Quote Originally Posted by Valence View Post
I'm sorry but I'll need an explanation how pressing multiple buttons in succession while being able to move freely, with no channeled timer, is even akin to casting? Dance steps and Ninjutsu mudra sequences are casting how exactly? I'd have agreed on TCJ but they changed it so the Ninja can move freely now.. I don't think we can construe casting as doing actions that do no damage to prep for higher damage, else what? Reassemble is casting? Life Surge is casting? Raging Strikes is casting? Or do you mean just a combo sequence is casting?
The only casting button rphys currently has is Flamethrower.

And yes, I'd love to actually have Honing Dance in pve. That's a good channeled ability, it's definitely close enough to casting to be part of caster gameplay, just inverted as you do commit to it instead of being able to cancel it, but it's also not on the filler and has a lot of flavor so I'm all for it.
It's the downtime. Casting mechanics will be represented differently depending on the game type. We can imagine something like a turn based game where you have a scientist character who has an ability where they can analyze an enemy's weakness to create a chemical mixture that is strong against those weakness, but they have to skip their turn to do so, But they can accumulate more, and more data the more turns they skip so their chemical move can get stronger over time, but if they take any other actions, they lose their progress.' There can also be a mage character that also uses a similar mechanic for their strongest spell. There is no movement in combat as it is not a relevant mechanic in this imaginary game.

Let's also imagine a first person fantasy game where fire magic is cast by holding down the right mouse click to charge it up, it fills up a meter to indicate how strong the spell will be, and when you release the right mouse button, it releases the fire ball. but you cannot do any other attacks while casting. You are free to run around at full speed while casting fire magic, but ice magic is cast using a similar process, but your movement speed is slowed while casting, and earth magic requires you stand still while casting. The bow in this game also uses a similar mechanic that is like ice casting.

So to get back to FFXIV, it's the downtime that makes Mudras, and dance steps 'caster' mechanics to me. Only certain actions can be preformed while dancing, and you will get a bunny if you do any else besides your Mudras. This caster like downtime is why it is a popular suggestion to have like a chemist healer use a system like Mudras for mixing potions. Like Life Surge or Reassemble were on the GCD, then the 'casting' comparisons could be made as they would force you to take downtime for their benefits, but they don't incur downtime so they are not related to casting.