On the Tyranny of Burst Windows

[Beddict]

For me it's not even raid buffs as a concept that I don't like. Being able to line up your biggest attacks with raid buffs to make them even stronger feels great. I just have more of a problem with how XIV implements them, namely that the game lines up all the raid buffs for you and a lot of your strong attacks just automatically fall under them as long as you keep everything on CD. It cuts out half the fun when you're not doing any of the work yourself. I guess it's part of a more general criticism of how jobs are being designed around a strict 2 minute timeline but some more variability and flexibility would be nice. Jobs like DRK and NIN suffer especially because near all of their abilities are 1 or 2 minute CDs, leaving them just doing 1-2-3 between bursts.

This is where I'm at. I don't think there's anything wrong with raid buffs as a concept, it's just that FFXIV doesn't get creative with them. How many buffs are outside the two minute window now? Zero since the last patch just killed Trick Attack. To break it down:

• SCH - Chain Stratagem - 120s
• AST - Divination - 120s
• MNK - Brotherhood - 120s
• DRG - Battle Litany - 120s
• NIN - Mug - 120s
• RPR - Arcane Circle - 120s
• BRD - Battle Voice - 120s
• BRD - Radiant Finale - 110s (held for 10s anyways to sync up)
• DNC - Technical Finish - 120s
• SMN - Searing Light - 120s
• RDM - Embolden - 120s

That's it, that's all the party wide raid buffs. There's some partner stuff like Dragon Sight and Devilment, but those are also 120s. Every Job gets crammed into the 120s burst window, and Patch 6.1 changing Trick Attack killed the 60s window that a lot of Jobs liked to play with, such as DRK or RPR. It sucks losing another buff window since going into 6.0 already killed the 90s burst Jobs like DRK and MNK used to have. It makes the game feel more stale to me, and I wish there was more variety.

[SeverianLyonesse]

This is where I'm at. I don't think there's anything wrong with raid buffs as a concept, it's just that FFXIV doesn't get creative with them. How many buffs are outside the two minute window now? Zero since the last patch just killed Trick Attack. To break it down:

• SCH - Chain Stratagem - 120s
• AST - Divination - 120s
• MNK - Brotherhood - 120s
• DRG - Battle Litany - 120s
• NIN - Mug - 120s
• RPR - Arcane Circle - 120s
• BRD - Battle Voice - 120s
• BRD - Radiant Finale - 110s (held for 10s anyways to sync up)
• DNC - Technical Finish - 120s
• SMN - Searing Light - 120s
• RDM - Embolden - 120s

That's it, that's all the party wide raid buffs. There's some partner stuff like Dragon Sight and Devilment, but those are also 120s. Every Job gets crammed into the 120s burst window, and Patch 6.1 changing Trick Attack killed the 60s window that a lot of Jobs liked to play with, such as DRK or RPR. It sucks losing another buff window since going into 6.0 already killed the 90s burst Jobs like DRK and MNK used to have. It makes the game feel more stale to me, and I wish there was more variety.

I suppose this could also be another direction to take things. Have so many damage buffs that anytime could feasibly be burst window time. Anything to break up the monotony and encourage variations on rotations and maybe even spontenaity. Let noobs feel like they are contributing to party damage and winning-more all the time.

I wouldn't mind either direction, I just am irked at how everything in this game is becoming a mathematical metronome game, and all in service of a single universal buff window.

[baklava151]

I suppose this could also be another direction to take things. Have so many damage buffs that anytime could feasibly be burst window time. Anything to break up the monotony and encourage variations on rotations and maybe even spontenaity. Let noobs feel like they are contributing to party damage and winning-more all the time.

I wouldn't mind either direction, I just am irked at how everything in this game is becoming a mathematical metronome game, and all in service of a single universal buff window.

I think I could go either way too, just make it interesting whatever they do.