Aggro Icon

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Originally Posted by Wooba

What does keeping track of mileage in your head have to do with recalling which mobs aggro and which don't?

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Because there are people that keep claiming that it should all be done from memory, instead of something that makes your life a little easier.

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Originally Posted by Wooba

The aggro icon itself isn't the issue, it is the mentality people have about it. What is so wrong about it? Is it because it is ugly, or because it is too helpful? Any feature that makes the game easier to play gets large amounts of hate from the Hardcore players. This is true of all games. The reason people hate the Aggro icon (Other than it being ugly as Gary Busey) is the simple fact that Hardcore players don't want the new players to have a luxury they didn't have.

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I think you hit the nail on the head, Wooba. I think there's a lot of misplaced annoyance going on about this because of the 'old man' syndrome (see this thread). Just because we didn't have it back in our day, doesn't mean it isn't a good idea now.

FFXIV needs to move into the future. Evolve or die.

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Originally Posted by Rowyne

Because there are people that keep claiming that it should all be done from memory, instead of something that makes your life a little easier.



I think you hit the nail on the head, Wooba. I think there's a lot of misplaced annoyance going on about this because of the 'old man' syndrome (see this thread). Just because we didn't have it back in our day, doesn't mean it isn't a good idea now.

FFXIV needs to move into the future. Evolve or die.

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The thing is i understand 100% why the aggro icon has been implemented and i still believe it should be switch down to the target.

I think if i was a new MMO player i would enjoy the feeling of 'Oh crap, what was that? Will it kill me?'
Instead of 'Hey! Oh you have a big red star, wont go that way then.'

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Originally Posted by Rowyne

Because there are people that keep claiming that it should all be done from memory, instead of something that makes your life a little easier.



I think you hit the nail on the head, Wooba. I think there's a lot of misplaced annoyance going on about this because of the 'old man' syndrome (see this thread). Just because we didn't have it back in our day, doesn't mean it isn't a good idea now.

FFXIV needs to move into the future. Evolve or die.

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This is not a case of old man syndrome. I would be the first to admit it if it was, because I am a proponent of change, and would usher in a thousand improvements into this game, given the chance. In my opinion, this aggro indicator isn't an improvement. Not for old players, not for new players.

As I've said before, convenience isn't always the best thing. Just because it makes the game easier for new players by telling them which monsters are aggressive, it also deprives new players of many interesting experiences.

I don't want the game to be hard on new players out of maliciousness and spite, I simply don't want to deprive them of the sense of wonder/adventure. Not everyone who plays an MMO plays it to rush through to endgame. Some people like the adventure. The journey is supposed to be as much fun as the destination.

Not knowing what things aggro (usually you can make educated guesses though) is half the fun.

While the aggro indicator is unsightly, that is not the primary reason I dislike it. It's what the indicator stands for which I don't approve of. It strips the game of some of its charm and character, and essentially makes the aggressive mobs into nothing more than that, mobs.

Yoshi said that what this game needed was more peril and danger, and he was absolutely right. The aggro indicator, however, is in direct opposition to that. It makes the world safer... not only safe, but boring.

Not only do the devleopers insist on removing mob behaviours and mannerisms, but now it seems they also want to remove the threat/danger that the agressive mobs pose.

Why have aggressive mobs with talons, teeth, claws and other visible hallmarks of a vicious animal if you're just going to advertise the aggression in another, more overt and unnatural way?

When did MMOs become so mathematical and so soulless?

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Originally Posted by gifthorse

In my opinion, this aggro indicator isn't an improvement. Not for old players, not for new players.

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I'm glad we can agree that it's an opinion. In your opinion it's not necessary. In mine, it is.

For me, new and interesting experiences have more to do with lore, exploring landscapes and dungeons, and the visual appearances of said monsters. I'm more intimidated by fangs, claws and sheer size and seeing something that tells me it's a level 100 boss with skull/crossbones and stay away, will eat you for lunch. The fun part doesn't come from approaching it and seeing if it rips my face off or not. Death =/= fun.

Despite the fact that I haven't played FFXI in four years, it instilled in me a great fear of death due to losing XP and possibly deleveling. I don't like being terrified of the unknown all the time, otherwise I'd go play a game with world PvP.

But everybody has a different playstyle. =)

It's becoming obvious that the only way to make everyone happy on this point is to make it an option. Options are good.

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Originally Posted by Rowyne

It's becoming obvious that the only way to make everyone happy on this point is to make it an option. Options are good.

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I concur. This is a good compromise solution. Are we all agreed?

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Originally Posted by Rowyne

I'm glad we can agree that it's an opinion. In your opinion it's not necessary. In mine, it is.

For me, new and interesting experiences have more to do with lore, exploring landscapes and dungeons, and the visual appearances of said monsters. I'm more intimidated by fangs, claws and sheer size and seeing something that tells me it's a level 100 boss with skull/crossbones and stay away, will eat you for lunch. The fun part doesn't come from approaching it and seeing if it rips my face off or not. Death =/= fun.

Despite the fact that I haven't played FFXI in four years, it instilled in me a great fear of death due to losing XP and possibly deleveling. I don't like being terrified of the unknown all the time, otherwise I'd go play a game with world PvP.

But everybody has a different playstyle. =)

It's becoming obvious that the only way to make everyone happy on this point is to make it an option. Options are good.

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I pity your outlook on things. If you play an MMO to explore landscapes, dungeons, and encounter mobs, then you of all people should be able to appreciate the lack of tact that an aggro indicator has. An aggro indicator is just a convenient and inartistic way of displaying a mobs behaviour. They should strive to take a more artistic and realistic approach to display aggresion: i.e., making the aggressive monsters look ferocious.

Oh wait, what do you know, 99% of them DO look ferocious!

wow... 21 pages....

i dont like the "icon" part about the feature, but i like the feature, couldnt they just make the name of the mob red instead of adding an icon? well it wont kill me or bug me a lot.


not really expecting them to do any asap change to this feature, but would be nice if they tuned it a bit to suit "most" ppl as you cant please all.


i dont see why the walls of texts and the number of pages.

couldnt we have a list in the first post stating how many ppl like vs dislike the feature and want it to be changes or give the ability to turn it off?

Naoki Yoshida stated that he wanted the forums to be a place where players debated issues and features of the game. And I can see the wisdom of that. I am sure that if he wants a poll on a particular subject he'll make one available to us. That's what he's done in the past.

The problem with polls is that if you don't ask the question the right way, or the respondents don't understand the question, you get results that actually are misleading. Take the last question from the first Player Poll for example. 85.2% of players said they would "welcome changes that would drastically alter the game". From reading posts on this and other forums though, the player-base is not nearly as welcoming of change as that poll number indicates. When you actually ask the players to explain what they want drastically changed, exceptions and nuances appear.

That's why it's a good idea to read all 20+ pages. I'm sure that the development team is.

Toggle option .Best solution for all.
/end thread ?

edit; The same would apply to the new targeting system for the controler.
Choices and customization are ALWAYS a good thing.

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Originally Posted by Kyra

Yes I would definatly like to see an option to hide the agro icon.

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yeah i think that would be the best thing to do because both parties win