Any improvements to ease-of-access of skills?

So I played this game back during the original Beta's and for a little bit after launch, and in prep for 2.0, wanted to come back and re-familiarize myself with the game at least a little bit, and maybe get a few classes to 50 before Nov 1st.

Apply all the updates since the last time, re-activate subscription, log in, game looks even more beautiful than I remember (upgraded PC since then), and then... "how in the world did I ever enjoy fighting before with this horrid action bar hot-key setup that I can't change?"

Please tell me that I'm missing something. Why are the hot-keys for skills/macros still stuck to the top row numbers without ability to change? It's so incredibly awkward to try and move with w/a/s/d while hitting skills on the 6-0 keys with just your left hand, not to mention adding in ctrl/alt + key hits.

How do you guys go about moving and hitting abilities at the same time? There has to be some way to set up the rest of the keybinds you are able to change (which is practically everything except action bar stuff... again makes no sense why this alone can't be changed) in order to make combat a little more fluid.

Do you use 1 hand on keyboard and 1 hand on mouse and click skills? Both hands on keyboard with the right hand sitting on the 6-0 keys for skill access? What do you guys do to help alleviate the rigidity of where the action bar hot keys are stuck at?

Please help, I really want to get back into this game in prep for 2.0, but it's going to be hard to get rolling when the combat seems so awkward and unfun solely by what keys I'm being forced to use for it.

Gamepad.

910

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Originally Posted by Forerunner

Gamepad.

910

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Could you please expand on that? I would think that a game pad with the limited amount of inputs from the buttons available would make things even more restricted? How is the action bar handled via a gamepad? Do you have to cycle left/right through them to use or something as you fight?

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Originally Posted by Xanthes

Could you please expand on that? I would think that a game pad with the limited amount of inputs from the buttons available would make things even more restricted? How is the action bar handled via a gamepad? Do you have to cycle left/right through them to use or something as you fight?

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Movement is handled with the left analogue stick, and moving through menus with the direction pad. The faster you press, the quicker your cursor moves. If you've played video games for 20 years with a controller like I have, it gets quite intuitive.

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Originally Posted by Forerunner

Movement is handled with the left analogue stick, and moving through menus with the direction pad. The faster you press, the quicker your cursor moves. If you've played video games for 20 years with a controller like I have, it gets quite intuitive.

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Oh I've been a gamer all my life, just never tried playing an MMO with something other than a keyboard/mouse so it seems a little odd to even consider it. Something akin to thinking of playing a fighting game with a keyboard. Anywho, I will look more into this potential avenue of controlling my character. Thanks.

Will pretty much any PC gamepad with the basic PS or Xbox layout work?

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Originally Posted by Xanthes

Oh I've been a gamer all my life, just never tried playing an MMO with something other than a keyboard/mouse so it seems a little odd to even consider it. Something akin to thinking of playing a fighting game with a keyboard. Anywho, I will look more into this potential avenue of controlling my character. Thanks.

Will pretty much any PC gamepad with the basic PS or Xbox layout work?

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Yeah, the FFXIV config has a decent interface for assigning buttons. I use a xbox 360 for windows pad, works great.

I played FFXI for 5 years on xbox, couldn't think of any other way to play.

Two hands on keyboard at all times.
I couldn't imagine any other way to play.
(In other words, try different stuff and do whatever works best for you)

I use keyboard almost exclusively. Only resorting to mouse to target a specific player/mob in a crowd.

wsad to move around.
Then just hit 1-0 to use the skill from the main bar.
Or use ALT+1-0 to use the ALT macros, and likewise CTRL+1-0 to use the control macros.

I also have party members mapped from F1 (top of the list) to F7 (bottom of the list) and F8 (me) (configurable in key bindings).

Super fast and easy to use, never a need to scroll around or move a cursor around to choose what you want. Just hit the key and done.

Also, good practice for the next UI, as it looks like the three hot bars (default, control and shift variations) will all be visible at the same time.

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Originally Posted by Forerunner

Gamepad.

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Yep. There's just no other option until 2.0 goes live.

I hate controller for this game! Just me, though. 2 hands on the keyboard, rarely touch mouse.