Damage / Buff calculations based on animation is problematic.

[Altena]

I want to begin by stating that I know SE's stance on this as they have been very blunt about it in the past, however as stubborn as a person I am, I wish to raise a pressing issue as to why this is a big problem.

This thread is simply about damage or buffs that do not take effect until after the animation has completed. My first example I am going to bring up is the glaringly obvious ones and in my opinion some of the more crucial ones - PLD..



PLD

Using Hallowed Ground as an example, there are countless times where I have dropped to 2k HP and worried if I was going to get a heal or not, used Hallowed Ground instantly, and still died.

On top of this, all of PLD's defensive skills work in a similar fashion. This makes reaction/twitch tanking impossible, and you have to simply rely on prediction. This makes tanking mechanics even more boring then they already are for a PLD.

Finally this goes for both WAR and PLD, or in fact any interrupt skill. Instead of the true "instant" description, the interrupt is actually scaled on the duration of the animation. This means that the stun is actually about 1 second (give or take) after you hit the button, and this is far from "instant". Having to allow for both latency and the animation delay often means that the line between interrupting a fast casting spell, and not interrupting it is extremely small. It is once again, less about twitch/reaction mechanics and more about prediction - which in turn makes the mechanic dull.

BLM

Now it's arguable that since BLM is pretty much the strongest ranged DPS class at the moment, that they don't really need a "buff", and what I am going to mention here will indeed appear to be a "buff" but hear me out.

Firestarter procs.

This one is probably self explanatory to any BLM out there.. Currently the problem is this-
Depending on the distance you are between the enemy mob, after successively casting Fire 1, the animation overflows the GCD (as the little fireball has to hit the mob) before a Firestarter proc actually shows on your screen. Meanwhile you are already 1/4 of the way through your next Fire 1.

So a BLM has 2 options. To continue casting that Fire 1 and potentially waste a Firestarter proc (if one were to proc on the next Fire), or interrupt the cast and burn the proc, then go back to Fire 1.

Both options mean a loss on damage.

In addition to this, often because of the animation - Swiftcast fails to take effect if you cast immediately after using the skill. This reduces the point of Swiftcast, as you have to interrupt the cast to allow Swiftcast to take effect on the spell. Similar story for Surecast but to be honest, that skill is more useful for healers anyway.

Healers

This one is pretty obvious. Cures are not instant, they go off after the animation is displayed, therefore a healer has to allow for the time it takes to play the animation + cast time + GCD.

Similar story with Stoneskin... If you know a big attack is coming and the tank is at full HP - you have to also allow a 1-2 second buffer after casting the spell for the buff to actually take effect.. So this means you have to begin casting about 5 seconds before the tank gets hit.

Summary

Basically all of this attributes to a sense of lag and clunkyness in overall gameplay. While it does appear that this game is more about looks then it is gameplay, adjusting abilities at the least to apply the buff the instant the cool down goes off would improve the feeling of response, and make the game feel less delayed.

Myself, and I am sure many others can understand weaponskills and other non crucial abilities based on this mechanic where the damage is displayed & dealt after the fireball hits the target, or the polearm stabs them. However in terms of how the gameplay feels - currently it feels slow and laggy.

Simply pushing the buffs / debuffs to the start of the animation would improve the overall feel of gameplay by a huge amount and would reduce a lot of the complaints on game lag.

It feels like you guys tried to do a reaction/twitch style mechanic, but only went half way - and picked aesthetics over the feeling of a fluid battle system. For the most part, the game "looks" nice, but certainly doesn't "feel" nice.

[Arcaloid]

I don't really mind this, it's just a design decision, so the animation actually means something.
Sure in all(?) other games a instant ability is really instant, but it doesn't mean it's the 'correct' game design. Actually it's just a 'lazy' game design because designer don't need to worry about animation duration, where SE designer need to take that into consideration.

[Pinworms]

GIT GUD and NOTHING IS WRONG THIS GAME IS PERFECT! GAWD! WUTS WRONG WIT U?

Just kidding lol! Yeah I can attest to the BLM fire starter proc. it's better to ride out your cast and hit the proc after, rather than cancel; however, this should not even be an issue as the proc, IMO, should be based off of the cast not the hit. Basically saying what you did in a nutshell. That's not really an animation thing though I don't think.

[Altena]

snip.

The argument is aesthetics vs. gameplay.

Nothing "lazy" about it.. It's about priorities..

Do you want a responsive, fluid gameplay - or a pretty one?

On top of this, pushing calculations at the start of the animations for most things do not actually effect aesthetics to begin with. For example swiftcast - does it really matter if the little orb things connect with your player in the animation before the buff is applied? Nope.

What matters is not having to wait for the entirety of the animation, just to actually gain the benefit.

Same story with Cure... Does the little sparkly powder actually have to spray out and land on the target before giving them HP? No. Does it truly make the game "prettier"? Not really (subjective of course). Does it make the game feel unresponsive and laggy? Definitely.

GIT GUD and NOTHING IS WRONG THIS GAME IS PERFECT! GAWD! WUTS WRONG WIT U?

Just kidding lol! Yeah I can attest to the BLM fire starter proc. it's better to ride out your cast and hit the proc after, rather than cancel; however, this should not even be an issue as the proc, IMO, should be based off of the cast not the hit. Basically saying what you did in a nutshell. That's not really an animation thing though I don't think.

Well that's just it, the firestarter proc is based off the animation of Fire.

You will notice it actually procs when the little fireball from Fire 1 lands on the target (graphically). In which case you are already into your next Fire (as you mentioned).

As you said - it should be based entirely off the cast. Once the cast is successful (ie, the cast bar hits 100%) then it determines whether or not Firestarter procs or not.

This just makes the game feel like the UI is constantly behind schedule.

[Feidam]

I have ever missed a fire starter proc. not sure some people freak out over this. I just finish the cast and then use fire 3. It was worked every time and never wasted a proc. the proc does have a time limit though and if you don't notice it maybe that is how you are missing the proc.

[Terius]

I have noticed this myself.

As SCH - Adlo/Succor/Sacred Soil take time to properly come into effect even when shown.

As BLM - Firestarter procs. As you said have to wait for Fire to reach it.

Although you can claw a little back with BLM by: Having Umbral Ice III up, you can Fire III to get Astral Fire III and you can still cast Fire I quickly as if you had Umbral Ice III, even though you've switched to fire and you'll still do the increased Fire I damage. (And at the reduced mana cost!)

[Altena]

I have ever missed a fire starter proc. not sure some people freak out over this. I just finish the cast and then use fire 3. It was worked every time and never wasted a proc. the proc does have a time limit though and if you don't notice it maybe that is how you are missing the proc.

Firestarter can proc on the next Fire (and happens often) - ie you are wasting a proc.

For example:
Cast Fire
While starting next Fire, Firestarter procs.
Finish casting Fire and Firestarter procs on this one too..

ie you waste the first proc if you decide to finish the 2nd Fire cast.

[Gilthas]

Instead of the true "instant" description, the interrupt is actually scaled on the duration of the animation.

The description actually says that the "cast time" is instant, which it is.

SE could change all these abilities to be actually instant (Aero surely feels like it hits instantly if I'm not mistaken), but its also true that the playerbase could just accept how these abilities work in the game instead of demanding that they be changed.

I also disagree with saying that the current system is "unresponsive". Unresponsive would be you using an ability and it only starting a few seconds later.

[Altena]

The description actually says that the "cast time" is instant, which it is.

SE could change all these abilities to be actually instant (Aero surely feels like it hits instantly if I'm not mistaken), but its also true that the playerbase could just accept how these abilities work in the game instead of demanding that they be changed.

Aero feels instant because there is no wind up animation / Aero doesn't have to travel through the air to land on the target. It just hits the target immediately. The animation is also extremely short. It is also an insignificant issue for a spell like Aero.. The issues are on a completely different level when you are talking about mitigation skills on PLD (which could mean life or death) as one small example.

Asking players to accept it, is asking us to accept poor design and response time..

There are 2 potential cases..
1. SE don't know how to fix it.
2. It's a design choice.

Both are terrible.

I also disagree with saying that the current system is "unresponsive". Unresponsive would be you using an ability and it only starting a few seconds later.

Well this can also happen.
Along with complete animation cancelations.
Use a skill, half the animation is displayed, half of the GCD completes, then you find out that the skill didn't actually go off. This happens quite frequently with Shield Lob.
So yes, often skills are also unresponsive, which is another glaring issue entirely.

[Airget]

The argument is aesthetics vs. gameplay.

Do you want a responsive, fluid gameplay - or a pretty one?

.

It's responsive to the animation, not the casting timer.

It's like saying you want the cup of water to be full once you turn on the faucet, but the action of turning on the faucet does not cause the water to automatically become full it's the motion of the water entering the cup that fills it with water.

In the same sense it's not the casting time that dictates the action takes place but the animation of the action that causes it to take effect.

Like poison, most are not instantaneous, they take time to full influence the body, you aren't boned the moment it enters your system only as time progresses and it moves throughout your body. The animations work in the same way. you aren't healed until the effects of the heal go off, not just the incantation, so you have to take that into account when you use those abilities.