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  1. #1
    Player
    Mycow8me's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    1,057
    Character
    Tolby Seyfert
    World
    Cactuar
    Main Class
    Blacksmith Lv 70

    Controllers, hotbars, cycling... Worried for the future

    This is an open discussion for people who play with controllers. This problem may not relate directly to you. You may have a different problem or worry for the future. Feel free to post it and I will add it to the main post.

    The Problem
    As it stands with the current amount of skills available with most jobs you are at the limit or already past the limit for 2 full hotbars (this does not count mount, potions, or in some cases LB or sprint).

    My problem
    I REALLY do not want to have more than 2 hotbars on controller for cycling because I can cycle very cleanly between 2 hotbars for combos, macros, buttons, or whatever i need. It gets very tricky when a third hotbar is involved. I tried it, I would mess up frequently. There is more skills coming in the future possibly as well.

    Proposed Solutions that would not effect anyone who likes the current system:
    There is already one solution already in the game creating 16 additional slots utilizing the L and R simultaneously. I would like to add that some people may not be able to handle a L>R and R>L button order presses for different hotbar extensions with their muscle memory limits or high battle intensity (inability to maintain focus) however I would hope almost everyone can handle a L+R hotbar where it does not matter which gets pressed first. This would only create 8 additional slots but is much more stable for people who accidentally press the wrong button first. I struggle with this some times during high intensity fights.

    Another option would be to make L>R/R>L a part of EACH hotbar but this would probably require more coding. I don't know how that stuff works. This would create 32 extra slots for people who can cycle between 2 hotbars.
    If it was changed to a L+R only then 8 additional slots would be optional for every hotbar.

    Ideas and General thoughts:
    My perfect setup would be to make it only L+R (both buttons being pressed and held regardless of order) creating 8 extra slots that can be toggleable to be different for each hotbar you cycle through or the same. Different would mean basically on hotbar 1 you will have different buttons on your L+R bar than you would on your hot bar 2 L+R bar.

    To further this idea... There is actually alot of space down there for one at 1920x1080 (LT+RT bar):

    The red box would be an area where the LT+RT bar is always shown for cooldown purposes and to assist in usage.

    Please understand I'm not trying to force a change on everyone using the current system. There are ways to assist people who are struggling as it is with muscle memory patterns without altering what currently works for others. Keep in mind there will be more skills in the future as our levels go up. We will all need to find something that works for us.

    I hope my explanations were clear. If something doesn't sound right or I come across something in the thread that would help clarify or even add onto the main post I'll quote you. Thanks.

    Community ideas and thoughts:
    Quote Originally Posted by TessaJalloh View Post
    we controller users can benefit immensely from merging various skills into macros. By doing that i've managed to cut my ability bloat down to 2 and a half cross bars, and some togglable skills like the venoms for ninja are on a keyboard hotbar since i only need to activate them once.
    To add on to this, you will probably want a bar on screen to show you when macrod skills become available again.
    However keep in mind:
    Quote Originally Posted by Lan_Mantear View Post
    The problem with using Macros, is that rare occurrence where your action is not triggered. Which, more often than not, occurs at the most inopportune time.
    Quote Originally Posted by FinaSel View Post
    I hope that instead of adding more skills / actions, the devs make the new skills "overwrite" some old ones.

    This is just a totally hypothetical example to illustrate a point. Let's image the spell "Stone".
    Instead of creating a Stone II, Stone III, Stone IV, Stone V, etc and having them ALL on the hotbar because they do different things and are needed at different level syncs, let's take "Stone" (or any upgrade of "Stone") and instead of adding the next tier spell as a separate spell, make us learn a Stone "upgrade", so "Stone" gains an extra ability, potency boost, or effect.

    This could solve the cluttering problem.
    We wouldn't have super cluttered hotbars. I wouldn't need to keep Stone, Stone II, Stone III (and in the future, Stone IV) on there because I never know what level synced dungeon I'm going into. One "Stone" which scaled depending on the level sync would suffice.
    The "weight" effect could even be scaled in duration according to level.

    Quote Originally Posted by LDR View Post
    The furture is definately the most concerning due to what choice they make -if- they choose to add new skills i hope its only 2 and the rest are traits to old ones.
    I have certain things on certain buttons across different classes based upon what it does [eg, i have cure/psysick/benefic on the same button] but to make that work and be comfortable along side having what i need im often operating on 3 hotbars. [i even have 5 on sch, its a bit hectic] im good with it but man for others and going further this could be a mess
    For people who play multiple classes with similar skills, they are trying to keep those skills that do the same things near or in the same positions on hotbars. This may be more difficult moving forward.

    Quote Originally Posted by Teraluna View Post
    The OP's concern is reaching the limit of it's capability v any new skills/cycling mechanics that come along.
    As a pc player I share that concern
    Not in regard to the capability of the keyboard - but for this: just how many skills does a class need to make it interesting?
    For example 5 x hotbars full of marginally different skills wouldn't be it.
    Quality over quantity any day.
    (1)
    Last edited by Mycow8me; 07-04-2016 at 12:16 AM.