What do you look for in a combat system?

[gifthorse]

For the whole "auto vs manual attack", i say the system in place now is awesome as is. I like DCUO's manual, fast action fighting but that does not fit in Final Fantasy, I dislike though how boring auto attack gets.

But spamming numbers can get boring too. The idea of manual is good, but the implementation in FFXIV is boring. TERA, GW2, and B&S seem to pull off action-based combat really well. FFXIV, not so much. Even though SE's heart was in the right place, they didn't seem to be able to realise their vision (combat where actions and positioning matter). Active combat where position matters allows for a lot of strategy and CREATIVITY when fighting.

While Im on the subject, the responsiveness and visual representation of our attacks in FFXIV is also quite poor.

But anyway, in conclusion, auto-attack does not seem to resolve the issues afflicting FFXIV's combat system at the moment.