Originally Posted by
VanilleFang
I don't understand... What is so hard about hitting up and down on the dpad [to target players for healing] exactly?
It's not hard, per se. However, it is cumbersome (higher probability for errors) for a variety of reasons. I'm quite passionate about this, because I feel that this one issue is the dead weight FFXIV needs to shed to be a truly great game. I've discussed these encumbrances elsewhere but I'm more than happy to explain, at length, again. I apologize for getting geeky and technical (boring).
1. The Claw.
I like to use an analogy of a modern semi-automatic pistol for this. Most modern pistols have a fire safety switch on both sides, which allows both right and left-handed users to actvate the switch with the thumb of the hand that is holding the weapon. This enables the off hand to support the weapon or hold another device (flashlight, radio, another weapon, etc.) Also, it's an easy argument to make that fire safeties on only one side of the weapon are less safe (at the very least, less convenient) since you must either switch hands or reach over the weapon with your off hand to engage the safety.
Using the d-pad is a left-thumb specific input on the controller. This, coupled with the fact that most people use the left thumbstick for movement (default) makes targeting while moving problematic. To mitigate this problem, people reach with thier right hand to the d-pad, to change targets, aka; The Claw.
Non-default user input options include making the right thumbstick the movement control, or complex macros. Both are widely, and rightly, criticized becasue they cause other problems.
2. Toggle/Mixed vs Hold Hotbars*.
The default hotbar activation scheme is "Hold". Players must hold the trigger button L2/R2 for using skills/casting, and release the trigger to enable player targeting through the d-pad. While not a huge ordeal, it does add a button press between the act of selecting a player and the act of casting. This can lead to finger strain and errors of input in "heated" situations. To alleviate finger strain many players (especially DPS/Tanks) choose to use Toggle or Mixed (T/M) hotbars. This allows for a press, rather than a hold, to (de)activate the hotbar. T/M hotbars, used in conjuction with hotbar swap macros, make it so DPS/tanks almost never have to deactivate a hotbar. They have have less errors because of this. If you heal, and you use T/M hotbars, you are placing an additional button press before AND after the party selection process, further slowing things down, and increasing the rate of errors.
3. "Soft" Targeting.
The ability to keep a target active while you momentarily shift to another party member for a single cast is commonly known as "soft" targeting. While many consider soft targeting a good/convenient thing, there are those of us who do not care for it. I see the advantages, but consider the disadvantages; A) If you want to hard target another player, there is an additional button press (select) prior to your cast (this contributes to error rate). B) If you want to cast multiple skills/spells on the same player, the actions below are common, given the hard targeted player is #3 (tank) and the desired target is #6 (DPS):
i. release trigger
ii. dpad dn
iii. dpad dn
iv. dpad dn
v. press trigger
vi. cast (esuna)
vii. release trigger
viii. dpad dn
ix. dpad dn
x. dpad dn
xi. press trigger
xii. cast (regen)
Twelve distinct controller actions to cast two spells on a soft-targeted player. That's a lot of room for error.
Now consider the number of distinct controller actions required if player targeting worked like enemy (hard) targeting (remember, there is no need to (de)activate hotbars):
i. R1
ii. R1
iii. R1
iv. cast (esuna)
v. cast (regen)
Five distinct contoller actions. Even if you add three more to re-target the tank (eight total) you are still saving button presses. If you do the math on hard targeting #6, casting two spells and re-hard-targeting the tank, you still end up pressing more buttons with the default setup. I see the advantage of not having to reselect the tank, if you are only casting a single spell on another player. However, more often than not, you will be casting 2-3 spells on the tank, then a spell on #7, then two on #5, then who knows... the bottom line is, soft targeting saves you minimally on the amount of up/dn presses for player targeting in Primal EX/Coil ops where all players are consistently taking damage/status effects. Furthermore, since you are forced to fiddle with (de)activation of hotbars, your error rate is higher. Which brings me to...
4. Error Rate (Encumbrance).
Errors in healing causes wipes. If the Monk doesn't max his DPS, or the Tank doesnt max aggro generation or durability, in most cases nobody will notice. If the healer doesnt get the right recovery spell, on target, on time, someone may die. "Sorry, I meant to Medica, but I Esuna'd." If you've played long enough, you've probably heard an excuse like this. It happens to the best healers out there. If they claim they're always perfect, they are lying.
Fundamentals of engineering to reduce errors, malfunctions and failures centers on two entertwined principals; reduce the number of moving parts and decrease complexity. Consider that:
- By moving player targeting to right-thumb or bumper (L1/R1) operations, complexity is decreased (no more "claw").
- By reducing or eliminating the need to (de)activate the trigger and press select buttons between player selection and skill usage, complexity is decreased.
Bottom line: D-pad targeting contributes to error rate.
I hope this clarifies some misconseptions about the "difficulty" surrounding player targeting. While no team can be successful without the right balance of recovery, beef, and damage the healer is arguably the most valuable member, and as such should have targeting schemes at least on par with the other classes.
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On a side note, the link below references a suggestion in the User Interface forums. Addition of this suggestion would allow for macros to solve the player targeting issues discussed above, without the need to do insane hotbar swaps. I hope that you will verbally endorse the idea, if only out of curiosity, even if you are content with current mechanics.
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...os-with-hotbar
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TL;DR - *Consider the default method of player targeting analogous to driving a car with a standard transmission with a manually operated clutch. You must engage the clutch before shifting gears, and disengage the clutch before hitting the accelerator.
Manually operated clutches are antiquated. F1, Le Mans, NASCAR, EU Touring, justabout every other "premier" auto racing institution, and most hypercars worth their salt have automatically operated clutches. Because of this:
- Cars have improved performance.
- The driver is less fatigued.
- Operation is less complex, which allows the driver to focus on the road/race.
Healers deserve to have access to hypercar control currently only available to tanks/dps.
Thanks for reading. 
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