Let's talk about ping, oGCD abilities, and super tight rotations...

[RichardButte]

With the new MCH changes, the class was pushed in what some (myself included) feel is a better direction to move in. It placed the focus more on getting as much mileage as possible out of overheating, which is a good direction for a burst phase-heavy ranged DPS.

The problem, however, for MCH and any other class that has a lot of oGCD abilities, is that oGCD abilities get a bit dodgy when used in rapid succession, but "rapid succession" is exactly HOW we need to use said abilities in order to get the most out of these classes (such as NIN with mudras).

Here's a slow motion clip of two MCH oGCD abilities failing to activate when pressed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBuShjLJChc

Rapid Fire is pressed but fails to execute at 15 sec, Gauss Round at 30 sec.

The key problem here is that these abilities appeared to be functional and ready to use before being pressed. In the video, both abilities have their corresponding hotbar buttons light up when they're pressed, but they simply do not activate.

Unlike with regular GCD abilities that have spinners over them and will elicit both an error message AND sound effect informing you that the abilities didn't activate, there is no such feedback given to the player when an oGCD they pressed failed to activate.

I'm guessing this problem could very well be ping-related, not that my ping is high, but I'm on the east coast so I'm a bit further away from the servers than many players.

Either way, this is a serious hindrance to being the best player I can be. The end result is that I need to mash every oGCD ability 4-5 times to ensure it activates, which means I'm not pressing my regular GCD abilities the moment they're off CD. It's also hell for trying to get the most out of Wildfire, in which I need every oGCD ability to happen when pressed to maximize my damage.

My request to the devs is this...

If for whatever reason an oGCD ability isn't going to activate when pressed, we need a visual indicator to inform us of this (aka an oGCD spinner that informs us when it's clear to press the next oGCD). It doesn't matter whether this is due to latency, "animation lock", or whatever, players NEED to know when pressing a button isn't going to activate the corresponding ability.

Or alternatively, give us a more generous buffer for stringing several oGCD abilities together in a row, maybe placing the emphasis client side so we don't have to press each oGCD multiple times before it activates.

In the end, the whole reason we call these "off global cooldown abilities" is because of we can supposedly activate them free of any timing restrictions. If timing restrictions do indeed exist, we either need some means of removing these restrictions or an indicator of WHEN we're restricted from activating them.

It'd also be nice to hear from other players regarding their location and whether or not they suffer from these issues. I'm ASSUMING this is ping-related, but there could be players living a few miles from the server colo who have these issues so more data is always useful.

[Zarabeth]

I didn't have these problems until the server move.
Now I have to wait a tick (or three) once things light up before I can actually use them. Took a while to get used to and I still mess it up from time to time. I just assumed this was due to the server being moved from the right coast to the left.

[RichardButte]

I didn't have these problems until the server move.
Now I have to wait a tick (or three) once things light up before I can actually use them. Took a while to get used to and I still mess it up from time to time. I just assumed this was due to the server being moved from the right coast to the left.

I mean, it very well COULD be, but the issue created by it is that, as of now, our hotbars are displaying information that is sometimes entirely inaccurate: a button will appear pressable and ready for activation when it actually isn't.

Whether that's a ping issue or a buffering issue is completely irrelevant, the hotbar just shouldn't be "lying" about which buttons we can and cannot press at that moment.

It's good to know that others are having similar issues and WHEN they're having these issues because it'll give the devs more to go on, so thanks and keep it coming, folks.

[AkashiXI]

There is a .7 second delay on using any oGCD after using a GCD. That has existed since the game has been in beta. That's why you see the delay. It has nothing to do with ping, and everything to do with Square putting up a global blocker on all oGCDs.

[RichardButte]

There is a .7 second delay on using any oGCD after using a GCD. That has existed since the game has been in beta. That's why you see the delay. It has nothing to do with ping, and everything to do with Square putting up a global blocker on all oGCDs.

Then we really, REALLY need a visual indicator of some kind to let us know when it's in effect, plus all of the corresponding error messages and sounds that come with trying to use an ability that we cannot at that moment.

Even if it's just a super fast spinner over oGCD abilities.

[Reinha]

At 100 ms ping I can barely press 2 oGCD within one GCD and too often doing that delays the next spell. It's not caused by my net or player ability because I can do the same without issues in WoW and that game has a 1.5 second GCD or less. Gameplay in this game feels like wading through mud compared to other games.

The delay would not bother me as much if it was the same for everyone, but the way it is the people who get very little ping have an advantage over other players since they are able to double-weave. What's the point of slow-paced combat if excellent connection and fast button spamming are still rewarded? If single-weaving is intended then enforce it by adding a shared 2 second recast to oGCD abilities. Alternatively get rid of the invisible delay so everyone can double or tripple-weave.

[RLofOBFL]

I am very saddened MCH needs good ping to play well....it's 3.x all over again. I can't get the 6 GCD overheat ; ;

[RichardButte]

The delay would not bother me as much if it was the same for everyone, but the way it is the people who get very little ping have an advantage over other players since they are able to double-weave. What's the point of slow-paced combat if you excellent connection and fast button spamming are still rewarded? If single-weaving is intended then enforce it by adding a shared 2 second recast to oGCD abilities. Alternatively get rid of the invisible delay so everyone can double or tripple-weave.

Soooo much this.

I love the MCH playstyle, but yeah, actually fitting all of the oGCDs I need in there feels impossible due to them just not activating over half the time when I need to go FAST.

[Snow_Princess]

There is another problem that goes with this. If you use something at the last second (I do not know if MCH has anything like this) but with stuff like pitch perfect or deathflare, if you use them at the very last second, the button will show being pressed, start the animation, then cancel, and the CD resets itself. I think it is a combination of bad coding and the extra ping we got with the server move. I think the game was always able do this but with the move, more people notice it.

It is very awkward seeing you use something then cancels in the middle of the animation.

[Kahnom]

With my high ping,I can't double wave anything.
So I need to come up with my exclusive modified rotation for my mnk,sam,goon that fit my ping.
As far as i've noticed all Dex-user jobs really need very low ping to perform efficiency though.