Retainers & Retainer Bells

The Retainer & Retainer Bell UI is extremely tedious.

I'm making this post in an attempt to help streamline player use and eliminate & minimize wasted time.


To utilize the Retainer you currently must;

• Be within target range of a Retainer Bell
• Select the Retainer Bell with either a right click, or target and confirm on controller

Additionally;

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Niwashi

Agreed. This would be very helpful.

You left out acknowledging the first retainer's farewell and the second retainer's greeting. That's another couple extra button presses each time (plus a slight wait for each of them). Now I do like the fact that SE has tried to give the retainers some amount of personality (even if it is rather limited), but couldn't that be done in the chat log or with overhead flavor text like we see on some other NPCs, rather than in a dialog box that we're required to acknowledge each and every time?

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Adjustments;

If a player is within range of a Retainer Bell allow them to hotkey/shortcut the Retainer menu.

Similar to the Journal, Logs, and Inventory the Retainer menu should be quick and easy to access.

Eliminate the need to target and select the Bell to bring up the Retainer Selection menu.

(Addendum) Remove unnecessary greeting & farewell messages or simply put them in the chat log.

Currently, when you are finished with a Retainer and want to Move to a different Retainer, you must;

• You must select "Quit"
• Selecting "Quit" closes the Retainer Menu & removes your cursor from the Retainer Bell.
• To open a different Retainer you must; Target the Bell, Confirm, and Select a next Retainer

Adjustments;

Simply make it so you can cycle through available Retainers & their inventories without having to target or open various menus.


Exiting the Retainer Menu
Adjustments;

Unlock character movement. If you step away from the Retainer Bell it should automatically close the Retainer menu entirely.
A double click of the ESC or the Cancel command is sufficient to exit the Retainer menu entirely as well.


Please understand that your system is extremely cumbersome and tiring to use daily with any amount of frequency. With multiple Retainers, hourly ventures, and the pace of FFXIV's volatile markets this interface is simply unacceptable and needs more polish.

Thank you.

Dhex Ark


Example:

http://i.imgur.com/LHdbkPJ.jpg


http://i.imgur.com/JqZZQOQ.jpg

That mockup is heavenly.... Please let this get passed to the Dev team

Uhm, it's like 2 button pushes...

A million +1s for this.

Sure it's only a few button pushes, but they all add up, especially that when using a retainer, first the camera has to set, then the menu loads, pick a retainer, retainer appears while message about "you are no longer selling in" pops up slowly then he/she says his phrase (gotta click that out) and then finally the real menu. It's just extra unnecessary time. quit, phrase, camera.

And especially when it's so unexpected I honestly can't think of why it was made like this in the first place. The very first time I got my retainers, I thought "well this might get annoying if I ever need to switch back and forth"

Our retainers should be as easily accessible as...as....as using the FC chest o.o

There is no value added. I can think of 3 combat, 2 DoH and 2 DoL interfaces that should be stramlined ahead of this. I'll bet there are another dozen if I were to scour the UI forums.

As petty as it might sound, this would be extremely welcome. I especially hate when my mining retainer brings back crafting materials I intend to use, but my DoW retainer actually holds my crafting materials so I need to exit out, open up the other retainer and deposit the gold, darksteel, or whatever. You might say I'm simply disorganized, but my DoW retainer brings back lots of skins, fleece, and the like as well, so I'm swapping back and forth one way or the other.

They should be able to make it like the housing menu. I've never tired to use it outside of my plot, but I'm assuming it just doesn't work if you're not on your property. If you're within range it works, you can move around, whatever.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by radioactive_lego

There is no value added. I can think of 3 combat, 2 DoH and 2 DoL interfaces that should be stramlined ahead of this. I'll bet there are another dozen if I were to scour the UI forums.

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I think some of us would disagree with the lack of value in improving this system. To me it sticks out how poorly the UI is for retainers. Just saying that you can think of several other interfaces that need improving isn't very convincing, especially since I can't think of them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by radioactive_lego

There is no value added. I can think of 3 combat, 2 DoH and 2 DoL interfaces that should be stramlined ahead of this. I'll bet there are another dozen if I were to scour the UI forums.

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Why not fix them all ? :)

inb4 PS3 limitations

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Squintina

Why not fix them all ? :)

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Agreed. However, I'd rather NOT pull any dev attention from those Do-W/M/H/L interface (where people spend 90%of the game) issues so people can save 15 seconds each time they visit a retainer.

Since devs have fixed hairstyles, mount times, marriage, the viewing of spirit bonding, and a plethora of other not-really-an-issue issues ahead of core gameplay problems, I think diluting the suggestion pool with this fluff only paralyzes the game further.

Agreed. This would be very helpful.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dhex

Currently, when you are finished with a Retainer and want to Move to a different Retainer, you must;

• You must select "Quit"
• Selecting "Quit" closes the Retainer Menu & removes your cursor from the Retainer Bell.
• To open a different Retainer you must; Target the Bell, Confirm, and Select a next Retainer

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You left out acknowledging the first retainer's farewell and the second retainer's greeting. That's another couple extra button presses each time (plus a slight wait for each of them). Now I do like the fact that SE has tried to give the retainers some amount of personality (even if it is rather limited), but couldn't that be done in the chat log or with overhead flavor text like we see on some other NPCs, rather than in a dialog box that we're required to acknowledge each and every time?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eggnook24

Uhm, it's like 2 button pushes...

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It's a few button pushes each and every time, which adds up to really annoying if you have to go in and out of the Retainers' inventory over and over again (like, for instance, when switching back and forth between retainers and crafting log to find all the ingredients you're going to need for an assortment of crafts, or when re-arranging which retainer is holding which sets of items).

A million more +1s for this! Especially for those of us with four retainers...and then you want to craft things for each retainer, but your crafting materials are all with one guy.... Trust me, I waste a LOT of time switching between retainers and simply sending them out and bringing them in when I need to check my crafting log after seeing their current equipment to determine what materials I need to take.

And please make them be pleasant instead of bitchy when you call them while they're out on a venture. That lip gets really old lol.