SE stop doing the "norm"

[Abriael]

Still, I don't think any gear will save you if you just stand there idly/spam your attacks and take the hits. The difference is the time span that has to pass before you kiss the floor, and IMHO, in action-based combat it happens much faster.

No gear will save you if you're very bad. The same can be said about every MMORPG that simply isn't super-easy or in which you're not way overgeared for the challenge. Mind you, when you're way overgeared you're safe even in action-based mmo.

The difference is though, that in FFXIV, once you have the gear, you're mostly safe and you don't have to worry about anything beyond a set routine/positioning.

Yeah, and in action based MMOs you're mostly safe unless you screw up action. Positioning and group tactics are the basics of the challenge of target-based MMOs, while action is the basics if action-basics MMOs. Neither is safer than the other when you're overgeared. They're just "safe unless you screw up". There are just different things to screw up.

Which is kinda weird, since action based combat doesn't only rely on correct positioning/tactics/synergy but also on your reaction that goes beyond "read battle log msg x -> run to other spot in the arena -> continue spamming".

Action based mmos rely on correct positioning/tactics/synergy a LOT less than other MMOS, for a physical matter of netcode and for a simple reason of balancing.

It's a different type of challenge, as you said yourself. Each skillset is there to overcome a type of a challenge. The difference in my eyes is, if you have reaction-based challenges on top of positioning/synergy, it makes a game much more fun.

The point if you can't have the same level of position/synergy.

Why does it have to be all about the gear though? For me, the game is not all about grinding for a piece of an armor... so that I can go grind for a new weapon next. If anything, that bores me to death and kills any motivation to log in, especially when it is implemented in the way that requires you to spam the same content over and over again.

You're minority. Gear collection is a major element that makes MMORPG addictive for most people, and it's in a developer's best interest for their MMO to be addictive. You'd be probably better suited for a more immediate kind of game with no real gating like MechWarrior online.

There is so much more out there, PvP (which doesn't get old so fast since you're not fighting an AI), world exploration, crafting, simply running around helping people, communicating etc etc.

PvP doesn't get old only for those that actually like it. We already know this won't be a MMO geared primarly to PvPers. World exploration gets old when you have explored the whole world. ArcheAge has one of the biggest, most expansive and fully explorable worlds in the market, yet you can explore it fully in a couple days (I know because i did).
Crafting is as niche as pvp, with the added malus that you *do* run out of possible progression.

Running around and helping people are in no way less relevant in gear based games, with the additional bonus that in gear based games you have more reasons to help people, as the best gear requires collaboration to get.

Define "tactically". It's a different type of tactics than target-based combat, that's all.

No, it's not. It's exactly the same tactics, just with different levels of complexity. Action based combat requires less complex mechanics, leading to a less tactical approach.

I don't agree on the bandwidth part, either. A typical MMO is using about 1-5kb/s of spike bandwidth. With current minimal speeds of around 50kb/s, there is still about ten times of bandwidth free. In the end, it's all about how the system is implemented.

To be totally honest, you not agreeing is irrelevant. That's just client-side bandwidth. It has to be multiplied by everyone communicating with the same server. Bluehole had to develop a completely different netcode to make tera possible, and had to do a TON of compromise with encounter complexity in order to achieve it.

Generally speaking, you're right. It just annoys me that in FFXIV it's mostly BLM burn instead of actual tactics (or used to be, I'm not logging in much) and the fact that most of the time you just concentrate on spamming your skills as fast as possible, not caring about defense because "magic" will heal you anyway.

I wonder what level of encounters you're talking about, because BLM burn will carry you only so far.

I guess you could say that this type of gameplay is not my taste.

That is fine. It just means that ARR won't be for you. At the moment, though, the majority of MMO players seem to prefer (just looking at subscriber numbers) target based combat.

Action combat is interesting, but is also niche, as people that like that kind of approach tend to prefer less gated games like pure third person shooters, or third person shooters with limited MMO elements like world of tanks, mechwarrior online, war of the roses and so forth.