Its ffxiv combat really so slow and boring?

[Redname]

I saw a lot of people complaining about the 2,5 GCD and even comparing it to turn based combat.
To be honest i came from a old mmorpg where animations were very slow. So here i just saw it more fluid and i never understood why people complained.
Doing old content can be easy once you have repeated the same thing a lot and maybe then the combat can look stale.
But can you really complain about slow combat trying to clear things like Kefka savage?
I use black mage and after seeing videos and guides, it looks like you havent time to breath during all the fight.

What i wanted to ask is if you really think the combat is boring. And what example would you use to describe a fast combat system since it seems i havent experience

[Risvertasashi]

It at least partly depends on your expectations. If you normally play slower paced games, your view is going to be different from someone coming from faster paced action games.

Your post also hints at something I think is rather important: The encounter's mechanics and designs play a big part in this. It's probably why some people dislike Eureka/old Diadem so much: Sitting there doing your combat rotation with no mechanics to do and so on really highlights the weaker areas of the combat system.

What i wanted to ask is if you really think the combat is boring. And what example would you use to describe a fast combat system since it seems i havent experience

For what it's worth, I really enjoy MH:W's combat system. I think MHW's behemoth crossover is a lot more interesting than FF14's Rathalos crossover. Not by any fault of the devs, but Rathalos does not have the elaborate moves typical of FF14 primals which is normally what keeps it interesting. MH:W relies less on elaborate attack patterns and mechanics, but correctly timing things, looking for openings, and snap decisions and so on are very important. I still like FF14 (I view it as a bit more tactical and that style suits me just fine), but I can also see how others would prefer something like this.

In fact, I suggest you go check out some MH:W Behemoth videos. It gives a pretty good idea of what a more action-combat oriented Final Fantasy could look like.

[Darrcyphfeid]

What i wanted to ask is if you really think the combat is boring.

Yes, combat is boring. But not because it's slow. It's only interesting when there are lots of mechanics happening that you're unfamiliar with, because once you're familiar with them there's little if any variance and you fall into a routine.

Which is also why low-end content*, FATEs, hunt targets and Diadem/Eureka (effectively hunts/FATEs) turn some people off. The minute you remove the "dance" aspect of the game you're left with only the job's rotation. It's nearly as engaging as hitting a striking dummy.

* Low level content has little in the way of oGCDs, which speed up the pace of button pressing, and depending on fight also have less involved/obsoleted mechanics.

[Penthea]

Yes, combat is boring. But not because it's slow. It's only interesting when there are lots of mechanics happening that you're unfamiliar with, because once you're familiar with them there's little if any variance and you fall into a routine.

Which is also why low-end content*, FATEs, hunt targets and Diadem/Eureka (effectively hunts/FATEs) turn some people off. The minute you remove the "dance" aspect of the game you're left with only the job's rotation. It's nearly as engaging as hitting a striking dummy.

* Low level content has little in the way of oGCDs, which speed up the pace of button pressing, and depending on fight also have less involved/obsoleted mechanics.

Even faster paced games can have boring combat if there is little to do other than just spam your rotation. No matter how mechanically interesting a class is, it eventually becomes dull if the encounter itself is little more than a target dummy.

[Darrcyphfeid]

I'm going to guess that most of the people against it don't play on a controller, where of the 8 buttons you have immediate access to, 6 of them are dedicated to executing your combos. Which makes accessing any other buttons really clunky.

I started on PS3, moved to PS4, now play on PC with a controller. Have never had a problem fitting my buttons onto my crossbar with any of the 15 jobs, during any of the 3 eras of the game.

If you think accessing buttons is clunky on controller, you've done goofed with your approach to setting up your bars. Which is the pitfall of having a fully customizable HUD, and ultimately one that single-button combos won't solve. The rest of your stuff will still be clunky until you devise a better approach for your own personal playstyle.

As the person that accidentally kicked this off and derailed the thread: Even if single button combos were an optional feature, it would still cause problems. The primary reason for them inevitably doing this is for button bloat, which means they would consolidate combos and immediately replace them with other, newer buttons to press. This would leave the total number of buttons the same for people opting in with the toggle, but increase them for anyone that's serious about controlling their character and/or that wants to remain engaged.

Even faster paced games can have boring combat if there is little to do other than just spam your rotation. No matter how mechanically interesting a class is, it eventually becomes dull if the encounter itself is little more than a target dummy.

Agreed. Which is why most games don't work on a static rotation for both player and enemy attacks, but this one does. Presumably for ease of balancing, though whether or not that's actually been a success is debatable.

[Gemina]

Even with a 2.5 gcd, to compare it to turn-based single player games is ludicrous. It isn't that slow, and mobs don't wait for you to make a decision. I totally understand why this game uses the 2.5 gcd, and it is definitely to deliberately slow down combat. The casual are in far greater number, and this needs to be accounted for when suggesting things like more difficult casual content, and shorter gcd.

Speeding things up is definitely one way to make things more difficult, and I am surprised it isn't being used more often. From my experience, content in this game is made more difficult by ramping up damage and stacking mechanics. Well, how about making things much faster and reducing gcd time to balance it out? Isn't there going to be some kind of boss-rush mode in the next patch? I wonder if battle speed will increase as you progress. It is one sure way to guarantee failure. Keep going until schite is so fast you just drop your controller and say "eff this!"

[TalithaSolarien]

Coming from a game that enforces you to stick to it's 0.45 GCD if you want to be effective (TESO if you want to know) I actually enjoy the 2.5 GCD. Also at level 70 most classes have enough oGCDs or procs to make the gameplay feel faster.

I think the balance with the GCD we have at 70 is well done for most players.

[Yzuna]

I don't find it slow. It has, at 70, a lot of oGCDs skills.
But I do find it boring.

As a DPS, you don't have to react, adapt, ajust. Just do your rotation, endlessly, mindlessly.
As a healer, you can top off someone/the party with a couple of cast.
As a tank, enmity is decided with the first aggro combo, and it's then set in stone for the rest of the fight.

There was a small use for things like Silence/Stun/Bind/Sleep in the early ARR, but instead of building around it, they choose to forget it.
You don't have teamwork, synergy between jobs for dps, you just stay in your bubble and work on that rotation.

The only things that makes the fight interesting, are the mechanics of the fight, and even then, when you are familiar with it, it become trivial, because everything is scripted/telegraphed/timed.
Also, the animations are mostly gorgeous, which helps a lot.

I loved FFXI combat gameplay, it was slow and strategic. JA, spells and WS had to timed and planned.
I loved Blade&Soul combat gameplay, if was fast, dynamic, and you had to react, adapt.
I enjoyed Aion combat gameplay, it was fast and adapatative.

FFXIV combat gameplay ? I bear with it, for the aesthetics the heavy mechanics fight that are, at least, fun to do when you are learning them. And others things that I like in the game.
Which is also why I don't really like DPS, and vastly prefere Healers and Tanks.

[Skivvy]

I don't find it slow. It has, at 70, a lot of oGCDs skills.
But I do find it boring.

As a DPS, you don't have to react, adapt, ajust. Just do your rotation, endlessly, mindlessly.
As a healer, you can top off someone/the party with a couple of cast.
As a tank, enmity is decided with the first aggro combo, and it's then set in stone for the rest of the fight.

There was a small use for things like Silence/Stun/Bind/Sleep in the early ARR, but instead of building around it, they choose to forget it.
You don't have teamwork, synergy between jobs for dps, you just stay in your bubble and work on that rotation.

The only things that makes the fight interesting, are the mechanics of the fight, and even then, when you are familiar with it, it become trivial, because everything is scripted/telegraphed/timed.
Also, the animations are mostly gorgeous, which helps a lot.

I loved FFXI combat gameplay, it was slow and strategic. JA, spells and WS had to timed and planned.

I feel like I could have typed this myself. :X

[Daemic]

Combat is boring because it's a stagnant, static skill system: each player has the exact same skills as others of that class. There's no variety or creativity like in build-based systems. The simplicity is mind numbing, and rote memorizing the "optimal rotation" of your tiny pool of abilities is the opposite of enjoyable.

At least healing and tanking is a dynamic enough experience to stimulate some brain function.