[Suggestion] Consolidating Equip Macros

[Demon6324236]

What you should understand though is that the mechanic has already had a statement in this thread on the issue raised, and for the time being their development team aren't able willing to change it.

SE said no, it is our jobs as fans to speak out in outrage when the company makes bad choices by telling them what we as fans believe they are doing wrong, and how we think it would be best to correct these flaws. In this case, macros are messed up because you have to hit 3 for 1 action most players use, which is causing many players either annoyance or to cheat, which they should want to stop by fixing their problems in a way we are saying that allows no cheating and would cause less people to use 3rd party programs.

[Jerbob]

The position of the developers on this topic is completely unacceptable. In a game that (for a lot of people) relies so heavily on macro-controlled equipment changes, the system should be as streamlined as possible. There's so much potential to make the macro system better with just a little time investment.

I understand the rules that the development team apparently use (thanks to Okipuit for brining this thread to their attention), but really they do not prohibit the kinds of enhanced functionality being proposed. Complete automation would obviously be a negative thing, but that doesn't mean that there can't be failsafes in place to prevent more than, for example, 6 macros from being called in a row. It just takes a little thought and willingness, and quite frankly it is not our job to tell the developers how to make these things work. I already pay them to do that. If complete autonomy is a negative potential concequence of enhancing macros, deal with it! Don't use it as an excuse.

People have been making lots of gearswaps in one go for years. Manually chaining macros is one (cumbersome) way of doing it. Cheating using third party tools is another - and one that I find particularly frustrating to see in others as it just demonstrates exactly how valuable such functionality is. The difficulty of the game is at least in part based on people who can already do this, as SE adjusts their "new" content to match the capabilities of the players - and this is before going into how unenjoyable it is to spam macros when you just want to be the best that you can be.

In short:
- There is no technical excuse for not enhancing macros because people have been doing it for years already.
- There is no botting/automation excuse for not enhancing macros because failsafes can easily be put into place to prevent this.
- There is no reason to look into breaking the rule of "one thing per line" - alternatives can be found.

I would appeal to our community representatives to put this general idea before the developers again. It would be a "quality of life" update unlike any other in the history of FFXI, as far as I am concerned, as well as a firm start on levelling the playing field between the people who use third party tools to gain an unfair advantage and those that do not.

...and we appreciate your understanding.

There is no understanding for you to appreciate. I am very annoyed to hear this. I had high hopes for the user interface updates, but no longer.

[0nionKn1ght]

I personally am hoping to see most of Windower's functions absorbed into the game client, but judging on SE's previous attempt (the built in one they added last year) and their lack of any kind of technical design ability, I am not going to put any stock into expecting it.

A permanent player TP viewer without the need for macro commands - Mandatory
Windowed functions without the performance drop the built in one gives - Mandatory
Extended Macro Functionality - Would be nice, but not mandatory
Drawdistance toggles - Would be nice, and should already be ingame, but not mandatory
Cooldowns displayed clearly - On the fence between mandatory and passive on this one

Looking at FFXIV, we can see their tech knowledge is verging on the non-existant. Playonline is a horrible login system to use, and they continued to use a similar one for XIV. Using WoW's launcher as a perfect example here. The launcher auto updates, takes minimal resources, and intelligently patches, rarely needing a full reinstall, but FFXI's requires a client and launcher patch, and then a second client patch after subscribing. The technical workings behind it are awful, and it takes roughly 4 minutes to get from desktop to game login screen every time. In WoW, Rift, AoC, I can be ingame in around 20 seconds.

Those are problems I would like to see fixed first.

[Cowardlybabooon]

Devs, let us make gear sets and keep your precious one command per line.

[Volarione]

I personally am hoping to see most of Windower's functions absorbed into the game client, but judging on SE's previous attempt (the built in one they added last year) and their lack of any kind of technical design ability, I am not going to put any stock into expecting it.

A permanent player TP viewer without the need for macro commands - Mandatory
Windowed functions without the performance drop the built in one gives - Mandatory
Extended Macro Functionality - Would be nice, but not mandatory
Drawdistance toggles - Would be nice, and should already be ingame, but not mandatory
Cooldowns displayed clearly - On the fence between mandatory and passive on this one

Looking at FFXIV, we can see their tech knowledge is verging on the non-existant. Playonline is a horrible login system to use, and they continued to use a similar one for XIV. Using WoW's launcher as a perfect example here. The launcher auto updates, takes minimal resources, and intelligently patches, rarely needing a full reinstall, but FFXI's requires a client and launcher patch, and then a second client patch after subscribing. The technical workings behind it are awful, and it takes roughly 4 minutes to get from desktop to game login screen every time. In WoW, Rift, AoC, I can be ingame in around 20 seconds.

Those are problems I would like fixed first.

We get it you don't need more macro space, but I for one would love just 4 more lines in my macro. If only so I can customize more. I for one don't care about draw distance or to veiwer but hey that's me, with more macro space I could echo a to check into all my spells and abilities.

[Jackstin]

I think limiting the number lf equips you can change is good. It adds an element of choice and strategy, instead of just getting the best equipment and everyone being identical due to OCD.

The problem is more that SE don't care about people who use third party programs. It puts the rest of the playerbase at a disadvantage.

Either SE needs to allow full gear swaps, or they need to be tougher on 3rd party tools. To be bonest, I'd rather see the second option.

[FrankReynolds]

I think limiting the number lf equips you can change is good. It adds an element of choice and strategy, instead of just getting the best equipment and everyone being identical due to OCD.

The problem is more that SE don't care about people who use third party programs. It puts the rest of the playerbase at a disadvantage.

Either SE needs to allow full gear swaps, or they need to be tougher on 3rd party tools. To be bonest, I'd rather see the second option.

I looked in the fridge today and saw that there was a carton of eggs, a pack of bacon and some bread. I decided that I was going to make scrambled eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast.

My girlfriend said "You can't have scrambled eggs toast and bacon. You can only have one of those things. I'm throwing the rest out. Sorry that you bought them. But look, I gave you a choice. Isn't that fun?"

I said "But why would you only want one thing for breakfast when you could have three?"

She said "it has always been my intention to never dirty more than one pan when making breakfast"

I said "fine,I will cook the bacon and the eggs and toast in the same pan."

She stared blankly and then threw my eggs and bacon in the trash, so I threw her out of my house. As she was walking to her car, some guy proceeded to tell me how mean I was and that being mean to her wouldn't make her change her mind. My neighbors all said in unison "Who the hell are you? Mind your own business."

[Jackstin]

I looked in the fridge today and saw that there was a carton of eggs, a pack of bacon and some bread. I decided that I was going to make scrambled eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast.

My girlfriend said "You can't have scrambled eggs toast and bacon. You can only have one of those things. I'm throwing the rest out. Sorry that you bought them. But look, I gave you a choice. Isn't that fun?"

I said "But why would you only want one thing for breakfast when you could have three?"

She said "it has always been my intention to never dirty more than one pan when making breakfast"

I said "fine,I will cook the bacon and the eggs and toast in the same pan."

She stared blankly and then threw my eggs and bacon in the trash, so I threw her out of my house. As she was walking to her car, some guy proceeded to tell me how mean I was and that being mean to her wouldn't make her change her mind. My neighbors all said in unison "Who the hell are you? Mind your own business."

Final Fantasy XI is a game. One of the distinguishing features of a game is its limits. Roleplaying games in particular are known for being large scale games underpinned by core rules. Your real life analogies aren't equivalents.

My point is simple, I'm going to use White Mage as an example because it is the one job I've found people pressure you into using windower. If you can change every piece of gear then for HMP you just buy a load of MP healing equips, for Idle, you just stack a load of refreshes together, haste is self explanatory, PDT. Everyone has the same gearsets! The only thing that separates people is how much time they've devoted to getting every single good piece.

Now I'm going to limit you to changing six pieces, and keeping the rest static. Which six pieces would you choose? Would you make the static pieces all round pieces, or maybe you'd specialise in healing, or fast cast, or you just want a fat stack of MP. When you get Arka IV you may no longer have to switch in Facio Bliaut so you have the future to think about as well. If nobody was allowed to use these third party tools then the game could become more strategic and interesting.

[cidbahamut]

My point is simple, I'm going to use White Mage as an example because it is the one job I've found people pressure you into using windower. If you can change every piece of gear then for HMP you just buy a load of MP healing equips, for Idle, you just stack a load of refreshes together, haste is self explanatory, PDT. Everyone has the same gearsets! The only thing that separates people is how much time they've devoted to getting every single good piece.

And this would be different from any other game on the market...how exactly?

[Jackstin]

And this would be different from any other game on the market...how exactly?

Ah videogame enthusiasts. Aspiring to conventional mediocrity since the 80s.