Legitimate reasons why many of you do NOT like Gear Swapping

[ThePatriarch]

Battle should be about preparation, not about having to carry different sets of gear for situation X, then situation Y. Choices should be made, for better or for worse. And players shouldn't have to have macros to switch out gear in between attacks, or spells etc. They shouldn't need to.

While this is a game, from a reality prospect it doesn't make any practical since. And just from a game playing perspective it isn't any fun. I say no, I don't want this type of game.

How do you prepare for a fight that contains a boss that changes forms of damage mid fight. What if there are periods that the boss goes dormant so you can switch to heavier melee gear for those brief moments before he evolves back into his offensive state. it's hard to prepare for a boss that has many different battle characteristics, with one set of static gear.

What I get from your post is that you don't want fights that require adaptive players. You want bosses and raids that you can storm through with just one gear set.

Correct me if I am wrong, but this is what I walked away with after reading your post.

[Molly_Millions]

How do you prepare for a fight that contains a boss that changes forms of damage mid fight.

How about adjust your strategy rather than your gear? Strategy =/= Gear

What if there are periods that the boss goes dormant so you can switch to heavier melee gear for those brief moments before he evolves back into his offensive state. it's hard to prepare for a boss that has many different battle characteristics, with one set of static gear.

This is exactly the point those of us on the non-gear swapping side of the fence have been trying to make.

[ThePatriarch]

How about adjust your strategy rather than your gear? Strategy =/= Gear


This is exactly the point those of us on the non-gear swapping side of the fence have been trying to make.

This is a fair response.

What I am about to propose is purely theoretical, just FYI. I know, right now in FFXIV we have no events that would even come close to justifying gear swapping.

Lets say for example, that we have a dragon. This dragon deals purely physical damage + AoE, and Wind Damage for the first 75% of its health.

Now, when you get it to 25% it switches to heavy fire damage, and pure magical damage. In what sense would you wrap a strategy around that? I'm being completely serious. I would love to see true reasons why strategy would always be =/= gear. It just makes sense to me that if a Monster switches to magic damage, ill switch to gear that nullifies magic damage.

I mean, macro's are easy to make. And I only had 1 bar of Gear Swap macros. There were what, like 100 bars total to create?

I am genuinely interested in hearing about new systems though. But to me, just using one set of gear all the way through a raid, or boss seems like easy mode. Before anyone gets mad, this is only my opinion.

[StateAlchemist]

This is a fair response.

What I am about to propose is purely theoretical, just FYI. I know, right now in FFXIV we have no events that would even come close to justifying gear swapping.

Lets say for example, that we have a dragon. This dragon deals purely physical damage + AoE, and Wind Damage for the first 75% of its health.

Now, when you get it to 25% it switches to heavy fire damage, and pure magical damage. In what sense would you wrap a strategy around that? I'm being completely serious. I would love to see true reasons why strategy would always be =/= gear. It just makes sense to me that if a Monster switches to magic damage, ill switch to gear that nullifies magic damage.

I mean, macro's are easy to make. And I only had 1 bar of Gear Swap macros. There were what, like 100 bars total to create?

I am genuinely interested in hearing about new systems though. But to me, just using one set of gear all the way through a raid, or boss seems like easy mode. Before anyone gets mad, this is only my opinion.

I am sure someone would just say "Bring two tanks...one in VIT/DEF the other in HP/Elemental Resistance gear."

Silly. Gear-swapping doesn't have to become a standard. Just make it an option. If it's not needed then no one is gonna make you do it. But at the same time even if it's not needed, some people still wanna do it. Like me.

[ThePatriarch]

I am sure someone would just say "Bring two tanks...one in VIT/DEF the other in HP/Elemental Resistance gear."

Silly. Gear-swapping doesn't have to become a standard. Just make it an option. If it's not needed then no one is gonna make you do it. But at the same time even if it's not needed, some people still wanna do it. Like me.

That would leave you with a tank sitting on the sideline for 75% of the fight. While you could have 2 tanks actively sharing hate, and backing each other up, then both could swap gear when needed. Adaptive Tanks.

If you only had 1 tank for each session, if one goes down your backup tank is set-up for a beating, since he is not in gear that is suitable.

But all this being said, Gear Swapping does not need to be a standard. But why is it an issue if it is possible?

Just because other people are doing it, doesnt mean you have to.

[StateAlchemist]

That would leave you with a tank sitting on the sideline for 75% of the fight. While you could have 2 tanks actively sharing hate, and backing each other up, then both could swap gear when needed. Adaptive Tanks.

If you only had 1 tank for each session, if one goes down your backup tank is set-up for a beating, since he is not in gear that is suitable.

But all this being said, Gear Swapping does not need to be a standard. But why is it an issue if it is possible?

Just because other people are doing it, doesnt mean you have to.

I knew I should have worded my previous comment better. I am agreeing with you just to clarify. Let me re-phrase:

I am sure someone would just say "Bring two tanks...one in VIT/DEF the other in HP/Elemental Resistance gear." But saying that is silly.

I am all for gear-swapping. That doesn't mean Gear-swapping has to become a standard. Just make it an option. If it's not needed then no one is gonna make you do it. But at the same time even if it's not needed, the people that still wanna do it, can. Like me.

[Molly_Millions]

This is a fair response.

What I am about to propose is purely theoretical, just FYI. I know, right now in FFXIV we have no events that would even come close to justifying gear swapping.

Lets say for example, that we have a dragon. This dragon deals purely physical damage + AoE, and Wind Damage for the first 75% of its health.

Now, when you get it to 25% it switches to heavy fire damage, and pure magical damage. In what sense would you wrap a strategy around that? I'm being completely serious. I would love to see true reasons why strategy would always be =/= gear. It just makes sense to me that if a Monster switches to magic damage, ill switch to gear that nullifies magic damage.

I mean, macro's are easy to make. And I only had 1 bar of Gear Swap macros. There were what, like 100 bars total to create?

I am genuinely interested in hearing about new systems though. But to me, just using one set of gear all the way through a raid, or boss seems like easy mode. Before anyone gets mad, this is only my opinion.

I know your playing Devil's advocate here, but this scenario doesn't exist in the current game. If this sort of thing were more common in this game, I might be more inclined to support gear swapping.

In the above scenario strategy comes into play when deciding if it's more important to have more HP during the first 3/4 of the fight or more HP during the last 1/4. I would argue that if that dragon is not beatable without adding gear swaps, then SE didn't do their job balancing the battle. (This is with the battle mechanics 100% as the are in-game right now.)

[StateAlchemist]

I know your playing Devil's advocate here, but this scenario doesn't exist in the current game. If this sort of thing were more common in this game, I might be more inclined to support gear swapping.

In the above scenario strategy comes into play when deciding if it's more important to have more HP during the first 3/4 of the fight or more HP during the last 1/4. I would argue that if that dragon is not beatable without adding gear swaps, then SE didn't do their job balancing the battle. (This is with the battle mechanics 100% as the are in-game right now.)

Wouldn't it be impossible to add a fight with that kind of dynamic though without a gear swap possible or someone standing around useless part of the fight? I would think it would limit SE on the kind of fights that you could put in the game... Idk.

FOr that matter I am curious as to how garuda fight will work.

[Molly_Millions]

Wouldn't it be impossible to add a fight with that kind of dynamic though without a gear swap possible or someone standing around useless part of the fight? I would think it would limit SE on the kind of fights that you could put in the game... Idk.

FOr that matter I am curious as to how garuda fight will work.

Without proper balancing it would be difficult, I'm not denying that. In the end I think the work should be done in balancing, not by adding an unneeded mechanic to justify a lack of balancing.

[Arcell]

This is a fair response.

What I am about to propose is purely theoretical, just FYI. I know, right now in FFXIV we have no events that would even come close to justifying gear swapping.

Lets say for example, that we have a dragon. This dragon deals purely physical damage + AoE, and Wind Damage for the first 75% of its health.

Now, when you get it to 25% it switches to heavy fire damage, and pure magical damage. In what sense would you wrap a strategy around that? I'm being completely serious. I would love to see true reasons why strategy would always be =/= gear. It just makes sense to me that if a Monster switches to magic damage, ill switch to gear that nullifies magic damage.

I mean, macro's are easy to make. And I only had 1 bar of Gear Swap macros. There were what, like 100 bars total to create?

I am genuinely interested in hearing about new systems though. But to me, just using one set of gear all the way through a raid, or boss seems like easy mode. Before anyone gets mad, this is only my opinion.

That would be a situation in a game created with the intent of gear swapping as a core mechanic, that would be a situation created almost exclusively because gear swapping exists. They wouldn't design any fight in FFXIV like that because the game is not created around gear swapping as a core mechanic. Since they've already said gear swapping isn't going to happen, fights in FFXIV would be designed around the existing mechanics.

A better example would be something that has one or two very strong attacks of certain elements/damage types that aren't its normal attack types, something that would exist in FFXIV. The way to get around that would be to prepare ahead of time and/or play smart. Is there a way to avoid it? Can you incap the monster to disable it? Is there a skill you can use to stun them or reduce incoming damage? Strategy that does not equal gear. Strategy that requires playing well.

Having just one set of gear through an entire fight isn't easier, it's actually harder. You can't just adjust the numbers in your favor on a whim, you have to live with the gear choice you made before the fight began. You have to use all of the other tools at your disposal to win (spells, weaponskills, abilities, items, positioning, combos). So you have to really think before the battle begins what the best gear is for that particular encounter. You can switch between battles so if there are different situations within a specific dungeon you can adapt to them.