One problem I have with this game.

[Yasuhiro]

Reached 3.1 and completed it love the game, Heavenward reminds me of old school Final Fantasy games like IV and V a long journey that feels like an adventure. Very good.

But as for the gameplay I can't understand why there's so many icons in battles for different things or why icons are so inconsistent.

I attempted Thordan EX the other day for the first time blind with some friends and noticed that that is a mechanic where to my understanding you have to stack together. It looks like four arrows facing inwards

Why doesn't this stack together icon just look like the other icons where you have to stack together? (There's like a billion of these btw)
There's even a mechanic in the fight where there's a green icon that appears over your head I'm pretty sure in another fight that green icon was used but the mechanic was not similar to what you're required to do in another fight.

Purple icon in the fight is the same as the lightning strike Ramuh does in his fight? Well why can't it just look the same as what it does in Ramuh's battles?

I'm wondering if this is why people are required to read guides, because Final Fantasy XIV likes to change it's own rules a ton.
It would make things a ton easier if icons stayed consistent and they don't keep making new ones.

Void Ark's first boss for example, a dive bomb icons appears over your head, but I've never seen the boss actually do a dive bomb.
The game so far has taught us that once the green marker is above your head you better watch out because something's gonna charge at you and damage anyone who's in the way but now it doesn't do it? lolwat?

Just seems a bit too random, is there an explanation from the devs why this is a thing?

Edit: Post limit

[Gilraen]

Probably because the old centered AoE marker didn't differentiate whether you should keep away or stack. In some cases people would scatter when you should stack and vice versa. With this new centered AoE marker you can tell which one should scatter and which should stack. But, people still seem to scatter when they should stack so it's going to take some learning to get down pat.

[Rufalus]

I'm wondering if this is why people are required to read guides, because Final Fantasy XIV likes to change it's own rules a ton.
It would make things a ton easier if icons stayed consistent

I agree with this, there are some fights where it should be more visually obvious what needs to be done.

Like those positive and negative charge markers so you know they will attract or repel to the other tethered player.

Things should be distinct and easy to remember so it doesn't become like cramming for an exam trying to remember lots of abstract symbols meaning.

[Kurogaea]

Probably because the old centered AoE marker didn't differentiate whether you should keep away or stack. In some cases people would scatter when you should stack and vice versa. With this new centered AoE marker you can tell which one should scatter and which should stack. But, people still seem to scatter when they should stack so it's going to take some learning to get down pat.

So they're actually helping us learn fights through more understandable aoe and attack patterns (another word I'm looking for X( ) Thats nice and all but its a bit late for that, not to mention Thordan EX which is a high end game primal wont get many less experienced raiders.

[Malzian]

Void Ark's first boss for example, a dive bomb icons appears over your head, but I've never seen the boss actually do a dive bomb.

When this happens the boss will 'charge' a party member in a straight line dropping big water bombs, kind of the way the second bosses in KotL does just not fire. You're supposed to move to an edge to draw the line past the party and not through it, once again like the previous boss mentioned.

[Ashkendor]

So they're actually helping us learn fights through more understandable aoe and attack patterns (another word I'm looking for X( ) Thats nice and all but its a bit late for that, not to mention Thordan EX which is a high end game primal wont get many less experienced raiders.

The same mechanic/indicator shows up at the last boss in Void Ark too.

[Yasuhiro]

When this happens the boss will 'charge' a party member in a straight line dropping big water bombs, kind of the way the second bosses in KotL does just not fire. You're supposed to move to an edge to draw the line past the party and not through it, once again like the previous boss mentioned.

Makes sense with the water bombs you mentioned actually.
Keep away from marked player just like DB's. Still would be nice if one icon just meant one thing, I hope the four inward arrows stay and always mean group up because I think that's the best way to help a player self learn stacking mechanics.

T9 icon for stacking could mean anything really first time seeing it.

[SonKevin]

It's nice that you have only one problem with the game.

[Zephanoa]

I can see your point there. I think they use the different icons so that people have to learn what to look for in the newer content. Not saying that is the "correct" way to do it and I think it would be nice to have a standard set as well.

[Tint]

Void Ark's first boss for example, a dive bomb icons appears over your head, but I've never seen the boss actually do a dive bomb.
The game so far has taught us that once the green marker is above your head you better watch out because something's gonna charge at you and damage anyone who's in the way but now it doesn't do it? lolwat?

he actually is doing a divebomb. but he is really slow, flys over the arena to the mark and attacks everything under him with some kind of splash aoe

but whatever... i do agree

especially as a healer you see the same debuff icons in your group list again and again but you don't know if you can dispell it or not. same icon, same effect, different debuff? why?