I love beautiful animations.. but I think they're too slow for this game

[Rydin]

/golfclap

I'd imagine most sensible people would agree to that. I still prefer NES games over most stuff released these days.

The situation is that this game, even amidst the excitement and support of the XIV community, is hanging by a thread. The people that essentially choose whether or not this thread is cut is the press come 2.0's release. The press, at this time, pretty much only praise XIV for its graphics and animation. Do you want to cut the graphics to improve gameplay? No, because that will either A) Keep you where you are or B) Blow up in your face, making the situation even worse.

So instead, try to improve both. What I'm saying is animation lock is a negligible problem for those who actually learn how to do the content. To be hypothetical, if the servers were fixed to the point that what happens on my screen is within 0.1 seconds of what's happening on the server, animation lock would hardly even matter. Or, as someone said above, keep the lock but slice off the time that it holds you in place after the animation is done (like after doomspike).

Or just do the upper/lower body thing which I didn't even read about before I posted about animation lock. Again, I was mostly referring to the clowns stating things like "I'd rather go back to WoW".

I don't even know why you're still going on about it. I was done a while ago. I guess you wanted to beat my preschool insults with a preschool riposte. Chill out a bit. First world problems.

I think we are all on the same side though... when people say animation lock, I think that has become a blanket term for the lock... the time after the weaponskill... the server lag and the positional lag all combined into one big problem....

Personally, I am confident that 2.0 will reduce lag by a noticeable amount and make the game so much more enjoyable....
To add to that... i wouldn't mind seeing animation lock taken away fro using abilities like voke and such...

[Riaayo]

/golfclap

I'd imagine most sensible people would agree to that. I still prefer NES games over most stuff released these days.

The situation is that this game, even amidst the excitement and support of the XIV community, is hanging by a thread. The people that essentially choose whether or not this thread is cut is the press come 2.0's release. The press, at this time, pretty much only praise XIV for its graphics and animation. Do you want to cut the graphics to improve gameplay? No, because that will either A) Keep you where you are or B) Blow up in your face, making the situation even worse.

So instead, try to improve both. What I'm saying is animation lock is a negligible problem for those who actually learn how to do the content. To be hypothetical, if the servers were fixed to the point that what happens on my screen is within 0.1 seconds of what's happening on the server, animation lock would hardly even matter. Or, as someone said above, keep the lock but slice off the time that it holds you in place after the animation is done (like after doomspike).

Or just do the upper/lower body thing which I didn't even read about before I posted about animation lock. Again, I was mostly referring to the clowns stating things like "I'd rather go back to WoW".

I don't even know why you're still going on about it. I was done a while ago. I guess you wanted to beat my preschool insults with a preschool riposte. Chill out a bit. First world problems.

If you were done a while ago why are you still here? I wasn't done as you were continuing to say things I felt the need to disagree with, so I'm perfectly entitled to still be here and quote whatever madness anyone decided to post.

Once again, you state that critics only praise this game for its graphics. Because that's ALL this game has. You could destroy this games graphics, make the game the best game you have ever played, and guess what? Critics would be all over it with praise. Now if you could make it the best and pretty? Even better.

The argument has only ever been that if the animations get in the way of gameplay, they need to be changed (whether that is through shortening them, changing them altogether, allowing sliding... whatever). Again, I would prefer the game to work well and be well animated, and as someone posted above, Uncharted 3 is an amazing example of a game that does both perfectly, without sacrificing any piece of the game for any other piece. So lets see a little of that from Square Enix.

I still don't understand your need to throw childish names around at people who play another game than you, though. You are essentially the same as the fanboys over on WoW who mindlessly insult any other mmo or any other players of said games, just because it's not their game; it's not their TEAM.

You are not superior to a single other person on this planet nor are they superior to you: especially not based on what video games they decide to play.

[Rjain]

I still don't understand your need to throw childish names around at people who play another game than you, though. You are essentially the same as the fanboys over on WoW who mindlessly insult any other mmo or any other players of said games, just because it's not their game; it's not their TEAM.

You are not superior to a single other person on this planet nor are they superior to you: especially not based on what video games they decide to play.

Not really. I'm just being a little tongue-in-cheek. I'm pretty much pooping rainbows over here. If anything, you're the one mindlessly insulting people and acting like a fanboy lol. You are throwing me into categories in all of your previous posts just because I don't agree with you, whereas I'm being mildly sarcastic. In my first post, I called the OP a nincompoop. Yep, I really am pulling out all the harsh insults straight out of the book. Damn that Rjain for being so cruel and obviously superior to everyone.

I don't die from animation lag, nor does anyone I play with. We aren't amazing award-winning MLG players, we are average nerds who are decent at a game like most (cough?) people here. Too many people complaining about being unable to dodge when it is as easy as cake. Not any of that half-assed crumbly cake either. Fancy cake.

[Riaayo]

Not really. I'm just being a little tongue-in-cheek. I'm pretty much pooping rainbows over here. If anything, you're the one mindlessly insulting people and acting like a fanboy lol. You are throwing me into categories in all of your previous posts just because I don't agree with you, whereas I'm being mildly sarcastic. In my first post, I called the OP a nincompoop. Yep, I really am pulling out all the harsh insults straight out of the book. Damn that Rjain for being so cruel and obviously superior to everyone.

I don't die from animation lag, nor does anyone I play with. We aren't amazing award-winning MLG players, we are average nerds who are decent at a game like most (cough?) people here. Too many people complaining about being unable to dodge when it is as easy as cake. Not any of that half-assed crumbly cake either. Fancy cake.

I'm sure you probably assume I'm someone who dies to eruptions and runs to the forums to complain. I don't. I get out of mechanics fine, because I have taken the time to adjust to how bad the servers for this game are and had to learn how to cope in order to prevail. But just because I can put up with it for a short time, does not mean I want to see the game stay that way, nor do I have fun putting up with it. If it wasn't to get better, I would tell SE I'm gone until their game responds to my controls properly and functions correctly in correlation to what is displayed on my screen. If what I see going on is not what is going on, there's not even a point of all these pretty graphics... we might as well be playing text adventures because of how much you have to stare at the log to watch for a move rather than a graphical indicator like every other game out there.

Also, please don't insult my intelligence by trying to actually turn it around and act like I called you names or somehow misjudged the way you were writing and handling your posts. Your sarcasm was obvious, and if you don't like the kind of reactions you're getting from writing that way you may wish to consider how it comes across to others.

[mhaid2000]

Personally, i think the animations are fine. Id rather have cool looking animations than choppy quick ones like the kind u see in wow. Just my preference but i feel the animations for battle should stay but the animations for crafting need to be cut back. Also when it comes to crafting, give an option similar to that of WoW and RIFT in letting us choose how many of an item to craft and have our character craft it. And if u want to make a HQ item, just use the other system. Just a suggestion that i think would make crafting a world of ways easier.

[Neptune]

Rjain you are on the wrong side of the debate here. With your attachment to the graphics and animations, you should be on my side. I started this discussion and I like the animations. They are what sets FFXIV apart, but they look like they were designed in a vacuum away from gameplay. Their implementation is unfinished and rough. You can't possibly argue with that. My OP details the finer points of animation suggestions to the dev team to keep the beauty and give these animations the implementation they always deserved.

What are you afraid of, that the dev team is going to read my post and do away with all of their hard work? Don't kid yourself. If they follow my suggestions they will find a way to leverage their completed work in a way that works best for the game, which is quite honestly what they should be doing anyway. Why the current game hasn't been tweaked is totally baffling. Anyway you need to get on my side and start thinking constructively. Unless a scalpel is taken to these animations this game doesn't stand a chance.

It's not going to be thrown in the trash by the critics; it's already in the trash. At this point we are asking critics to take another look at a rotting piece of trash they threw away close to 2 years ago. The game is only hanging by a thread in your mind. The thread has already been cut.

[Jinko]

My opinion on on this:

Animation lock is the only problem I have with the current system, other the that the speed doesn't need to be much faster than it already is. WoW/SWTOR speed of gameplay doesn't make anything dynamic.
The encounter itself is what makes the battle dynamic and not how fast you press a button in rapid succession.

The Devs need to worry less about the speed and more about the actual encounter. That's how they will build a solid playerbase, which SE should be looking to do.

There is a good chunk of RPG lovers that enjoy a slower more tactical feel to their game. Not everyone enjoys pressing buttons as fast as they can to win something. The problem with this genre, as it is today, is the fact that every one seems to be offering the same or similar things as the next guy.

game1: Hey! We have turbo charged gameplay with crappy animations and graphics but you have a IWIN button!

game2: Come one, come all! We have turbo charged gameplay with lightsabers and currently working on a IWIN button!

game3: We have turbo charged gameplay and it's b2p! Which means we will make everyone equal so you will feel special enough to buy the next expansion pack!

The genre is starting to make me feel like a kid at the arcade with a pocket full of quarters. The problem with that is I'm no longer a kid. The feeling just isn't the same anymore. Speed is becoming far too overrated in the RPG genre as a whole. What made a RPG an amazing genre is slowing vanishing as people only focus on the "speed". MMOs are starting to become just that in the process.

Massive Multiplayers Online

Agree with this, I think the speed of battle is fine the animation lock on the other hand is holding it back from being fun, watching a tank get hammered with 100 tons because they popped sentinel or provoke at the wrong moment is bullshit imo, sure there will be those who will say well get a better tank who can time their skills better but.. balls to that, I would rather the battle mechanics of a fight be about reactions not being locked in place by a cheap ass system that can't render lower and upper body animation separately.

I look forward to the changes in 2.0

One thing I will say is that if animation lock is as bad in 2.0 as it is here, I won't think twice of quitting, now most of you won't care less I'm sure, some will maybe even cheer (lol), but the fact is that if I'm willing to quit and I enjoy this game then so will many others.

That's not even touching on the subject of new players and subscriptions, I find it mind boggling that there are a group of players that are so scared of this game becoming a WoW clone that they would rather it fail.

[Jaqe]

Although as I mentioned earlier animation lock can be annoying I cannot comprehend why so many people are having an issue with it. Battle design is centralized around implemented mechanics. These fights have been constructed and tested with animation lock in mind. I never have a problem with animation lock. The only time I had a problem with animation lock was when I was new to a fight, or if I ended up doing something stupid. You die in fights, that happens.

Animation lock is annoying.

Holes in Super Mario are annoying.

Those god damn reapers in Resident Evil 5 that pop out of nowhere and pick you up and repeatedly eviscerate you are annoying.

It's an element of the game you work around. I don't think it's a glitch, it's a mechanic, and it's one I find visually appealing. I DO NOT WANT to see my character sliding around while shooting a bow or casting a spell. What is this, the 90s?

Practice not sucking. Simple enough. I can't recall the last time animation lock has messed me over unless I did something stupid. If I can do it, you guys can do it. Stop QQing.

I agree with Rjain. Nothing much I can add here.
These animations are what kept me playing. Besides the people.

[northernsky]

A light year is a measure of time, the time it takes light to travel in one year. It's also really long distance-wise. .

Uh? Sorry that made me laugh

Back on topic, replace "speed" with fluidity in OP and I agree wholeheartedly

[Oniji]

I believe they said 2.0 will allow for lower and upper body animations, the current game does not and this is whey we can't move during animation.

Yeah that is the main cause for it. Their animation system is far too rigid atm. They should look at the Battlefield 3 "ANT" system, which is also used in a lot of EA Sports games.

They could temporarily fix this by just allowing characters to "slide" while the animation plays out, as you move. Or by instantly killing the current animation when the character moves, which may feel disjointed or jolting. Either way it will break the "realism" to some extent.

But if it fixes the animation lock issue from now until 2.0, I'm willing to wager that most people will be happy to live with the minor drop in realism in the interim.

Edit: Another problem that causes the animation to feel slightly sluggish is the easing into and out of moving. This delay is slightly annoying for spell casting, as you generally have to wait for your character to come to a complete stop before you can start casting. This issue is amplified with lag. The person should be able to cast immediately after they have depressed a movement key i.e. you can start casting even while the character easing into coming to a stop.