Titan issues that need addressing.

[Gyson]

If you're not paying attention to cast bars then how did you get past bosses like Coincounter and Chimera who's major attacks have no AOE indicators, and how do you expect to deal with mechanics in Coil many of which also have no AOE indicators. Paying attention to cast bars is a required skill to succeed in this game.

While, as the tank, I may be taking care of Dragon's Voice and Ram's Voice on Chimera, you can be certain there are many players on those runs who aren't even aware of these mechanics, and yet get through the trial successfully because someone else (e.g. the tank) was taking care of it. Point being, that the average player may not be paying attention to cast bars is really of no surprise to me.

Also, it's the tanks job to stun bosses. Good DPS will hold off on using stuns during most boss fights so they won't build up immunity.

I disagree, and I don't think it's the tank's job exclusively. While you certainly don't want DPS firing stuns off at random and making it impossible to (example) interrupt Ifrit's eruptions, a well timed interrupt from DPS is both helpful and welcome. Using your Chimera example again (an encounter which I farmed over a 100 times), many a time my silence has been on cooldown when Ram's Voice popped up, only for a helpful Bard to save the day with a well timed and intentional Blunt Shot. I think in a perfect world the entire party should be using all of their abilities to the fullest (and intelligently) to guarantee success.

But, we're getting off track.

[Viridiana]

While I can sympathize with the idea of wanting cast bars and animations synced. If you're not paying attention to cast bars then how did you get past bosses like Coincounter and Chimera who's major attacks have no AOE indicators, and how do you expect to deal with mechanics in Coil many of which also have no AOE indicators. Paying attention to cast bars is a required skill to succeed in this game.

You picked a few bad examples. Coincounter is like the old bosses in 1.0, where you can derive everything you need to know to kill him from his body. Is he twirling his club in a circle? Swipe is coming, tank run through. Did he turn to face a non-tank? Everyone stack behind. Is he focusing super hard on his club but not moving it? Tank stun or everyone run out.

Cutter's Cry Chimera the EN client tells you everything you need to know without ever looking at his cast bar. Blue eyes? Run out. Violet eyes? Run in or way out. Orb chasing you and violet eyes? Run way out. Everything else has an AOE indicator.

Many of the mechanics in coil have an indicator other than the cast bar or can be completely avoided with positioning. The only one I can think of off the top of my head where the cast bar is your only indicator is Twisters. Maybe could argue Lunar Dynamo, but Dynamo probably won't kill you if you get tagged by it and can be avoided just by staying at melee or max range. Actually, I guess the old High Voltage in BCoB, but that only required two people in the raid to watch it. So let's see:

T1: High Voltage on ADS. All of Cad's attacks have AOE indicators or are meant to be healed (spit attack)
T2: High Voltage on ADS. Allagan Rot is what killed people, but the cast bar does nothing for that.
T3: lol
T4: Pox, I guess?
T5: Death Sentence, Twisters. Everything else had an indicator of some sort.
T6: Everything has an indicator
T7: Watchig your debuffs more important than the cast bars.
T8: Can't really speak to T8, but don't remember anything that requires watching cast bar.
T9: Dynamo and Heavensfall if you're in weird positions. And you can even save yourself from Heavensfall for many classes.

I can't really speak for FCoB, but nothing I remember seeing about them necessitates watching a cast bar. Granted, I could be remembering wrong. . .

[Fynlar]

It is very difficult to convince your average player that they failed to react in time when every visual indicator on their screen is reinforcing the idea that they *did* react in time. The average player is not going to want to hear a lecture about castbars versus telegraphs, or theories on video/processor lag versus network latency - on their screen they see themselves clearing the AOE-warning makers before it vanishes and/or explodes, and a) it is a lie, and b) it is a lie they're buying into. To argue with them that they were "late" at that point is to basically tell them to stop trusting their own eyes and the information being displayed on their screen. It doesn't work.

I think you've become one of my favorite posters on these boards.

Given the overall quality of posts on these boards though, I have to admit that's not a difficult standard to achieve.

[Daranion]

I would like to throw out the following two moves for consideration. Mortal Gaze from Angra Manyu and the missles from Turn 8's The Avatar. These two moves do not inflict damage when the castbar is cast. Those two moves do infact consider you hit with the animation. This is exactly what OP is asking for. GO look up some WoD or T8 videos. You'll see that the effects are applied in perfect sync with the animation. This means that Square is capable of doing it and that all the other fights are off for some reason. Go ahead and test it yourself if you don't believe me. Angra Manyu, stare at him until even after the cast bar dissappears, if you flip around before the animation plays, you're golden! Same as for the missiles you have to stand in. The server doesn't declare the missiles inactive until after the animation plays of them exploding

[AsahinaMyLove]

Thats why cheap cheaters like Titan is on my "Black List"
I rather wait 30mins lockout than wasting my energy on this guy <,<

Whenever I was stupid enough and took a try it, ends with wipes.

[ElHeggunte]

Having them "tighten" the combat is a noble crusade to be sure, but the only thing I really see in this thread is making excuses for people who lack awareness. Most people get hit because they aren't paying attention or because they really are lagging, neither of which are things that would be addressed by adjusting the relationship between the castbar, telegraph, and the ability. Would it be nice if the animation and effect of more abilities coincided more with the castbar? Yeah, I suppose, though I'm used to it so I don't care either way. However, I don't see how it's too much to ask for people to learn to watch the castbar and not the animation.

[Tanthalus]

OP you took on a lot of work for little gain in my opinion :/
The reality is you can move the cast bar to where you can see it. You can also focus target Titan to watch for casts. Of course neither of these things are necessary if you know titan's rotation. It doesn't change.
When you do Titan enough times you know when to clear away and when to cluster up. Knowing that not all players can understand why we stack just know that if that one guy is standing south of the cluster of players -your running North when plumes it.
Fight is not broken and they've actually increased the reaction time players get for plumes so I do believe the point is moot.

[Mercutial]

Not that it really is necessary for Titan EX, but what serious player isn't applying focus target to the boss?

[Gyson]

Not that it really is necessary for Titan EX, but what serious player isn't applying focus target to the boss?

Based on the number I see die daily to some sort of critical boss ability they failed to notice in time, especially while dealing with something else (e.g. an add), quite a few.

Seriously, how many times do you join any PUG through the Duty Finder and find yourself thinking you've been paired up with a squad of serious players?

Except it isn't broken, the system works just fine. If it were truly broken then you would have far more people failing at simple "don't stand in me" mechanics.

I think "broken" is the wrong word. I would certainly call the current setup "far from optimal", however. If the developers could resolve this syncing with the snap of their fingers I'm pretty sure they would prefer everything matching up properly. I don't believe it is "working as desired", so label that as you will.

As it stands, most people are only getting hit because they lack spacial awareness and decent reflexes. The telegraph shows you were not to stand, the castbar shows you how long you have to get out of the way. It's not complicated. Players who can't comprehend that would probably still fail even if the animation and castbar lined up better simply because they aren't paying attention to obvious cues.

I don't think that's a fair assessment. While you can argue that the telegraph shows where to avoid and the castbar shows you how long you have to get out of the way (and ignore the fact that a properly done telegraph could handle the job of both), when the telegraph is missing for the first 1/3 of the castbar's timer that's a pretty significant amount of time for important positional information to be delayed.

While it may not be a big issues for Titan-Pro#286 who has either gotten used to this or simply doesn't have this problem, you can be certain it is making things more difficult on newer players or those who have slightly slower reaction times/higher pings - players who might otherwise be able to dodge the blow had 100% of the warning been available (as it should be). At the very least you would have an easier time of convincing them they need to move more quickly had they seen themselves dying *inside* the explosion versus dying while standing 15 feet outside of it.

[Hala]

Well I "Didn't read lol" all the thread but to the people who somehow defend this issue (like it's not borken etc.). Just imagine as if information on correct way to dodge was in official game manual, what would you think then reading it? Like:
You may notice that we have visaual indications of attacks in our game, but the truth is - they doesn't actually matter. If you want to succesfully dodge an attack you must watch the enemy's castbar and anticipate where attack will land and move out of it before the cast will finish. The actuall visuals for attack and areas affected may be shown to you sometime later.
Do you think this is something game company will either write in they manual? <_< No? Then it's broken.