Does anyone enjoy duties where ...

[TheMightyMollusk]

I like the idea of them. It's a way to show that other characters can actually handle themselves without the WoL having to hold their hands all the time, or to show off their specialties, like Thancred's stealth mission on the journey to Garlemald. The problem is that some of them drag on way too long. Thancred vs Ran'jit is the biggest offender, as Ran'jit's massive HP pool turns what should be a tense showdown into a total slog, but it's hardly alone.

[Hazama999]

They're ok, I guess.

They occur with a frequency that doesn't bother me.

[SailorCeti]

Eh... I don't really like them. Mostly because they give you ZERO time to review the abilities before you have to start using them. Maybe if they fixed that, they'd be better. Like, give us a "Start Duty" button or something. But honestly, you're right. I find them strange. I want to play MY character, not an NPC.

[AmiableApkallu]

I like them for the storytelling change of perspective. It adds a lot to the RPG story when it shifts between characters points of views.

The Ranjiit one was too long, but more than too long, it was just the same thing for the whole duration besides a change in the middle.

I think they make a lot more sense when they actually come with actually different gameplay, like the This Is Thancred run playing Metal Gear and infiltration, or the best one, In From The Cold. This truly serves the story well, and puts you into different situations where it's not just "let's shift characters for the sake of doing a solo instance". Also, bonus points for the G-Savior instance vs the Sapphire Weapon: it was a great way to reward the player with something where you can just blast your way through, in a similar fashion than when you get given control of various magitek implements (this is why In From The Cold is so great, it takes from all those elements at once).

I do not agree with giving out more abilities, not because it would make things more intricate (I'm always for more intricacies, believe me), but because it already takes a bit of time when the instance starts to read every tooltip and figure out what you're dealing with.
- I don't think they are the important part of those instances at all, but the narrative is.
- They're supposed to be a small showcase sample of different roles or jobs to players that could get interested in trying them out.
- Having to read a dozen of abilities and figure out a rotation is the stuff from hitting dummies, not something the average player will want to deal with: it's essentially dumping half a job onto their face and telling them "go fight now, no preparation, no nothing".
- Having to read a dozen of abilities and figure out a rotation when you're in a hype story moment and spending ten minutes trying to figure out what to do with it is the best way to kill the hype and turn you off from the story.

This is my take as well, with the proviso that they truly are driven by the narrative and used judiciously.

[DiaDeem]

I'll do them... but I'd rather not

[Ryaze]

The only two I've liked was the Y'sthola duty in SB (I don't even remember why I liked it, maybe it was the first "role play" duty that I noticed being different) and the Thancred solo duty in EW. The Thancred duty majorly reminded me of base infiltration/stealth, limited unit missions in old RTSs like C&C and Red Alert. I enjoyed that one a lot, I just wish it was harder/easier to fail.

[Equitable_Remedy]

I generally find them to be a fun, occasional change of pace.

[Asako]

I would like if when doing it you could reorganize the hotbar. I use tab target on my mouse and have tab rebinded to something else, so when I get one of these instances it's annoying trying to target another enemy as I have to try and click on each one specifically.

They are also usually really long and drawn out for no reason so I've started to kill my character off really fast so i can set it to very easy and just skip it.

[Iscah]

Eh... I don't really like them. Mostly because they give you ZERO time to review the abilities before you have to start using them. Maybe if they fixed that, they'd be better. Like, give us a "Start Duty" button or something.

In many of these instances, the enemies actually will politely wait for you to finish reading and reorganising your hotbar.

[Taliriah]

In many of these instances, the enemies actually will politely wait for you to finish reading and reorganising your hotbar.

Cool. I love to have to janitor my hotbars for the sake of some occasional gameplay gimmick.