Built in healer interface.

I am kind of a WoW refuge. I started playing FFXIV just before HW was released, so I consider myself at least a partial veteran. For this post I'm going to assume a couple of things. 1. My idea probably won't apply to console players. I don't have a clue how to play this game on a console so if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. 2. PC players who play healers most likely use mouse-over macros for healing.

When I healed in WoW I often used a healing add-on, such as Healbot or Vudoo. Before anyone starts saying those add-ons heal for you I want to set the record straight. They do not heal for you. All they do is provide a simpler interface for mouse-over healing. You open the add-on and assign healing spells to a mouse button or a keyboard/mouse combo. It saves a lot of time instead of having to type out all of the mouse-over macros.

Now I'm not suggesting that FFXIV start allowing add-ons. I like the fact that it doesn't. But I've always wondered why none of the MMO's I ever played have adopted an interface like this. Would you like it if FFXIV had this type of healing interface?

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Originally Posted by Acesfool

You open the add-on and assign healing spells to a mouse button or a keyboard/mouse combo.

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Hilariously around 2.0 Yoshida mentioned they would be working on add-on support but I suppose that was quietly dropped and forgotten. Perhaps the thinking was that it would be unfair for console players, which is understandable. I personally would like something that would at the very least change the UI of the party window to make it more compact and easier to look at. I'm used to it now after so many years, but I would appreciate just having the option.

I guess the answer as to why more MMOs don't have an interface like that is that it's pretty exclusively useful to healing roles only, and the general UI needs to be designed for everybody to use. Most MMOs are incredibly lacking in the UI customization department; WoW's only saving grace there is the addon support.

I think what alleviates the lack of a powerful tool like Vudoo is the 8-man maximum party size, the far more bursty style healing and heavily scripted encounters in FFXIV.
If they expanded the raid team size and started making damage more unpredictable then I would extremely desire a more customizable party UI with mouse-over functionality.

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Originally Posted by Elamys

I guess the answer as to why more MMOs don't have an interface like that is that it's pretty exclusively useful to healing roles only, and the general UI needs to be designed for everybody to use. Most MMOs are incredibly lacking in the UI customization department; WoW's only saving grace there is the addon support.

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You make a valid point but I was thinking more along the lines of an optional interface that you could enable for healing.

I dunno, I'd rather write my own macro's n do me own keybinds than use third party software of questionable origin.

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Originally Posted by Acesfool

It saves a lot of time instead of having to type out all of the mouse-over macros.

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You only have to do this once per expansion, for two or three actions per job. This hardly takes "a lot of time".

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Originally Posted by Arrhin

I dunno, I'd rather write my own macro's n do me own keybinds than use third party software of questionable origin.

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That's why I said for it to be part of the game interface, not an add-on.