When you Love the Story, but are Really Bad at the Gameplay

[TomsYoungerBro]

As some have said in this thread, the main issue is the lack of official tutorials to help players understand the game. Bard is a very busy job, so it can be understandable that you get caught looking at your hotbar alot.

One tip i'll give for solo instances or any normal content duty finder content is to stop dps and focus on the mechanics until you feel safe to hit your buttons. In these levels of content, there is no damage check, so you don't have to try to damage the boss while things are hectic. Yes, it will take a lot longer, but you won't die at least XD.


good luck!

[SannaR]

I think that's true for most solo fights in that there isn't an enrage timer. I do however think that there a select few that do that people in the past have gotten to.

The fight with Venat is one where take too much time or damage and her LBing your face is going to cause you to wipe. The solo against Elidibus I want to say also has an enrage. I know the Ran'jit vs Thancred fight does or makes you assume so due to how that fights mechanics work. I think there are a few others. But you have to be extremely slow in your dpsing or not have enough health to not clear the fairly low check.

[einschwartz]

I suppose the point is that I'm asking myself the same questions as when I started this thread, but this time from the viewpoint of someone who has been playing the game long enough to know that I should really be much better at it than I actually am

Don't beat yourself up too much. To tell you the truth, it took me about an entire expansion (about two years) for me to have confidence doing any 8-man raids. I used to absolutely loathe and avoided alliance raids. Just like you, I had trouble spotting mechanics before and when it happens. Everything felt chaotic. I didn't know what to look for. I often got myself disoriented after panning my camera to spot those mechanic (still do to this day). It felt awful to make mistake or die on battle content that I had done before. The anxiety I had was worse since I played only healer at the time.

Personally for me, this isn't a problem I have with XIV specifically. In other games too, I just adapt to battle content a bit slower than an average gamer -- be it multiplayer games or single player. Maybe too much visual stimuli that I have yet accustomed to. And I think it's important to acknowledge that for yourself. Now, after playing for 5 years I am capable enough to recognize mechanics on my own, albeit on the slower side. For harder content like Extreme, I'm still bad at progging blind hence why I always just wait for guides. Yes, I will still make mistakes during practice but it's less frustrating for me knowing what had caused my death.

In short, I'm sure you'll be able to adapt yourself, have those muscle memory down after some time. Everyone learn and adapt at difference pace.

[Carin-Eri]

Don't beat yourself up too much. To tell you the truth, it took me about an entire expansion (about two years) for me to have confidence doing any 8-man raids. I used to absolutely loathe and avoided alliance raids. Just like you, I had trouble spotting mechanics before and when it happens. Everything felt chaotic. I didn't know what to look for. I often got myself disoriented after panning my camera to spot those mechanic (still do to this day). It felt awful to make mistake or die on battle content that I had done before. The anxiety I had was worse since I played only healer at the time.

Personally for me, this isn't a problem I have with XIV specifically. In other games too, I just adapt to battle content a bit slower than an average gamer -- be it multiplayer games or single player. Maybe too much visual stimuli that I have yet accustomed to. And I think it's important to acknowledge that for yourself. Now, after playing for 5 years I am capable enough to recognize mechanics on my own, albeit on the slower side. For harder content like Extreme, I'm still bad at progging blind hence why I always just wait for guides. Yes, I will still make mistakes during practice but it's less frustrating for me knowing what had caused my death.

In short, I'm sure you'll be able to adapt yourself, have those muscle memory down after some time. Everyone learn and adapt at difference pace.

Thanks for your reply!

To be honest, this is exactly how I feel and you've described what I experience to a 'tee'! And yeah, the anxiety around making mistakes/eating dirt doesn't help matters anyway. And I feel that I'm some time off reaching that point you have, but it is encouraging to hear the experience you had and am grateful you shared

Thankfully I'm in a FC with a pretty laid-back mindset about such things and who're happy to let me tag along in their teams, who don't mind my poor performance and who give me pointers (even if it's simply 'just follow me and stay close'). And, unlike some random queue runs I've had, I don't get told off by healers for "wasting their heals". Still have to do some queue groups though, as they're not always around at the same time as me.

[kaynide]

I think you've got the right idea- basically we can all tell you are trying, and have made friends who are happy to play with you. I think it's key for a healthy mindset in game to have people who simply enjoy playing together, regardless of the results. Sure it can be frustrating to be the guy that keeps screwing up, but the clear is probably not the point of your group- it's clearing it together.

Very much a major theme in the game and one repeated in the FFXIV TV Drama...so please don't be too hard on yourself.

Honestly it's a lot like going fishing- nobody really cares how many fish you catch or how well you can handle knots/bait/etc. It's all about the fun together.

[Carin-Eri]

I think you've got the right idea- basically we can all tell you are trying, and have made friends who are happy to play with you. I think it's key for a healthy mindset in game to have people who simply enjoy playing together, regardless of the results. Sure it can be frustrating to be the guy that keeps screwing up, but the clear is probably not the point of your group- it's clearing it together.

Very much a major theme in the game and one repeated in the FFXIV TV Drama...so please don't be too hard on yourself.

Honestly it's a lot like going fishing- nobody really cares how many fish you catch or how well you can handle knots/bait/etc. It's all about the fun together.

Yeah - its more those occasions where none of them are around/available and I need to do a Raid/Trial etc in a random group that's the issue, because my lacking performance/abilities really show under those circumstances