Combat still too slow. We need a shorter Global Cooldown!

[Mychael]

My problems with the GCD aren't with the GCD itself....

I don't notice it playing melee classes or BRD--casters are where I feel the GCD most, and I think that was because of poor skill design. Really, just poor choices of what's on/off-GCD.

The advantage to an instant (burst damage) spell on GCD is the responsiveness--the damage happens at the start of the timer, rather than the end of a cast timer. However, several instant spells are damage/healing over time, for some reason (bio, aero, regen...), giving you the advantage of squeezing in, at most, an extra 1-2 ticks before the mob dies. Of course some spells (repose, fluid aura, ruin II) belong on the GCD, but I just feel like the devs didn't think this through.

The reason most of us feel the GCD most on WHM/SCH, I think, is because we've probably played a game where healers were all about reaction time. Mob uses <<MOVE>>, I'm used to having spells going to counter it before the animation is finished--well, sorry; the GCD has arrived! I'm also used to DDing a little while things are going smoothly, but I'm always prepared to interrupt and cure...but the 2.5 second GCD isn't interruptable like a 2.5 second cast time, making bio/aero more dangerous than aero II and bio II. Moreover, in some 4-man fights with sub-par DPS, I've had to stay curing constantly to make things keep going; there is no time to throw in those "instant" DoTs or even esuna, which has a low cast time but is still on-GCD.

Spacing between skills is fine, but some skills lose value when you can't use them for fear of locking yourself up for the next 2.5 seconds.

[Moirear]

Just a quick question to all the people calling for the GCD to be shortened or removed: with the animation lock in place as it is, and most ability animations taking 1.5-2.5 seconds anyway, what would shortening/removing the GCD actually achieve?

Also, assuming it was lowered/removed and the animation lock could be canceled the moment you trigger a different ability, would you want it to cancel one action with another if you interrupt an animation with another?

[Arriverderci]

Not sure about any one else but as a WHM.
Combat is slow as Jesus.
I mean I have a lot to do.
I need to heal tank, I need to heal DPS, I need to Esuna tank. The Esuna being way faster than the GCD, so the waiting game...Can't heal in time so I need to regen. Cure finally so hard. Oops, got aggro, Divine seal, Medica, Saint Shroud. Then stand a bit to heal someone. I like being busy now but still, I have too much to do and I'm spamming R2 w/e XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX to heal SOMEONE LOL.
I'm like " GO GO GO GO! HEAL PLEASE! YES NO YES....NOOO!" xD!
I have a Spell that casts faster, but the cooldown is far too long, and the thing lasts like 5 seconds lol but that is skill speed, not cooldown.
You really need make some hasty decisions as a WHM. I am not sure about other job's though. Guessin' it depends.

[dontcare]

if you want to play a high speed mmo that involves little to no strategy, then please play world of warcraft, this game is not for you.

Actually, if you had ever played WoW you'd know that the combat is more or less the same thing as what we have here. Only the rotations are more complex and you have less time to react.

Slowing down the combat doesn't add strategy, it just makes the game easier.

[Shurrikhan]

I like the pacing as is, especially since we don't currently have any reason to wait for anything except in a TP-conservation rotation. (If there were more timing-opportunistic abilities and effects, I'd probably go with a shorter GCD, more responsiveness, despite fewer abilities used per minute, etc). I'm usually fine with the off-GCD abilities basically being secondary- or half-GCD abilities instead of true instants, though it does feel a bit clunky, and makes stunning Ifrit, etc., near impossible without waiting for or perfectly anticipating his casts, which can be annoying. (I believe that's animation-dependent more than GCD-dependent there--HB and FB might be able to pull off a following stun in time while RoH and BB certainly would not, but I don't fully trust my memory this late at night.)

I'll agree though that speed is of course altogether separate from strategy. In fact, as speed increases, you generally are less likely to be looking at your hotbars. You simply don't have time to spend the extra time reacting to that information, and must instead just run things on habit, automatically as their needs arrive. You start counting things in your head instead of on the bars, ticking it out with fluid finger timing. More consistent animation duration also aided that, but that's the same thing we'd call dull and superfluous ubiquity at a 2.5 second GCD. Of course, that's not to say that we look at the bars now; there's nothing we have that isn't perfectly and consistently rotational within the vast majority of circumstances.

Edit: I do often dislike the fact that instant and reduced cast times pull a full GCD.

[Husband]

The combat pace is fine. Leave it the hell alone. I don't want to mash keys every 0.5 seconds.

[Hrist_Valkyrie]

The animations look awkward enough as it is. I'm pressing more buttons than in most action games.

[Megami017]

To me, the GCD makes combat feel turn based, which I really enjoy

[Eaves12]

I just cant wait till pvp is released, you people will be sleeping while in the arena from how dull the combat is, this GCD is too slow for an action mmorpg, and like it or not, ffxiv IS AN ACTION MMORPG.

And again, know that this long gcd is just a way for SE to save money on server quality and bandwidth, don't be stupid... Oh sorry, don't CONTINUE being stupid, they offer you LESS quality and you enjoy it? how dumb can you be? Oh how I love the internet.

[Eaves12]

If this game is gonna survive the GCD will be shortened, and it WILL be shortened, I just wish I could care enough to list all (pro gcd) players and /w them all with "Is this too fast for you hun?" after they lower the GCD lmao