Its ffxiv combat really so slow and boring?

[Jonnycbad]

To people who think the game is too slow: do you want FFXIV to be an RPG or an action game? Running around and hitting things in real time is more like an Elder Scrolls/Dragon's Dogma/Monster Hunter type experience. FFXIV is meant to be the pace its at so you can think about your rotation and avoid mechanics instead of mashing attacks out every half second. Plus, they already stated that the faster they made GCD the more they'd need to curtail the beautiful animations of the spells and effects. WoW's animations are crap because they need to dissipate before the next GCD. FFXIV prides itself on being a visually stunning experience. But yeah, mashing out hotkeys while dodging attacks would make FFXIV almost feel like a fighting game or an action game than an RPG.

[Jonnycbad]

This the first mmo where I come across the concept of gcd.

Even games without a visible GCD have some form of global cooldown. FFXI was menu based, but there was still a global cooldown of about 2 seconds between the use of spells, abilities, weapon skills, items, etc.

[Aeilyi]

I played an action-combat game for four years before I came to FF14 last December. So, coming into this game, the combat does feel a little slow but I accepted that when I started playing.

The word, "slow," is a little subjective depends on the content you're doing. The speed of the gameplay in Savage and some Extreme raids feels fine and even fun! But if you're doing older and lower level stuff, the combat does feel a bit slow and boring, at least for me. It's one of the reasons why I avoid doing lower level content if possible, and even dread it if the Duty Roulette drops me in one. I'm one of those people who would be happy if the Roulette drops me in Rabanastre instead of Labyrinth of the Ancients. Yet, I've seen people who were happy to get LotA for their roulette because it is fast and easy. So, some people like doing the slower paced content because it's relaxing and that's fine by me.

If you strip FF14 of all of the flashy mechanics, the combat isn't that great and this problem becomes more noticeable in content like Eureka and Diadem. Throw in a ton of mechanics then the combat becomes fun and like a dance.

I think if the GCD was a bit faster then it would feel great, but it won't fix the problem of the combat not feeling too fun in lower level content. I sometimes wished that all of the classes have more oGCDs procs to press at lower levels, which would make the gameplay a bit more interesting. At the same time, I can also see people complaining about not being able to watch Netflix while doing their roullettes. I'm also not a casual player and this question is better answered by casual players because I feel like most of the game is catered towards them. But I think it would be cool if the GCD is a bit faster or if we have more new oGCDs to manage especially at lower levels, at the same time, the bosses have more mechanics thrown in. That would make the gameplay a bit more fun for me xD

[Jonnycbad]

Quicken the GCD and it makes each individual GCD feel less impactful. When you're casting Flare/Deathflare or whatever [insert huge damge GCD] much faster than you are currently, they feel less important than "ive been building up to this huge attack for 30 seconds, time to unleash it!" vs "i can do this move every 10 seconds, no biggie".

[Kirsten_Rev]

What i wanted to ask is if you really think the combat is boring. And what example would you use to describe a fast combat system since it seems i havent experience

I wouldn't say FFXIV's combat is slow, but it is boring - particularly outside of boss encounters.

Mostly, the boring feeling for me arises from the fact that combat is, for the most part, predictable. In fact, it's arguably the most predictable combat I've seen in a game in ages. Boss mechanics? Almost completely predictable. My rotations? Completely predictable. I feel like with most encounters, I can literally scheme them out on paper, in advance, with virtually no 'if X then Y' checks. This is compounded even further when facing non-boss creatures, because they simply aren't a real threat to the player. Just spam your basic AoE or single-target rotation until dead.

To me, a superior system would be dynamic. I want enemies that behave unpredictably, and better yet react to players over time. Isn't that the very definition of AI? Lest we forget, enemies in Half-life - a game that's barely two months from its 20th anniversary - reacted in a more believable fashion than do enemies in FFXIV. SE doesn't seem to have bothered with that piece; they just took the old ATB gauge from FF7, sped it up to a couple of seconds per move, and took away the option to pause when it was your turn. That doesn't make for a very compelling MMO experience.

The speed of combat is, in my opinion, neither here nor there. There are plenty of great combat systems in place in games today, running the gamut from fully real-time to turn-based. First-person shooters and the like are obviously lightning-fast combat. ARPGs like Diablo 3 are extremely fast as well, as is something like Guild Wars 2, to pull an MMO example. On the other end of the spectrum are fully turn-based games like Divinity: Original Sin (or its sequel). FFXIV's predecessor, FFXI, was real-time but very much on the slow end of the spectrum.

The one thing in common for all these games, however, is that combat is dynamic. Whether it's enemies moving or taking cover in a shooter, or a new water surface appearing for you to electrify in Divinity, there's always something about the battlefield forcing the player to think or react. It's the core reason the combat is fun. FFXIV almost entirely lacks this. There's no real variation in commands we execute, and even movement is largely something that becomes pseudo-scripted. Fights in FFXIV are memorized, not strategized - and no adjustment to the speed of combat will alter this fact.

[Aerlana]

*snip*

So, aesthetic > gameplay
...
to be honest, aesthetic questions are always the last thing i am asking myself to consider a game... Far after things like gameplay or leveldesign

[Yzuna]

So, aesthetic > gameplay
...
to be honest, aesthetic questions are always the last thing i am asking myself to consider a game... Far after things like gameplay or leveldesign

Well, same for me. But feel that your skill have impact is part of the gameplay for me.
Skills/spells with longer Cd and/or build-up but with more impact on the fight could actually be interesting. More so if you had to time those skills right (waiting for significant buffs, synergy with other PT member, timing for boss weakness etc.
Right now, you are using almost everything on CD, without really thinking about it.
They tried this, like with Ninja weakeness debuff, but all in all, it doesn't really change much, and you almost never should delay a skills to wait for debuff/buff.

[Aylis]

To people who think the game is too slow: do you want FFXIV to be an RPG or an action game?

Who says it can't be both? RPG just means Role Playing Game. Basically a persona living in an imaginary world starting out as whatever, and facing all sorts of trials and tribulations. Peaks of high moments, peaks of low moments. Friends and enemies you make along your way. All leading up to an end goal in the games world. There's no written rule that says RPG must mean poking bad things with a stick once every couple minutes and going to make a snack while waiting for your next stick poking turn is the right way to RPG vs a world where that same character can move as greased lightning. The world, the setup, the story, the situations are what make an RPG an RPG, not the combat. Hence the genre "Action RPG" was born.

[347SPECTRE]

Who says it can't be both? RPG just means Role Playing Game. Basically a persona living in an imaginary world starting out as whatever, and facing all sorts of trials and tribulations. Peaks of high moments, peaks of low moments. Friends and enemies you make along your way. All leading up to an end goal in the games world. There's no written rule that says RPG must mean poking bad things with a stick once every couple minutes and going to make a snack while waiting for your next stick poking turn is the right way to RPG vs a world where that same character can move as greased lightning. The world, the setup, the story, the situations are what make an RPG an RPG, not the combat. Hence the genre "Action RPG" was born.

Kingdom Hearts easily comes to mind.

[kikix12]

What game are you talking about so others can understand your POV. I assume you're speaking about Blade and Soul based on your description though and let me say that you are exaggerating considerably, at least from the NA standpoint (YMMV if in EU).

I'm talking about PING, not a specific persons point of view.

And I'm sorry. You are objectively, factually incorrect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwaz_aAih-A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meDtc3QqQeI

FF14's artificial ping buffer is awful, archaic design, and holds the game back.

Say that when you start playing on the high-ping side (like, 300-400 PING). You most likely never tried that. Go ahead and try playing the likes of Titan (it's Weight of the Land is particularly nasty) on a Japanese or European server. Can you do it?! Yes, absolutely. But you'll see how much worse you will do simply because of PING difference. In a game that is made to minimize that.

Let me tell you this. I cannot kite, I cannot cast a spell right after swiftcasting, I cannot properly weave in abilities. All of this is because of PING. In this game it is not gamebreaking. In Blade and Soul it WAS gamebreaking. I had to rest frequently after normal mob fights. I absolutely could not dodge attacks. I literally moved straight without stopping, moving out of target circles, and was still hit 100% of the time. My damage could not compare and I couldn't move AT ALL in PvP.

Too bad. This is unavoidable with current technology, except by region-locked servers. You either alienate large part of the playerbase or you use the "archaic" method of dealing with PING...caused by archaic (but still dominant) internet network around the world. Blade and Soul is an example of the first one...Final Fantasy XIV the latter.

And don't tell me that I could just play on European servers. I could, but if I would, I'd never even start playing. I came here upon a friends invite and that friend was playing on NA servers...starting early on in 2.0 I believe. It's simply not a choice.