An open petition / discussion about Animation Lock and FFXIV

[northernsky]

I see a lot of people talking about animation lock as if it's a good thing. It's actually neither bad nor good. It's a tool to be used. Dark Souls is super animation locked, but in that game it's used in a good way to make combat super realistic. In FFXIV it's used in a bad, contradictory way because some animations can be interrupted and some can't, and you get animation locked while enemies don't. Not to mention not having enough time to respond to a prompt once you're halfway through an animation. It should be the case that you have thrice as much time (in case you start an animation right after being targeted) or your animation can be interrupted by you so you can respond in the short amount of time. Right now you have neither.

This is a very good point.

Seen from the other perspective, to be consistent, they would also need to get rid of enemies animation locks, which means we'll have to say goodbye to avoiding most enemy TP moves.

Or we accept them as part of game design, once the adjusted server lag makes animation locks look less terrible than they are. I agree tho that they could keep animation locks for the most powerful moves, not for every single selected ability (animation lock on self-buffs makes little sense).

[Navei57]

If you are stuck in 'animation lock' during the Ifrit fight then it's really your fault for being there. There is really no reason to be stuck on animation lock, ever, if you know when to use weaponskills and so forth.

[Kailok]

If you are stuck in 'animation lock' during the Ifrit fight then it's really your fault for being there. There is really no reason to be stuck on animation lock, ever, if you know when to use weaponskills and so forth.

Yes, but when the fight is built around positioning and quick timing, Animation Lock becomes less a strategic aspect, more a development flaw. They're fighting themselves with the old + new. They want action where you have to position yourself correctly, yet they're building this content over old servers and animation lock which are keeping people from doing their best. When you have to sit back from doing attacks because of animation lock where you're stuck recovering from the animation that should have finished at the same time the damage was dealt, then it becomes a problem. It's not so much not wanting the reality of getting hit during a WS, it's more the reality of wanting: "WS and Animation need to end at the same time".

[Navei57]

Yes, but when the fight is built around positioning and quick timing, Animation Lock becomes less a strategic aspect, more a development flaw. They're fighting themselves with the old + new. They want action where you have to position yourself correctly, yet they're building this content over old servers and animation lock which are keeping people from doing their best. When you have to sit back from doing attacks because of animation lock where you're stuck recovering from the animation that should have finished at the same time the damage was dealt, then it becomes a problem. It's not so much not wanting the reality of getting hit during a WS, it's more the reality of wanting: "WS and Animation need to end at the same time".

You're 'stuck' because you're character is doing an action and it makes sense for get punked my eruption if you haven't recovered from an action in time. Instead of changing animation lock what they should do is improve graphic cues so you don't think 'wow I ran and am out of eruption range while still doing doomspike, why am I hit?' Swing the pendulum the other way. I say, work on that instead. The hardest thing about Ifrit isn't 'AL' it's plumes in my opinion.

[UnsayMoon]

If you are stuck in 'animation lock' during the Ifrit fight then it's really your fault for being there. There is really no reason to be stuck on animation lock, ever, if you know when to use weaponskills and so forth.

Way to justify crappy development....

[Kymusashi]

Way to justify crappy development....

How is it crappy development? He is right. Its not like we didn't know about animation locks when Ifrit was released. People are failing, or choosing not to adapt, and are instead blaming it on bad design, or even faulty design.

Animation lock has been in FFXIV since the beginning, and its more generous than what FFXI had going against us. If soemone has been trying Ifrit for this long, and still blaming their failures on animation lock, I'd have to say there's another problem underneath it all. Is Animation lock a problem that needs to be fixed? I think that's a debatable claim. Someone being unable to adjust after this long, however, is just not playing smart, IMO.

[XStruckX]

Eh, if they fix the latency then I'm sure animation locks will be ok. I don't agree on doing a six hit weapon skill and then being able to skip off whenever you are done. On a 6 hit weapon skill there should be some "recovery" / "animation lock".
On the same token you should be able to choose between abilities that have this animation lock and those that dont.

Pierce, Full Thrust, Heavy Thrust = No Animation Lock
Chaos Thrust, Doom Spike = Animation Lock

I guess use a little common sense. A mage setting off a HUGE AOE MONSTER CURE should need a moment to recover after the cast. SE should supplement the mage's spell and ability list with some stuff that doesnt lock you up. A quick Regen or a smaller cure with a longer recast but no casting time. Mix it up I guess so the player can decide depending on playstyle or what the party needs at the moment whether or not the player will suffer from "animation lock".

[RathSkybreaker]

He had stubby legs maybe that was full-speed

[RathSkybreaker]

real life logic != in game logic

[Vanguard319]

real life logic != in game logic

logic is logic whether in a game or real life.