Auto attack: A complete battle system

[Sorel]

One could argue that FFXIV can't really be played as it should until mid-level (rank 25+). And that features that are broken or prone to abuse prior to that point, but work fine later on in the game should not be adjusted, removed, or redesigned. And that low level players should just endure less-than-ideal feature design and implementation until they reach the proper level.

I, personally, would find it difficult to make that argument, though.

[Alcide]

I, personally, would find it difficult to make that argument, though.

I agree, but if it's working fine later on there can be a way to make it work fine from the beginning too, wich is not to scrap the whole system away.

[Teknoman]

Im not sure why I see people complain about just spamming normal attacks. It really doesnt help kill the enemy any faster, and if you arent utilizing your other skills, well you arent really fighting to the best of your abilities. Its pretty easy to talk during battle too, since the time spent typing, can be put right back into attacking (your stamina gauge will be full enough for multiple consecutive attacks or skills).

[Amsai]

I just want auto-attack, TP, and global cooldowns. They can ditch stamina asap.

[Shiggysonson]

I think they should just make it so you can queue a certain amount of abilities. This way they don't have to change much of the current battle system, and it gives people time to chat while fighting.

[Crazy]

I thought they had a thing going in FF12 and thought that FF14 would be like 12. I enjoyed programming my characters in 12. I wish I could do it in FF14

[RyneM]

Here's some thoughts from a level 10 Pugilist in his first week of play. Maybe I just happened to choose the right class, but after I gained my first couple skills this game stopped being a 1,1,1 spamfest. It's strange to me that some people mention that the system works once you reach the twenties, but I haven't tried any other classes yet and right now what I'm playing doesn't feel terrible. Right now my combat revolves around using Light and Heavy strikes as my main attacks and using context sensitive skills and larger TP consuming skills as they become available. I'd really like to see a greater emphasis on a wider variety of basic attacks that consume varying amounts of stamina and/or TP. The combat then becomes more of a 1, 4, 2, 2, 3 type of system where the basic attack you choose to execute is actually important in the grand scheme of things. Use the wrong basic attacks and you'll have to wait longer to deal that high damage WS.

Pretty much any other MMO's I've tried use an auto attack system where the focus is only on your skill management. Basic combat actions should be just as important as the powerful skills you execute. Also I think it's of note that eventual PS3 players will be playing with only a controller and headset. I don't think that implementing auto-attack just so PC players can text chat is a good argument. If the system is designed with PC text chatting in mind then PS3 players will be dropping their controller, typing on a keyboard, picking their controller back up, rinse and repeat. Yes, they'll likely be able to play on the keyboard, but they own a PS3 and not a high end gaming computer probably in part because they like their controllers. The game's combat system should be made intuitive enough that players are able to adjust tactics on the fly. It's 2011, voice chat should be the standard by now.

[Asra]

I've said it once and I'll say it many times, I am strongly opposed to a full conversion to auto attack, and this is after a long thought process on it. My reasons to go against it outweigh the reasons for it. Then again, I prefer manual control in many aspects of life. Perhaps a character flaw.

It's as RyneM said above, basic actions are a very important part of the current game scheme, and since several of these basic attacks actually do something as opposed to others (in most cases) the devs would have to figure out how to balance the loss of control on these actions into the auto attack system. As Pugilist, do I want to hit harder or boost my evasion and defense, or sacrifice a bit more stamina for more TP? As Lancer, do I really want to hit everything between me and the monster or not in a basic action? Do I need to start enabling myself to run away and start using Close Shot/Heavy Thrust? Do I need to lop off many heads at once with my axe or would I prefer leaving it with a grievous wound? How would the devs implement choices like these and be able to satisfy party and solo playstyles in an auto attack system without doing some real major, potentially game breaking changes?

I am well aware that there is a lot of repeat of actions in quite a few cases - Im personally fine with this, though I realize many are not. If it is to merely enable socializing to implement auto attack, why not go with an option to enable it mid combat if you need/want to chat? Why not have a feature that enables queuing up of actions to allow you to chat mid combat while those automatically execute, similair to the already implemented Battle Regimen system? There is a clear division among everyone I know about this issue, and the only solutions I see are the two I just mentioned that would satisfy both halves of the argument without stepping on anyone's toes. Concesus of all that I follow on Lodestone prefer a choice, others thought the latter was a good idea.

On a closing note - stamina management is a part of the game, and few I know that are R50 taking on NMs have any major complaints about the system as it is, they just think it needs refinement. Mashing an attack to get TP more often than not leaves you out of the battle regimen, and this is personal experience.

[Lairin]

I would love to see auto attack; In fact I was very sad to see the battle system had gone so far from the FF 11 style.
Also it would not hurt my feelings one bit of the que-up system was removed as it can be annoying at times.
Would also be nice to see skills like faint, stay grayed out even if you have the TP to use them, till you miss and it really is usable.

[Meenkieblade]

Battle brainstorming!


Battle system
-This will be very hard to fix....parts are fine, parts are broken.

-I'd love an auto-attack option. How hard would it be to set that to the 1st eaction action? Choose which you want (stab vs. slash, etc.) and your character will do that on the mob whenever possible (maybe having to hit it once at the start to prevent auto-attacking the wrong mob). Oh, and make it so it doesn't take stamina. If only the special moves used stamina the flow would be more.....dynamic. Sure, it'd take more stamina to do things....but hey, we're adventurers! Slashing a sword is supposed to be easy! Spinning and slashing takes more effort, it makes sense!
It's also lame when you stop hitting a mob because you're actually trying to socialize a bit. x.x

-Auto-shield maybe? >.> Just restrict damage a bit perhaps? Kind of like Defender, but more class/wep specific.

-Battle regiments....Great idea, very poorly executed. They're easy to screw up, mistime, and tricky to put into action. The SkillChain system in FFXI was rarely used beyond a few levels when Freeze was awesome and some end-game battles. Sure, it was extra damage....but waiting for your teammates to get TP sometimes was aggravating and wasteful.
With everyone able to use pretty much any WS ability now....it gets complicated and fairly silly.

-Maybe try this;
Instead of focusing on the Abilities people are using, focus more on the timing. Right now, some WSs focus on a particular body part of the enemy to create an effect. Maybe take this a step further and just have everyone with a same-area-hitting-attack go at once?
For example; Someone counts down with a macro, 3,2,1 GO Head Attacks! Three people with Head-Aimed WSs nail the mob at the same time compounding damage and having some sort of effect on the mob. Simple, and easy! (of course, WSs would need to use a LOT more stamina...can't have people just spamming that. Unique WSs to each class along with auto-attack, this could be nifty!)