Its ffxiv combat really so slow and boring?

[Maeka]

Coming from someone who plays WoW....

The first thing any WoW player is going to complain about FFXIV is "OMG 2.5s GCD! TOO SLOW!!!!!!"

But yet they are failing to realize that each class has several short-cooldown abilities that are oGCD once you get past Level 30 that, the 2.5s GCD oftentimes doesn't mean much when you are weaving in other abilties.

For example, my Lv35-ish MCH..... a rotation will look like this:

1). Hot Shot. (GCD)
2). Reload. (oGCD, 30 second cooldown)
3). Normal Shot (I forget the name of this ability, the first attack you get) (GCD)
4). Slug Shot. (GCD)
5). Re-assemble (oGCD, 30? second cooldown)
6). Clean Shot. (GCD)
7). Rapid Fire (oGCD, 30? second CD)
8). Normal Shot (GCD) until an Enhanced Slug Shot procs.
9). Rapid Reload (oGCD, 15s CD)
10). Slug Shot.
11). Clean Shot.

Now, you'll note that in steps 1 through 8 there is only one instance where you are not weaving an oGCD between GCDs. So...

Step 1-3, 2.5s, three button presses.
Step 3-5, 5.0s, two button presses.
Step 5-6, 2.5s, two button presses.
Step 6-8, 2.5s, two button presses.

So you're pressing 9 buttons in 12.5 seconds.

Now, true, at the end of Step 8, both Re-assemble and Rapid Fire are on cooldown, but now you got Reload that's coming up, and also Rapid Reload isn't far behind.

And then you have Heartbreak which is an oGCD execute which could happen at any point during that.

EDIT: Obviously I'm a newbie MCH, I forgot to mention a Rapid Reload early in that sequence because you want the cooldown to be up by the time you get to your "Trying to proc E-Slug Shot" phase so you can RR to guarantee a Cleaner Shot proc.

EDIT2: Yes, WoW's GCD is faster... but yet the actual rotations are far more boring than the ones in FFXI.

I showed you FFXI MCH, ~Lv35.

Let me show you Outlaw Rogue, 120:

1). Sinister Strike 1-3x depending on how many Doubles you get, each one has like....20% IIRC? chance of swinging twice. Basically you want 5 Combo Points, each SS gives you 1.
2). Roll the Bones at 5CP.
3). Marked for Death (if you chose that talent)
4). Run Through.
5). Sinister Strike 1-3x (yup, we're doing THIS again)
6). Run Through at 5CP.
7). Sinister Strike 1-3x (....yup... that's basically what this class is)

The only difference is Pistol Shot procs which happen randomly when you SS, so you can swap a SS for Pistol Shot if you need 2 CP or more.

Your only oGCDs are Marked for Death, and Adrenaline Rush along with a defensive or two.

But that's..... all there is to it, really.

Now, 120 Ret Paladin:

1). Judgment.
2). Blade of Justice.
3). Templar's Verdict.
4). Crusader Strike.
5). Crusader Strike.
6). Hopefully you either got a Crusader Strike proc that lets you TV at 2HoPo, or you got Art of War which reset your Blade of Justice

And..... that's it.

Build 3 HoPo, use TV or Divine Storm.

Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. That's literally all you do.

Don't believe me?

https://youtu.be/yS9ewZPJR1A?t=12m27s

Okay, I forgot about Wake of Ashes.... but still. That's once every 45-ish seconds.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that with Outlaw Rogue, after the first few attacks, you're Energy Starved.... yeah you got a 1-1.5s GCD, but that doesn't mean anything when you don't have enough Energy to execute your attacks. You end up waiting ~2 seconds between attacks anyways, so the faster GCD is actually pointless.