questions above without exzessively checking yourself/others or even more exzessively gearswaping.

I think this is what he was referring to.

[Ihnako]

That may be - but I still didn't say what he/she implyed.
Cause "Blinking wasn't a problem until 3'rd party tools became common."
#1 Most people are too lazy to hit more than one macro for one action they want to perform.
#2 You have to deal with a limited line number and a limited set of accessibe macros. (before the big patch 200 macros at all, now 4.000)
#3 The majority played the game on PS2 or XBOX who can't use anything other than that what the game comes with.

With the ability to write macros that have an infinit number of lines and/or a scripted/(half)automated system where you can even change your whole gear by what you want to do without worrying about what day/weather/time/aso it is, more people became blinking on a regular basis.

[Retsujo]

#1 Most people are too lazy to hit more than one macro for one action they want to perform.
#3 The majority played the game on PS2 or XBOX who can't use anything other than that what the game comes with.

All of my console friends write out 2-3 macros just for the gear swap, and have seperate macros for the WS, and each ability has their own macro. I don't have a single friend on my friendslist who only scarcely macros the jobs they love to play. Maybe most of the people you know play their jobs half-asked, but to those of us who like the mathematics behind making our character stronger in each situation, we get the macros done.

And in fact, I'm sure most of the 'blinking' problems originally complained in this thread was because of the players that have to write multiple macros for a gear swap for one action. Several seconds worth of gear swapping is much worse on a mage than a single macro from a 3rd party tool that can do it all at once.

Your argument is trying to say that blinking people are mostly just people who use 3rd party tools and are spoiled with the flexibility - but when you put together the whole reason people have been complaining about blinking, the logic behind people that do use 3rd party tools and those that don't, and that most people really aren't lazy about their macros, you really only end up looking quite silly to the rest of us.

[Ihnako]

All of my console friends write out 2-3 macros just for the gear swap, and have seperate macros for the WS, and each ability has their own macro. I don't have a single friend on my friendslist who only scarcely macros the jobs they love to play. Maybe most of the people you know play their jobs half-asked, but to those of us who like the mathematics behind making our character stronger in each situation, we get the macros done.

And in fact, I'm sure most of the 'blinking' problems originally complained in this thread was because of the players that have to write multiple macros for a gear swap for one action. Several seconds worth of gear swapping is much worse on a mage than a single macro from a 3rd party tool that can do it all at once.

Your argument is trying to say that blinking people are mostly just people who use 3rd party tools and are spoiled with the flexibility - but when you put together the whole reason people have been complaining about blinking, the logic behind people that do use 3rd party tools and those that don't, and that most people really aren't lazy about their macros, you really only end up looking quite silly to the rest of us.
#1 I can tell you that you'r and my friendlist isn't representative in case when it comes to use macros. Cause different playstyle and different goals lead to what type of macroset you'll use.
I can say - I don't switch that much gear when it comes to 08/15 situations cause it's basicly not necessary cause we'r talking about a differenc of less than 1%. Under certain circumstances there's to change more gear.
#2 Changing gear with 1 or 10 macros doesn't have an impact of how often you blink - it's how fast you hit your macro and how good you manage to put items in a macro that would lead to blink and items who not. So basicly you have to hit 2 macros that would blink and one that doesn't. And I can hit 3 within one blink animation.
So there's no big deal esp. when it comes to a comparsion between what's ingame and what's possible due to 3'rd party tools. (btw. still forbidden - rtfm)

What I was saying is that with the possible automation that 3'rd party tools offer - people tend to use it cause of the "I want to get the last 0.001% of what's possible" without reconsidering what they are doing and what impact it would/could have.
My opinion - Use what's ingame and in case a supporter can't support cause he isn't using 3'rd party tools - who cares about him? And the same goes for every other job - in case the tank is about to die cause he massively blinks - not my fault. Not everyone is a FFXI-otaku/nerd. That's what's called TEAMWORK. And it's right - There is no I in Team.

[FrankReynolds]

I played this game for 3 years on nothing but consoles, and I had at least 25 macros for every job. Blinking is actually less of a problem now than it was back before 3rd party tools. Blinking 2-3 times because you hit 3 gear swap macros has the same effect as blinking 2-3 times because you used spellcast to swap gear. Sucking at your job because you don't want a lazy Mage to have to write some macros is dumb. It is tedious to write a whole Macro set, but once you have them made there is little upkeep involved. There is no "Team" in blink.

[Retsujo]

- in case the tank is about to die cause he massively blinks - not my fault. Not everyone is a FFXI-otaku/nerd. That's what's called TEAMWORK. And it's right - There is no I in Team.

Making adjustments to your own macros to better deal with dying blinkers is in no way making you an otaku or nerd in any respect. This crap is what we're all saying: When a tank dies because you couldn't get cures off due to his gear swaps, you shouldn't be saying "you should've thought about that!" Instead, you should be thinking to yourself "what can I do to work around that so it doesn't happen again?"

You don't have to be some kind of genius to look at your various options for a work-around. It's not rocket surgery.

The reason people care about that 0.001% extra of whatever and have gear swaps has everything to do with teamwork. The better you can do as an individual, the more you can bring to the team for great success. If you are too lazy to find a way to keep massive blinkers targeted for spells, then you need to perform a bit of teamwork yourself and communicate with your group to use less gear swaps because you won't deal with that thin extra layer of annoyance.

[Mirage]

If a tank is blinking a lot and in danger of dying, it's probably because he's trying to stay alive, and in turn keep the party alive. You should do your best support him in this, which means using macros that aren't affected by the blinking problem. If you don't do this, I think you are a terrible healer. Maybe you should pick up a different job?

Each second I save on my utsu recast timers from swapping from eva into haste gear is a cure you don't have to cast, you should be thankful.

[Ihnako]

We have 2 problems.
#1 The nerds that think 0.001% of extra damage is necessary in every situation what will cause an avarage player to not fullfill it's role.
I say - there are situations where it's fine to get the last out of your equipment but you should have a team that is used to your playstyle otherwise it's just a show off what you'r capabe with the result that you'll hurt your own party.

#2 There are ways of targeting people that are not affected by blinking.
Yes - teach everyone to switch from lazy F1 - F6 to a more reliable way of targeting and at least you'll see an improvement in the overall performace of your party and alliance cause most ways support the ability to support the members of your alliance when it's necessary.

But remember - not eveyone is playing this game since release and not everyone is used to what people call hardcore gamer (I call them otaku/nerds) so it's your responsebility to watch what you'r doing. In case you'r about to die cause the healer isn't able to target you - slow down, give him a break and make an agreement where booth of you can enjoy the game.

As I sayd in an earlier posting - I'm the last who won't support the idea of disableling blinking with the onboard tools that FFXI could have.
But it would still have draw backs and until the day a soulution to blinking is made by the developers - you can still use what's ingame and don't have blame people in case a certain spell isn't hitting it's meant target.

[FrankReynolds]

I like blinking, and I don't know how to write macros.

I don't think it has ever occurred to me to put my controller down and target using F1-F6. I guess I'm a nerd because I use a 360 controller.

[Arlan]

Actually, I've had the cures fail with <stpt> <stal> when I was targeting myself and selecting someone else. When I blinked the target was on me and depoped. I've also had a problem where in congested abby parties where I could use <stpt> and <stal> just fine but the player wasn't spawned so it treated them as too far away even though I was standing right next to them.

You lack knowledge about how some platforms and systems react. Not everyone has the same advantages/disadvantages. All SE needs to do is create an option >>

/noswap on

Bam problem fixed when a character changes gear the system will ignore all visual gear updates.

using >>

/noswap off

Would force an update and re-enable auto updates on gear swaps.

Currently anytime someone changes gear the *client* forces and update. If that feature could be turned off then it wouldn't be an issue for anyone. Currently if you swap belts an nonn-visble gear you don't see blinking. THe reason you see blinking is because visible gear was swapped and had a forced update. This is all very simple to fix at the client side.

I actually like this idea!
I was just picturing it happening in ffxi:

I pictured myself using the /noswap on and everyone's gear stayed the same and I was like, "Sweet!" lol
I defiantly support this.

[Arlan]

No, it has not occurred to me. It has not occurred to me to play worse, to not have to deal with flaws in the game. It still doesn't occur to me. And if it occurs to you, then you just admitted yourself that you're, knowingly and willingly, a worse player than you could be.

lol Arrogant....

[Arcon]

lol Arrogant....

Your point being?

[Tohihroyu]

Funny how the Devs completely ignore the talk & bragging/use of that third party program, guess you guys are more in the clear then you thought lol

[FrankReynolds]

Funny how the Devs completely ignore the talk & bragging/use of that third party program, guess you guys are more in the clear then you thought lol

Didn't you have a statement about how you use .dat mods in your signature? where did that go? Maybe you should go find it.

[Seiowan]

if you were so inclined you could replace every body armour dat with one particular one and do that for every slot for every race.

then no one would ever blink on your screen.

However everyone would all look alike and the game would be very lame, lol
People already look the same, because they're usually equipping the best gear they can for the job. I would personally love the ability to 'lock in' armor appearance as I'm not a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed hood on the WHM AF. The stats on it, however, are unrivalled so it's a must for any self-respecting healer.

No doubt there are technical reasons why they can't implement this, but it's always nice to dream. I've always loved the look of Nobles/Blessed combo (Noble's Tunic w/ Blessed everything else) for WHM but we've moved away from the days where it was some of our best gear. Now its just 'okay'.

[Aramaru]

I like how some dudes "solution" to this is "use a macro that does x", when it not only doesn't solve the annoying blinking, but it also makes the actual spell list useless.. ;0

Honestly, an easy solution? Make it so if you have enmity of any kind, you can only switch items which DONT cause you to 'blink', like earrings/rings, with the exception of weapons. Since changing weapons empties your TP, only mages themselves will be doing it mid-battle, and probably just to rest or make a spell harder to resist. In which case they're unlikely to be the ones targeted and thus won't annoy the healers. Yay?

[Arcon]

Honestly, I wouldn't mind if they disabled gear swaps during battle completely. May sound odd coming from me, but I only try to be as good as the game lets me. If the game wouldn't allow it, I'd be ok with it. Besides, it would help my inventory a lot, which is probably my biggest issue in the game right now.