Damage / Buff calculations based on animation is problematic.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Altena]

dat immersion

So important when it comes to gameplay and mechanics..

While yes it takes time to tip a cup upside down, and the water to pour out of it - however when it comes to twitch mechanics such as popping a defensive ability a split second before you're about to get hit - it's no longer about reaction, and moves into prediction / guessing.

Content would be a lot more interesting if you had to rely on twitch reaction rather then memorizing a set rotation of skills.

They attempted to do a hybrid of both, which in turn leads to poor design.

If this is happening frequently to you I suggest you check your internet connection. I only get this when I'm lagging. And no, not all lag is due to SE's servers.

Regardless, this has nothing to do with your original complaint, you're just going off on a tangent to support your "unresponsive" claim.

My internet connection is fine. 95Mbps down/2.5Mbps up, with 250 ping due to geographical location (which is more then sufficient). Only get the occasional spike during instances after a myth reset.

This is also tied to the problem I have mentioned in the OP.
- If the calculations were done once the key had been pressed, then the skill would complete.

On top of this (and this is not due to lag), there are often skills that get "eaten" by the server. eg; I pop Fight or Flight or Convalesence, followed by a GCD skill.
The CD of the ability goes off, yet the buff is not applied.

This is presumably due to clipping the end of the animation, and the buff failing to be responsive.

On a final note, I was unaware that your posts were about semantics.. So I will politely ignore them.