We interrupt your current server woes to talk about casting

[Rukkirii]

And here is the other /facetarget post from Yoshida that I promised. ^_^

You weren’t able to make it so what we see is an animation, but internally the character is turning around instantly?

I will go ahead and answer this for the animation team as well.
We’ve performed tests on everything, including the suggested method.

As I commented in my previous post, heavy focus has been placed on quick movements for the /facetarget command.

Taking into account continuous usage, there were cases where the character would stop and do a 180 without movement. Also, in the case that there is a delay between the internal line of sight check and the animation, the casting animation would begin mid-turn.

Furthermore, in the case of spells with a short casting time, graphics were affected drastically when continuously using /facetarget and instantly casting. After using /facetarget, in the case of moving mid-turn or using a weaponskill mid-turn animation, I am sure there would have been comments saying “My feet are sliding when I change direction…what is this? This isn’t FF!”
(The current FFXIV system does not separate upper and lower body animation movements.)

With all this said, there are things that we can and can’t do in regards to differences between the input and what is seen. There is also a difference in the priority between game functionality and graphical display. Where to draw the line is quite difficult since this is FINAL FANTASY, but this was my decision as it I felt the trade-offs were unacceptable.

I feel that visuals should continue to be one of the strongest assets of FFXIV going forward and I would really like you to continue to pay attention to stylish and cool visuals.

As a FINAL FANTASY, we have every intention of paying attention to this, but with your comment I will be sure to take this into account even more and it will be reflected in future updates and 2.0!

[Nakiamiie]

Furthermore, in the case of spells with a short casting time, graphics were affected drastically when continuously using /facetarget and instantly casting. After using /facetarget, in the case of moving mid-turn or using a weaponskill mid-turn animation, I am sure there would have been comments saying “My feet are sliding when I change direction…what is this? This isn’t FF!”
(The current FFXIV system does not separate upper and lower body animation movements.)

[...]

I feel that visuals should continue to be one of the strongest assets of FFXIV going forward and I would really like you to continue to pay attention to stylish and cool visuals.

As a FINAL FANTASY, we have every intention of paying attention to this, but with your comment I will be sure to take this into account even more and it will be reflected in future updates and 2.0!

You will fix this for 2.0, right? Right?
I think that visual is really important too. It would allow to do more things while walking without looking awkward (even emotes? ).