Boss mechanics and the servers

TLDR Version:

Server locations need to be placed throughout the world. SE needs to remove server verification for everything to improve gameplay performance and to make more exciting and engaging boss mechanics.

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The full story.


I'd just like to point out that the boss mechanics and even the floating eye in the R45 dungeon are prime examples of why SE needs to place servers all around the world, and remove the constant server verification for everything.

Since the servers are located only in Japan, it takes quite a big response time for players that live in other areas of the world. So naturally, since everything is server side right now in XIV, everything takes forever to execute.

When examining boss mechanics and videos, and even experiencing a bit of it on my own, I've come to the conclusion that more engaging and exciting boss mechanics cannot happen unless the servers become regionalized throughout the world.

Lets first examine a mechanic that everyone knows about. The mole digging. When moles dig underground, to avoid their popup damage you need to run away. Unfortunately, since everything is on the server side by the time the animation starts, the message for the mole to start popping up has already been sent to us. Thus, even though we're moving away and look like we're out of the range of the attack when it pops up, we still take damage.

The Ogre Slave AOE, Uraeus AOE, Eye AOE, etc, are all examples of why engaging battles will never happen unless SE decides to remove all the server verification and put most of it client side. I'd rather battle boss mechanics than server problems.

Furthermore, if and when SE decides to regionalize servers I would appreciate a free server transfer so I can transfer to a server located nearest to me.

I've noticed this as well. Response on these mechanics has always felt incredibly sluggish. What makes it even worse is the fact that using abilities and buffs forces you to remain frozen in place for the duration of the action. You just can't have highly active mechanics with that sort of sluggish response unless there is a huge buffer for people to react. Most MMORPGs don't allow for casting on the move, and allow you to continue to move while using abilities.

FFXIV on the other hand allows for casting on the move, but the downside is you are rooted in place upon casting for a brief moment. Sadly, that moment is often long enough to be the difference between escaping from an AoE or being hit by it.

Plus a big part of highly active mechanics is being able to react to your fellow party members. Whether it's following them, or moving out of the way. In FFXIV, there's a huge lag between some one actually moving, and them showing up on your screen as moving. This is painfully obvious when leading a group as a tank. I'll start heading in one direction, only to quickly switch to another direction, and my party will keep going the way I was previously going before realizing I changed my path at the last second.

I just don't see them making highly-active mechanics work until we have no sluggishness and the ability to have immediate reaction time.

Isn't that the same thing for almost all MMORPGs? And it happens that not all MMORPGs have servers world-wide, not even WoW. In Australia, we have to use Proxy and Tunnels services etc. to get a decent 250ms ping, for WoW.

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Originally Posted by MariyaShidou

Isn't that the same thing for almost all MMORPGs? And it happens that not all MMORPGs have servers world-wide, not even WoW. In Australia, we have to use Proxy and Tunnels services etc. to get a decent 250ms ping, for WoW.

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Regardless of the latency (which does contribute to the issue) the larger and more pressing issue is the server verification for literally everything that happens.

The latency will play a part and can be minimized by simply dedicating server locations.

I really hope at some point SE does offer a solution for this. It's virtually impossible to effectively have any type of precise reactionary battle mechanics, advanced timing-sensitive party coordination, or even AAC/weaving AA dps as a means to make AA dps more interactive and rewarding.

It's very hard to feel immersed in a game with such noticeable sluggishness throughout it's most important function, combat.

I really don't feel that SE can expand on any type of meaningful end-game content without first improving this. Here's hoping.

Is this the cause of the bind/sleep/etc timers blinking 0 for quite a while before the effects go away? I've always found this annoying.

Also annoying is when my timer in my abilities bar is up, but I can't use the action for quite a while. Some of them just seem bugged though. Multishot gives me a 6 second timer on the action bar, but the actual recast is what? 12 or 15 seconds or so?

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Originally Posted by Tibian

TLDR Version:

Server locations need to be placed throughout the world. SE needs to remove server verification for everything to improve gameplay performance and to make more exciting and engaging boss mechanics.

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Has nothing to do with server location (play FFXI), it has to do with a shoddy serverside interface, which is sluggish for everyone.

Could we get an answer about these issues ?

Or is it designed to work that way ? I mean we're an EU Ls and none of us are able to avoid an AOE be it from moles or from the Eye. If you're close to the mob when it starts, it doesn't matters how far you are when the AOE lands you'd still get hit.