Anyone else afraid that raid system still won't be perfect after 2.2?

[Ferocious]

From what I last heard, they will allow the 24 man raid for Crystal Tower to be formed under Party Finder or full FC run in the near future. While this may sound exciting on paper, anyone else afraid this still won't be a "true" raid system like we see in other MMO's? I mean your 8 man's party actions will still be *locked* strictly to your party. For example, in other MMOs if a healer does AOE heals, it heals all 20 players in raid or if a bard puts up buffs, it gives buff to all raid members. I am afraid this won't be the case in FFXIV raids.

They may allow custom parties for full raid, but they're still strictly based on 8 man party system. This is what Crystal Tower is hinting at. That's very disappointing. Of course I would love to be proved wrong in the future and want a classic raid where buffs and heals are shared across all raid members. What do you guys think? Has SE ever said anything about this?

[Kuwagami]

Though it would be good to see that, wouldn't it be a bit too much messy with overheals everywhere ? Or people would drop 2/3 healers for extra dps, which isn't the way SE intended the raids to be

[Battlewrench]

SE really has done a great job oversimplying the combat in this game. Everything becomes simple dodging mechanics after you learn your classes one rotation.

[Ferocious]

Though it would be good to see that, wouldn't it be a bit too much messy with overheals everywhere ? Or people would drop 2/3 healers for extra dps, which isn't the way SE intended the raids to be

Well, the only way I can see this being messy is because of the lack of different healer/support roles in the game. In other MMO's, you have a tank healer, aoe healer, shielding healer and one or two different support classes like Bard. In this game, SCH/WHM do all of those roles by themselves and lets be honest, Bards aren't much of a "support" class in this game. Their songs are only needed in very few situations, so people treat them as just another dps. SE should give them more skills like temporary boost party's HP, stats or minor healing spells. That way, they will be a true "support" class and make a difference in raids.

[Warlyx]

Well, the only way I can see this being messy is because of the lack of different healer/support roles in the game. In other MMO's, you have a tank healer, aoe healer, shielding healer and one or two different support classes like Bard. In this game, SCH/WHM do all of those roles by themselves and lets be honest, Bards aren't much of a "support" class in this game. Their songs are only needed in very few situations, so people treat them as just another dps. SE should give them more skills like temporary boost party's HP, stats or minor healing spells. That way, they will be a true "support" class and make a difference in raids.

like monk MANTRA? that boost healing received?

or the eye for eye that all mages can get by cross skills?

virus? that debuffs the enemy for some time? (nerfed now)

or maybe the 10% dmg done that warriors have now (stolen from brd)?

plenty of Utility around....but i dont know why ppl like to talk about how "support" brd....yeah has a mp regen song / song that debuff magic res , woohooo

[Ri_ri]

This is the beauty of the system. I'd hate to beg for a spot of the solo tank/melee/bard of a 24-person group.
With three separate groups, more tanks, melee and bards have a chance of participating.

[Codek]

From what I've seen in other MMO's in regards to this:
- They allow AoE heals to hit everyone, this makes some classes overly effective for end game content and/or incredibly weak for small group content. Balancing this out becomes a nightmare for the Dev team.
- They allow AoE heals but limit it to a specific number of people. This leads to a game of luck for which person gets the heal, which isn't very fun.
- (continuation of the previous) They add a smart healing algorithm towards a heal that hits a limited number of targets. Most people find this ideal but I find it a bit wimpy as it does the healing for you more or less (nearly 100% efficiency)
- Heals limited towards groups only, seems un-intuitive as to why you don't heal the people right next to you.

Did SE choose wisely? Meh, it's a lose/lose either way.

[Yagrush]

SE really has done a great job oversimplying the combat in this game. Everything becomes simple dodging mechanics after you learn your classes one rotation.

>Knowing your rotation
>Dodging mechanics (I.E. Knowing boss mechanics)

Newsflash. That's how the endgame of virtually all MMOs work.

[Battlewrench]

>Knowing your rotation
>Dodging mechanics (I.E. Knowing boss mechanics)

Newsflash. That's how the endgame of virtually all MMOs work.

Adding versatility in builds and situational skills breaks away from rotations and is not new to MMOs.