Targeting options. Please add it!

[ChiefCurrahee]

this was posted on 5/20/11 when the devs were askign for targeting feedback yet no response was given...

Ok, this is hard to put into words, but to put it simply, I'd like to see the "targeting cone" used when cycling through targets to be narrower, like it is in FF11.

When I say targeting cone, I mean the targets that you would cycle through when you hit (Tab / numpad 0), or whatever button it is on gamepad. The reason I say this is because the current cone is absudly wide and makes it harder to target things.

In FF11, the target cone seemed to be pretty narrow and was very predictable... meaning if you face your character/camera in the right direction, then hit Tab to start cycling through targets, you had a good idea what would be the first target (always the left most item in the target cone). Most FF11 veterans got good at this and could easily target something with just 1 or 2 Tabs since we knew which way to face our character/camera to target what we want.

Here's a ascii diagram since I know this is hard to understand.

Legend
& = character (facing north)
x = indicates target cone
- = not target cone
number = a targetable item


FF11 Target Cone (1st person view)

xxxxxxxxxxxxx
-xxxxx3xxxxx-
--xxxxxxxx4--
---xxxxxxx---
1---x2xxx----
------&----5-

If you had no target, then hit Tab to start cycling through targets, this would be the order of what gets targeted:
2 >> 3 >> 4 >> repeat

If you changed to third person view, it would sort of be the same, except it would be more based off the direction the camera was facing rather your character, but it was still VERY predictable and quick for targeting.



FF14 Target Cone

xxxxxxxxxx4xx
x2xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxx3xxxxxxx
xxxxxx&xxx5x
xxxxx---xxxxx
x1x-------xx6

No target then tab, cycle would be:
1 >> 2 >> 3 >> 4 >> 5 >> 6 ... it should be 3 first!


In 14, the target cone seems to be MUCH wider, which often gives priority to targets you really didn't want to target. Most common example... the market wards! You could be facing a retainer RIGHT IN FRONT of you that you want to target, but when you hit Tab, the first target is some retainer WAAAAY behind you in some obscure corner... wtf? There are plenty of other examples in other situations (particularly battle), where the target cone is very inefficient and results in alot more "tabbing" than neccessary.

Yes, I realize the new "target mode a/b" was implemented to help with targeting during battle, but honestly, I don't like target mode B. It's more time & work to have to cycle through different "target modes" than it is to just target everything with a more predictable target cone. I mean, it worked fine in FF11, why not here?

God only knows how many times I'd try to target a mob that I'm staring down point-blank, only to have some enemy WAAAAAAAAAAY in the distance get targeted when I hit tab. I have to use a "/targetnpc" macro whenever I want to target an enemy because otherwise I'll be targeting everything but the mob I want. And even then, "/targetnpc" only targets the right mob the first time when I'm practically inside it. Is this really how these features are supposed to work?



Anyway, I digress. I know some people will say, "its fine the way it is, get used to it", but I am really having a hard time doing so. I played FF11 for 6-7 years and found the targeting system to be very efficient and fast. So having to deal with 14's target cone is extremely awkward. The fix to all this targeting frustration is so simple, I can't believe the dev team came up with "target mode a/b" thinking that would do it. I mean it's a neat feature, but it just makes things more complicated without fixing the core problem.

I can't be the only F11 veteran who feels this way....

[Tetsaru]

Wow, seeing as many people complain about the targeting systems in this game, I'm surprised people don't use WASD and their mouse more often, it's a Godsend for me. I never use Tab or the arrow keys unless I absolutely have to.

Need to target myself? Click me or my name.

Need to repair someone's gear? Click on em.

Need to adjust the camera angle? Hold down right-click and drag, or use the mouse wheel for zoom.

Need to Cure a party member? Click on Cure in my Action Pallete, then click on their name in the party list.

Need to engage multiple enemies? Double-click on the first one, then click on the other ones to switch targets and start auto-attacking. If I need to stop attacking for some reason, just click the background.

The only problems I have is in areas like the beastmen strongholds where there are tons of enemies and people bunched up together to accurately click on a single target, in which case I'll usually just hit F8 and Enter to target the closest mob and hope for the best (lol Storm's Path). Even then, I can still hit F1 to target myself, or click on someone's name in the party list to target them.

And as far as I know, I'm using Target Mode A, I think. It says "All" on my HUD, anyway. I haven't really messed with it much, other than to turn off that annoying camera-centering on whatever you're fighting.