Should macros be removed

I'm wondering is there's a percentage of players who think macros should be removed fromt the game altogether and I put toghether a list of likely arguments for that outcome:

• It's unnecessary: Consider this. Every command in the macro can be used in the chatlog. Also consider that skills and such can be done manually, even the Gearsets and be directly placed on hotbars without a macro. which brings me to my next point.
• It's slow: It's deliberate. Macros have a wait subcommand limited to whole seconds. Nanosecond based precision is impossible. There is also animation lock and latency to deal with. Hence why dynamic contests like a Discipline or War and Magic don't use multi-command macros, but crafters, who work more closely to a turn-based system, do
• It's an RMT's tool: Consider this. RMT spams ads for their (illegal) "service" and given their nature of using bots I highly doubt that that spam message was personalized just for you. Outside of tells they also used macros to bot for crystals, materia and mats to sell at high prices.

With all that in mind, what do you think? Should macros be removed or should they stay, and why apart frm the above dp you think they should go?

There's really no reason not to remove them with how "useful" they are in regards to mechanics;

- They can't be very specific to actions. You can't word a macro to "click off" a debuff from what I've seen, nor can you macro something that a button would function differently under different circumstances (like holding another key, or a sequence of skills)

-You can't macro them to split seconds, only whole seconds. This kills the effectiveness to use them in combos.

-People who spam macros...well we're getting into individuals who abuse things.

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Originally Posted by Morningstar1337

• It's unnecessary: Consider this. Every command in the macro can be used in the chatlog. Also consider that skills and such can be done manually, even the Gearsets and be directly placed on hotbars without a macro. which brings me to my next point.
• It's slow: It's deliberate. Macros have a wait subcommand limited to whole seconds. Nanosecond based precision is impossible. There is also animation lock and latency to deal with. Hence why dynamic contests like a Discipline or War and Magic don't use multi-command macros, but crafters, who work more closely to a turn-based system, do

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The first two points kind of contradict each other, unless you can type at 400 words/minute, and RMT don't use the game's build in macros to spam tells.

No.

I'm also tired of all the inconveniences to the average player "because RMT".

Macros are very useful in helping tell your party what you're doing, whether it's raising a dead person so your other healer doesn't expend Swiftcast, letting the other tank know you're Provoking the boss, etc.

Macros just aren't for crafters and RMT.

No no no no no no no no no absolutely NO!!!
As a bard I rely on macros to communicate with my parties when i activate certain songs for them. The healer doesn't have to stop to ask for Ballad or the other maybe bard in the party knows when I'm singing a song so they don't activate theirs.
As a Scholar my pet commands are all tied to macros making controlling the pet much more easier to combine abilities when I need them to combine. This isn't even including how faster macros have made healing and buffing. Instead of clicking all over the place, click one macro and the person I wanted to heal or buff is healed and buffed.

We already lost so many basic functions due to the RMT scare and it didn't stop anything. RMT are still here. How many more functions do we have to lose because of RMT scares until the game is virtually unplayable?

My keyboard came witha software to use macros, it also has a lot of extra buttons.

even if they removed macros I could if i wanted make any macro by using that software

so it wouldn't really make a difference

Congrats OP, you've suggested one of the worst ideas I've seen on here in a while.

1. RP
2. Better communication during fights
3. Crafting
4. Certain combat mechanics, such as raising

If you really think the lack of macros would change much of anything about the RMT market, you are very wrong.

Macros can also do many more neat things that lots of people aren't aware of. There is a quite large Reddit thread somewhere detailing this, I suggest you search for it and educate yourself.

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Originally Posted by WinterSolstice

Congrats OP, you've suggested one of the worst ideas I've seen on here in a while.

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I'm well aware of that. There's a good reason this is called Devil's Advocacy. Thought I guess I should have made it clear that I actually support macros in game and am happy the responce to my suggestion was negative

Crafting without macro's would be a major pain in the ass. Less people would most probably end up crafting, as a result prices on many crafts will undoubtedly rise. We'll get people complaining that prices are too high and RMT is the only viable way to purchase consumables and the likes.

Quick communication in PF groups with people who refuse to join on VoIP would be impossible. People would probably come crying on as to how they're being refused in PF groups for not willing to join VoIP.

RMT's can no longer be sent a quick, personalized reply back to tell them to sod off and instantly get blacklisted. Doing such will require more manual effort again as well :(.

Is OP Serious?

1. Let your team knows who you area healing so you don't wast SCast.
2. Let your team know you're covering them
3. Provoke Letting know for tank swap etc.
4. Why do macro's bother you?

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Originally Posted by Blitzace

Is OP Serious?...4. Why do macro's bother you?

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To answer you questions: No. I was playing devil's advocate becuase I keep hearing complaints about macros being bad for DPS etc

as doe 4. No Macros do not bother me, The only thing that bothers me about the macros is getting rid of the old icon system (and before you try to strawman that, I would rather prefer BOTH systems be in place one for astheics, the other for cool-down information) In fact I happen to like macros

no and no, ilove my cleric stance macr alongside with /visor, i would say that maybe players shouldnt use macros for their action skills, like put your rotation on a macro, thats for bad bad players

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Originally Posted by Morningstar1337

I'm well aware of that. There's a good reason this is called Devil's Advocacy. Thought I guess I should have made it clear that I actually support macros in game and am happy the responce to my suggestion was negative

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Ah, well with the amount of...silliness on these forums I thought you were actually suggesting it :P
I'm glad I didn't offend you, I'd have rephrased what I said to a more friendly version if I knew you were playing devil's advocate ^^

Playing with a gamepad I use macros almost exclusivly, especially for my mnk. Since certain skills can only be used in certain stances, i macro together the flank/behind skills so they only use two icons instead of 4, and also use them to autoweave in my dps buffs. Is this optimal? no, but it sure beats the headache I get when trying to cycle through multiple bars in only one direction.

I also use them for making HQ recipes, and more recently made macros to auto-summon my minions each time I change jobs.

I play with a controller use macros heavily on my melees and healers. Not /wait macros but change set macros. Easy and short example I can give is being able to fit all of warrior's combo and over power into 4 face buttons. BB combo: square > triangle > circle. SE combo: square > circle > triangle. SP combo: square > circle > cross. Overpower: tap set select (made to always reset to set1) > cross. I'm confident that it does not lose any time like /wait macros because the buttons 'change' into normal buttons after one press and if I spam the buttons early like most people do, I still invoke the gcd queue. There's also SMNs that commands their pet manually and makes macros so that depending on what pet they've summoned, their pet skills will change (there's the pet bar but I personally prefer having them on my own bar).

Not all macros are intended for combat. Maybe /wait never was but other creative people can make good use of macros in combat. I'm sure there are even more neat macros that people have come up with. Personally interested if someone figured to make use of that macro command that makes a macro unable to be overwritten by another until it finishes.

I've never heard anyone complain about macros. O.o Only thing I've heard is that people don't know how to make em (and I teach folks that if they want to give basics macros a try).
Bots aren't using the game's macros to do what they do anyways (except maybe the rmt tells).

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Originally Posted by WinterSolstice

Ah, well with the amount of...silliness on these forums I thought you were actually suggesting it :P
I'm glad I didn't offend you, I'd have rephrased what I said to a more friendly version if I knew you were playing devil's advocate ^^

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It;s okay. If anything else it could be seen as an instance of Poe's Law

Noooo I only recently managed to have a macro to dismiss my chocobo and summon my Nutkin at the same time. Won't somebody PLEASE think of the Nutkins. ; ;

No they should not be removed.

I don't use macros as much as I intend to and this is because I don't understand them completely and it tends to make me mess up when I am spending more time trying to figure out what I macroed and did not. I do plan to use them more once I can gradually get a feel for them to the point of not encumbering me.

I really want to macro dismounting, summoning companion choco then another macro for dismissing the companion choco and remounting, for FATEs. Nothing like diddling around trying to dismiss and remount while a mob respawns and eats me lol.

Also, my hand tends to get sore with the mouse so I want to use controller more and I think it will be required to macro in changes of each controller bar set since my buttons go beyond just 1 set as it is.

Stupid idea with such little thought it boggles my mind.

The uses for macros are myriad. Crafting, Signaling, Saving Space, UI configurations, Blacklisting, Flashy set changes, Hunting call macros, Raise macros, Targeting macros, Crafting macros, etc. It would be like taking the game back to Pre-Alpha stages of customization.

BTW, do you really, really think RMT use macros? They don't. They use scritps with outside programs. There is no way of setting a macro that will /tell a hundred people from a search result. Neither is there a way of making a macro to automatically bot, gather or exploit whatever mob/dungeon they want. Taking macros out for "RMT" would slow down exactly ZERO RMT while inconveniencing the entire playerbase.

In short, yes, you get an award for least-thought out idea of the year, congratulations OP.

Hell no, my scholar would be nowhere near as effective a healer without my macros. I have Embrace macroed onto pretty much every ability I have, cast physick, fairy casts embrace, you can cure two people at once like that, or double up on the same person. Tank getting low on HP, Aldo to halt dmg on him and fairy casts embrace to bring him up so I can physick to top him off. Cast a Dot on a mob, fairy casts embrace on the tank so he doesn't die while I'm debuffing. Since there are two things using abilities simultaneously the player and the pet, there is no need to put in waits, the two separate abilities go off simultaneously. Who WOULDN'T want to be able to use two abilities, sometimes on two separate targets by clicking one single button? Seriously, it's way to useful to scholar to be able to use macros. I don't know how I would even be able to play the game as a scholar without them.


And life would be that much more boring if I couldn't use my /laugh motion /em BWAAHAAHAAs!!! macro.

No, and only so I can keep my macro that calls either a random mount or my company chocobo.

Keep Macros

1. I play on the PS4, command bars are limited. Also for say BLM you'll never use blizzard 1 again once you get blizzard 3, but for doing level sync instances with friends, you can macro blizzard 1 after the blizzard 3 command and it'll go to blizzard 1 if blizzard 3 is unavailable or if you do not have the MP for it. Saves me a button slot.
2. So what if it's slow. For combat example above plus what others have mention.
3. RMT doesn't bother me anymore. I get maybe 1-2 different companies sent tells to me a day (2-4hrs of playtime a day), heck I don't even bother BListing them, just report and forget about them. I don't even run into RMT in the field any more.

Macros are an essential feature for controller users. we need them in order to keep certain abilities bundled so we can make proper use of our limited buttons. Just because you personally might not use them or you (wrongly) believe they help RMT, doesn't mean we should axe an important system feature.

Removal of macros would put console players at an even bigger disadvantage. We can't parse, we don't have intelligent keyboards, we basically don't have a zillion tools like PC players, macros bring a little balance to this, you remove them and it isn't worse than spitting to the entire console community. Not to mention bots would keep botting and gil sellers would keep selling gil, because the tools they use have nothing to do with macros, so rather than solving anything, you would make everyone very pissed.

Macros are as unnecessary as this thread is necessary.

A poem by Suki Kibou

Something I'm surprised more people don't take advantage of is the ability to use more advanced targeting through macros than is otherwise available, especially for controller users. The best example I can think of is with macros that cast a single action, but do so on 'target of target'. I'll use as an example a WHM who's in a single-target FATE alongside non-party members, and while DPS'ing the enemy sees the main target's health rapidly declining. They know if no one bothers to heal the person, then when they either run away or die, the enemy is going to find a new target and it might be them.

A player who doesn't use macros at all has to manually retarget the person they want to heal, cast heal, and then manually retarget the enemy. 2 of those steps are unnecessary. Tabbing through a crowd to select who they already know who they want to cast on can slow them down even more, as will changing click filters to include non-party members if they use them.

But with this type of macro they can simply continue casting offensive spells against the enemy, while also casting healing spells on the player that same enemy is targeting, without changing theor target from the enemy for even a split second, by having this bound to a key/button:

/ac ”Cure" <tt>

It's as simple as that. The version I use is a more multi-purpose version of that but I should stop myself here since this isn't a macro guide thread.

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Originally Posted by SilentSymphony

Macros are as unnecessary as this thread is necessary.

A poem by Suki Kibou

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You've inspired me to write a new and unnecessary macro. Here goes:

Macro name: Suckup
Macro Code: /p Hi, <2>, <3>, and <4>! Nice to meet you!

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Originally Posted by Buff_Archer

But with this type of macro they can simply continue casting offensive spells against the enemy, while also casting healing spells on the player that same enemy is targeting, without changing theor target from the enemy for even a split second, by having this bound to a key/button:

/ac ”Cure" <tt>

It's as simple as that. The version I use is a more multi-purpose version of that but I should stop myself here since this isn't a macro guide thread.

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This is one of my more beloved macros ^^ though reversed in a way. I love using the <tt> command linked to my DD spells for playing healer in a dungeon. It lets me DPS while keeping the tank on target for quicker healing.

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Originally Posted by Aylis

This is one of my more beloved macros ^^ though reversed in a way. I love using the <tt> command linked to my DD spells for playing healer in a dungeon. It lets me DPS while keeping the tank on target for quicker healing.

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Did it this way too, mostly because I think putting macros on cure is way too risky (can't queue it up for continuous healing).

Keep macros and fix the limitations. I would like to see an alternative to wait that doesn't wait a fixed amount but instead pauses until the next action is available (or x seconds expires so that the macro won't lock up), making it fire as soon as possible given lag, etc. I don't use macros for crafting because they're so slow.

Nope, I use 7 macros all the time and it makes my life much easier.
Also I can't see RMT using macros, Bots yes macros no.
Crafting macros wouldn't get you to HQ enough of the time where a bot could.


useful macro 1 sort!
/isort condition armoury category
/isort condition armoury lv des
/isort condition armoury ilv des
/isort execute armoury


macro 2
/micon "Dragon Kick"
/merror off
/targetenemy
/ft
/ac "Internal Release" <me>
/ac "Snap Punch" <t>
/ac "Twin Snakes" <t>
/ac "Snap Punch" <t>
/ac "Twin Snakes" <t>
/ac "Dragon Kick" <t>
/ac "Shoulder Tackle" <t>


macro 3
/micon "Bootshine"
/merror off
/targetenemy
/ft
/ac "Internal Release" <me>
/ac "Demolish" <t>
/ac "True Strike" <t>
/ac "Haymaker" <t>
/ac "Demolish" <t>
/ac "True Strike" <t>
/ac "Bootshine" <t>
/ac "Shoulder Tackle" <t>

macro 4 and 5
/a Get Adds <se.5>
/a RUN back <se.5>

macro 6
/macroicon "Cast"
/ac "Mooch" <me>
/ac "Cast" <me>

macro 7
/micon "Company Chocobo" mount
/merror off
/ac "Mount Roulette"
/mount "Company Chocobo"

As a heavy macroed SCH, no. It helps too much in the utility department. My DOS would take a nosedive, and as a Eos user, most of my micromanaging would be thrown out the window.

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Originally Posted by Kiara1

My keyboard came witha software to use macros, it also has a lot of extra buttons.

even if they removed macros I could if i wanted make any macro by using that software

so it wouldn't really make a difference

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I have a Logitech G510 and I can't get the macro keys to work properly in game, so I gave up with it.

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Originally Posted by Morningstar1337

With all that in mind, what do you think? Should macros be removed or should they stay, and why apart frm the above dp you think they should go?

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They should stay. Mass production in higher end crafting would be absolute hell without macros. They're also really useful for fights that require communication, for when you don't have everyone on voice chat. Ramuh EX, for example, is made a lot easier through the use of macros telling the DPS when it's safe to pick up the orbs and when they should be left alone for the tank. I use macros on a few skills like Spirits Within/Blunt Arrow when it's important that the party know that I'm doing something (i.e. rotating silences, etc).

In any case, RMT most likely aren't using the ingame macros to send their messages. There are plenty of third-party software for games that allow you to write your own external macros as well as ones that allow you to execute actions multiple times (such as repeat synthing non-quick-synthable items).