One shot mechanics in Normal Raids

[Genz]

One-shot mechanics are a lazy solution to give an appearance of difficulty, because the devs can't do anything else : healers are too powerful, and healers have to be powerful because it's easier to balance and easier to play. And the jobs have to be easy to play because the game is awfully bad at teaching its players how to play.

(as a side note : one-shot in RPG have always been an error, because they simply cancel/bypass all character growth and customisation systems. But there isn't anything of the sort to cancel in FFXIV)

One-shots also create their share of problems :
- they have to be slow. When it relies too much on it, the whole fight become boringly slow and, per consequent, easy.
- Healers can't do anything about one-shot and vulnerability debuff. Over reliance on them removes meaning in the healer role. We become simple spectators.

PS : About E7 specifically, there is first and foremost a blatant design error with the mechanic explained in the status effect description...

[tdb]

(as a side note : one-shot in RPG have always been an error, because they simply cancel/bypass all character growth and customisation systems. But there isn't anything of the sort to cancel in FFXIV)

Being able to level up endlessly and beat any boss with brute force is hardly stellar design either. But in computer RPGs it often happens because the world is more or less static; the boss has nowhere else to be so it will patiently wait while you beef yourself up. A live GM would invent some way to beef up the boss as well or otherwise have consequences to the players' tardiness, but a computer program does not have imagination and can't respond to the player deviating from the expected course. One-shot mechanics are a method for game developers to keep the boss relevant no matter the player's power level.

As an aside, role-playing in computer games seems to have become conflated with numerical stat development. If a game has "RPG elements" it usually means the player can assign points into a handful of stats. Actual player-influenced character personality and development are seen very rarely.

[Divinemights]

I heard that a lot from WoW raiders....
They are complaining while they need every freaking adding to help them beat encounter mechanics

[Mavrias]

Good Morning Everyone,

So right now I'm stuck on E7. Just watched a guide on it as well before entering. The raid is fun minus one mechanic and its just frustrating and not fun for normal.

The raid does fine till we get to the light/dark phase combined with the portals. But when the 2nd wave comes through the portal, half of the raid is dead and we can never recover. The group is usually saying they cannot react fast enough while trying to think where they need to stand for the light/dark wave to come through the portals.

It's a little frustrating at this point as I just spend 60 minutes wiping on it. I don't understand why a one shot mechanic is even put into this. Why couldn't it be a vul stack like it normally is when a mechanic is not done correctly.

I can see one shot mechanics in Savage but this is the first time I can remember being frustrated over a normal raid.

I'm thinking once I finally clear this to just avoid the fight all together.

Thank you for taking to time to listen to my rant. I would like to personally see it change from a one shot mechanic to a vul stack but how do you feel about it? Seems too punishing for a fast reacting mechanic.

It already is a vuln + heavy damage. Its just so heavy that you'll likely die if you're not a tank.

[Canada_bangs]

I have no issues with one shot mechanics and perfer more of them. Maybe my opinion will change once I hit the 80's but currently I don't see a problem with them. It's the fastest way to learn I think. Make a wrong move boom death.

[Risvertasashi]

I have no issues with one shot mechanics and perfer more of them. Maybe my opinion will change once I hit the 80's but currently I don't see a problem with them. It's the fastest way to learn I think. Make a wrong move boom death.

From a healer's standpoint, honestly, a lot of the time I do too. It drives home "hey this is important, don't just ignore it and leave the healer to deal with it."

Vuln stacks, ironically, punish the healer for others' mistakes. "Hey this person messed up, now you have to heal them more."

[Gemina]

Just chiming in to say I freakin LOVE that mechanic! It's sick! Even trying to explain it in a PUG is a bit of a challenge. Kind of like Starboard/Larboard, it'll wreck PUGs for a bit, but eventually peeps will get it down, or the higher ilv will allow them to survive it (assuming they don't get knocked off the edge by it as well).

[Daitana]

Good Morning Everyone,

So right now I'm stuck on E7. Just watched a guide on it as well before entering. The raid is fun minus one mechanic and its just frustrating and not fun for normal.

The raid does fine till we get to the light/dark phase combined with the portals. But when the 2nd wave comes through the portal, half of the raid is dead and we can never recover. The group is usually saying they cannot react fast enough while trying to think where they need to stand for the light/dark wave to come through the portals.

It's a little frustrating at this point as I just spend 60 minutes wiping on it. I don't understand why a one shot mechanic is even put into this. Why couldn't it be a vul stack like it normally is when a mechanic is not done correctly.

I can see one shot mechanics in Savage but this is the first time I can remember being frustrated over a normal raid.

I'm thinking once I finally clear this to just avoid the fight all together.

Thank you for taking to time to listen to my rant. I would like to personally see it change from a one shot mechanic to a vul stack but how do you feel about it? Seems too punishing for a fast reacting mechanic.

I honestly don't even know where to start with this rubbish post. People like yourself are the reason we keep getting boring content. I came back to the game after not playing for 6 months. I play from Australia, on NA, on 270'ish ping. Went into the fight blind, and we cleared in 2-3 pulls. There is PLENTY of time to dodge the mechanic. PLENTY.

The raids are OPTIONAL content. Normal AND savage. Sorry but if something this basic is too much for you handle, just don't do it. And if that mechanic is too much for you to handle, you can join the roleplayers in the major cities and live your life in Eorzea out there.

[WK74648]

I honestly don't even know where to start with this rubbish post. People like yourself are the reason we keep getting boring content. I came back to the game after not playing for 6 months. I play from Australia, on NA, on 270'ish ping. Went into the fight blind, and we cleared in 2-3 pulls. There is PLENTY of time to dodge the mechanic. PLENTY.

The raids are OPTIONAL content. Normal AND savage. Sorry but if something this basic is too much for you handle, just don't do it. And if that mechanic is too much for you to handle, you can join the roleplayers in the major cities and live your life in Eorzea out there.

I'm sorry you feel this way and wish to word it the way you do. To give you some history of my FF XIV career, I have done savage/extreme trials and I can do them. Also, I would like to give an update on today on progress and maybe help better understand.

After a few more tries I did get it down. I couldn't begin to explain this mechanic and alot of people did get one shotted but it. I like the idea of the mechanic, i don't like the punishment on Normal that comes with. I'm talking strictly the light and dark. It's not consistent with the non light and dark where you have to move to the lane you need to be in. If you mess this up you get a vuln stack which makes sense. Light/Dark will kill you instantly. I have no problem with the mechanic itself. Just the result of messing it up on a normal mode difficulty. It's not consistent.

With E7 down I was excited to move on and get to E8. I loved E8 fight. I love all the fights except E7. Yeah we wiped on E8 but it wasn't nearly as bad and it was easier to learn what was done wrong. After 2-3 more attempts it went down no problem. E7 I had about 4-5 attempts of 60 minutes with each on being abandon. All struggling with the light/dark combined with the portals killing 4-5 people in one hit including tanks.

If it wasn't for this one shot punishment, I would que up for E7 again. However, when reset comes Tuesday, I'm going to skip it. I'll do the other 3 no problem.

[Gemina]

If it wasn't for this one shot punishment, I would que up for E7 again. However, when reset comes Tuesday, I'm going to skip it. I'll do the other 3 no problem.

I am actually really enjoying that these fights aren't snooze fests. I had some trouble getting through Furor tonight. Lots of resets. After a bit, we had to say, "look. we aren't going to clear this thing just blindly running around without a strat." It was really neat to see everyone communicating and improving, and when we finally cleared it, it was smooth and all of us left there exhausted, but we all know that damn fight now xD.

As for E7, I recommend just getting back in there. These raids still aren't even a week old, and even though I don't think I can explain that mechanic in very few words, it's still fun to try.