Battle Command Design -PLEASE FIX IT

[Khal_Drogo]

Sorry to say but this action bar works seriously well with a controller(much better than with a keyboard for me and many others), so I don't really understand what you really talking about...

Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how many ifrit fights I've been in where ppl got caught in one of the specialty moves b/c they were having to coordinate looking down to hit a key, or pay close attention to which icon their controller is scrolling onto? And how many times I've accidentally scrolled down to a 2nd or 3rd list while scrolling left/right b/c the d-pad is too sensitive?

The action bar is a HORRIBLE template for controller users...so, "I don't really understand what *you're talking about" <.<

[Rydin]

Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how many ifrit fights I've been in where ppl got caught in one of the specialty moves b/c they were having to coordinate looking down to hit a key, or pay close attention to which icon their controller is scrolling onto? And how many times I've accidentally scrolled down to a 2nd or 3rd list while scrolling left/right b/c the d-pad is too sensitive?

The action bar is a HORRIBLE template for controller users...so, "I don't really understand what *you're talking about" <.<

Do you know how many people I play with who that's never happened to?

and the same people too distracted by the action bar to get out the way of an Ifrit ability....
Do you think they wont suffer the same fate with a nested menu?

[Natabant]

Do you know how many people I play with who that's never happened to?

3? lol

It does happen...

[Khal_Drogo]

...and the same people too distracted by the action bar to get out the way of an Ifrit ability....
Do you think they wont suffer the same fate with a nested menu?

Actually, I do. In fact, they'll probably dodge them like pros. How often do you remember yourself opening up your battle menu, in XI, and trying to take a look at your timers?

....It never happened. No one felt the need to look at timers. They just spammed their macro, got prompted w/ a mssg in the chat log box, letting them know what their timers were at, and went on their merry way. If nothing else, they should use the down/up buttons on the d-pad for something else, and use L1/R1 for swapping between slot lines. Personally, I hate the active and passive modes.

The menu system looks nice; it's nostalgic; it's efficient; and, best of all, it doesn't have to replace anything.....OPTIONS, "yes please." Why does it always have to be either/or?

[Rydin]

....It never happened. No one felt the need to look at timers. They just spammed their macro, got prompted w/ a mssg in the chat log box, letting them know what their timers were at, and went on their merry way.

You've sold me... I can't think of a more efficient way to do it. Spamming macros to see my cooldowns... sounds genius.. why can't every game do that....
oh wait...

edit: Really? thats really the solution? I had to edit just to say, once again, how bad that sounds

[Natabant]

You've sold me... I can't think of a more efficient way to do it. Spamming macros to see my cooldowns... sounds genius.. why can't every game do that....
oh wait...

edit: Really? thats really the solution? I had to edit just to say, once again, how bad that sounds

I don't know why ya'll can't all just come in here, and simply post: "I absolutely agree; SE should strongly consider giving players this option. It certainly wouldn't hurt."


Do you ppl really think you're being productive w/ all this bickering? It may not be a "game-changer" to have the option...but it I assure you it would go a long way in bringing back many of the FF fans.

Now I get that a classic FF menu can have its own fashion, that someone might like its feeling of nostalgia, but let's just stop pretending that it could work better. Every designer knows that icons owns text ALWAYS, in any situation, in any project, videogame or whatever. It's just a fact.

First of all, that's not true at all. That might be the case for PC players, but try navigating your "precious" "WoW" UI w/ a controller. It would suck. And having a screen full of 30 icons to navigate back and forth between, practically, FORCES players to use a mouse.

[Allistar]

We all have different preferences, all the OP is asking for is a choice, and I don't see the problem with that. Some of you prefer the action bar, others like myself don't...we are all entitled to our opinion and beliefs. Stop bashing each other's ideas and thoughts. Options are what’s going to increase the game's player base, no one system is better than the other and no one system works for everyone. Change is good...yes, but so are options.

[Rydin]

No one felt the need to look at timers. They just spammed their macro, got prompted w/ a mssg in the chat log box, letting them know what their timers were at, and went on their merry way.

You've sold me... I can't think of a more efficient way to do it. Spamming macros to see my cooldowns... sounds genius.. why can't every game do that....
oh wait...

edit: Really? thats really the solution? I had to edit just to say, once again, how bad that sounds

I don't know why ya'll can't all just come in here, and simply post: "I absolutely agree; SE should strongly consider giving players this option. It certainly wouldn't hurt."


Do you ppl really think you're being productive w/ all this bickering? It may not be a "game-changer" to have the option...but it I assure you it would go a long way in bringing back many of the FF fans.

Im sorry... it was a horrible idea...
If your friend was like "Hey Natabant, let's go rob a bank"
You wouldn't say "I respect that you came up with an idea... but how about we try something else"
No... instead you say "What the hell is wrong with you... that is idiotic.. and by extension... so are you"

I'm not saying you guys are idiots... I'm just saying I found nothing positive about that suggestion...

edit: I just reread your post.. and I must be crazy because it sounds like you said "Why can't people just come in here and agree with me"
You sound like Hillary Clinton Circa 2007-2008
Who says that?

I don't know why ya'll can't all just come in here, and simply post: "I absolutely agree; SE should strongly consider giving players this option."

haha... why would we not say that? maybe because we don't feel that way...
Are you trolling? I'm not accusing you... I'm just asking

Why would you expect people to come in and say they agree with you when they clearly don't agree with you.... I don't get it... Im missing something

[Khal_Drogo]

I'm not saying you guys are idiots... I'm just saying I found nothing positive about that suggestion...

edit: I just reread your post.. and I must be crazy because it sounds like you said "Why can't people just come in here and agree with me"
You sound like Hillary Clinton Circa 2007-2008
Who says that?



haha... why would we not say that? maybe because we don't feel that way...
Are you trolling? I'm not accusing you... I'm just asking

Why would you expect people to come in and say they agree with you when they clearly don't agree with you.... I don't get it... Im missing something

Well, if you take the mssg out of context (like you did), then yes it comes off that way. But he was, obviously, referring to the general theme of the thread. Almost, EVERYONE, agrees that the current UI is complete S#$%. Not all them like MY idea, but they do agree that a change needs to be made.

Natabant was simply proposing that everyone should start being constructively critical of other ppl's ideas, rather than coming in here and saying: "your idea is CRAP! ME NO LIKEY!!!! <end post>"

And, I hate to tell you this, but the reason this game is failing so badly is b/c it failed to please it's XI fanbase. SE was pretty much guaranteed to get EVERY fan from FFXI to play this game, had they just brought back some of the fundamentals (i.e. battle UI, targetting system, job system (although it did need some tweeks w/ the nin crap going on), jse and level specific armor, party play for exp'n, general battle pace, etc.). And, now, b/c of their desperate attempt to appeal to WoW players and "like-minded" pc gamers, XIV is dying.

It's a classic case off "cut off your nose, to spite your face" or w/e the hell that saying is... Your ostracizing the only player-base that will pretty much guarantee this game's success. The game is being released to PS3. It's being *RE*-released to PC. Who do you think is more likely to rush to the stores to purchase the game? PC players into WoW, SWtOR, EQ, GW and so on? .....or PS3 players who are into XI?

[Alcide]

Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how many ifrit fights I've been in where ppl got caught in one of the specialty moves b/c they were having to coordinate looking down to hit a key, or pay close attention to which icon their controller is scrolling onto? And how many times I've accidentally scrolled down to a 2nd or 3rd list while scrolling left/right b/c the d-pad is too sensitive?

The action bar is a HORRIBLE template for controller users...so, "I don't really understand what *you're talking about" <.<

Dude... change party '>.>

Seriously, I never thought this thread could have gone this long, so let's cut it down. Fast paced BS + text based menu is a total fail, from every point of view. If you wanna do somethin fast you just don't want to read, you want to recognize what you're gonna do by giving just a quick glance at the menu, you don't want to stop reading, and that's why an action bar with icons is way better than a classic FF menu. I agree that the fact that you have to scroll it down is annoying, but they alrady said they're gonna make all of the actions visible at the same time, so that's really not an argument. And some icons are looking quite too similar (hello Second Wind and Dark Seal) but the majority of them are definitely recogniable.

Now I get that a classic FF menu can have its own fashion, that someone might like its feeling of nostalgia, but let's just stop pretending that it could work better. Every designer knows that icons owns text ALWAYS, in any situation, in any project, videogame or whatever. It's just a fact.