Why can't we just have combo chains?

[Arohk]

So, i tried out Macros for the first time now and managed to create three small things on Samurai , that saves 4 hotkeys in total and makes it a lot more comfortable to play.


Can be used three times in a row , casts Shoha if possible, or else it will use Iaijutsu and then Tsubamegaeshi , you will never waste any Shoha stacks with it, i tried it out and is really reliable.
(saves two hotkeys)


Uses Third Eye, and if used again will use the small heal.
(saves one hotkey)


Makes You jump backwards, if pushed again, uses Enpi, If you're too far away, uses Enpi.
(saves one hotkey)

[WigglesTheWiggly]

For a number of reasons actually.

1. It would be more controller friendly.
2. It would be more arthritis friendly.
3. It would help prevent and alleviate repetitive strain injuries from Ulnar Deviation for Keyboard users.
4. Level Sync Learning Curves would be reduced since combos wouldn't have you pressing keys that have been disabled when you've dropped 40 levels. They'd simply reduce the number of actions a combo has, allowing you to essentially press the same keys to operate your character just fine, regardless of what level you are. (note: some independent skills might still be an issue but the benefits outweigh them by leaps and bounds)
   
   and
   
   
5. Less focus of the interface would mean more focus on the fight. There would be less of an unnecessary learning curve to enjoy the game, thus making FFXIV more approachable to an even broader audience.

It makes too much sense.

Not to mention a legacy mode could be preserved for individuals who's prerogative is to play the piano. You wanna press all those keys, go ahead.

[Stepjam]

I always find it odd when people talk about how consolidating combos to a single button would help with carpal tunnel or arthritis when it really wouldn't. It's a repetitive action either way, it doesn't matter that much whether you are pressing 3 buttons or one button, you are still pressing buttons repeatedly for minutes on end.

[Jirah]

I don’t care enough about this to really be against it. If it’s a option I don’t really care either way

I wouldn’t use it the same reason why I don’t main a Healer as a DPS.

[WigglesTheWiggly]

Yeah i'm gonna have to slightly disagree with you, my wrists and hands in general feel a hell of a lot better now that i've macroed psuedo-combo chains for my Machinist and I can only imagine how a proper combo chain system would help combo heavier classes. I understand that we can't mitigate said problems entirely but ideally you want to reduce the range of issues.

[WigglesTheWiggly]

BRD wouldn't even see any benefit, DNC... I don't think you'd want to do this, because of how their procs work. And I suppose there's a single combo for RDM.

Just like how the Machinists 1-2-3 combo and Spreadshot in PvP turn into Heatblast and Auto-Crossbow when Hypercharge is activated, the bard could actually benefit from adaptive slots. For example, Heavy Shot automatically turning into Straight Shot when proc'd or Wanderer's Minuet Turning into Pitch Perfect. You can already achieve this to a lesser extent with adaptive macros and though I wouldn't really call them much of combos, they'd save 2 keybinds and cut down on finger acrobatics a smidgen.

Really this goes for any skill that has some direct interaction with another.

[AmeliaVerves]

How does "clicking" imply i use a controller? You click with a mouse.
i have 9 hotkeys bound to my thumb buttons on my razer Naga and 15 on my keyboard, as you can see on my screenshots, i use F1 F2 F3 F4 F5...

The Num Buttons are the side buttons on my mouse, not the actual num block, no have no controller, i only use the crossbar for skills i click on.

Here is my logic to my keybinds, as the samura has 3 basic skill rotations, i bound them to be

2 > #2
2 > 1 > #1
2 > 3 > #3
makes it easier to remember.

Hmm, you are not utilizing Q and E at all.
So wouldn't it be easier to put more skills on the keyboard and then use some of the mouse buttons on the side as shift/ctrl left/ctrl right modifiers? so you can quickly switch between the 'sets'?

Idk most of the time I'm playing on controller and I have yet to find a class where you cannot easily put all buttons in a way you can play smoothly, and I have leveld them all.
Since most ppl say it's easier on mouse+keyboard I'd assume it is mostly up to utilizing your buttons and modifiers smartly.



To the topic itself:
I prefer having different buttons for each combo skill, because even tho ppl keep saying that it's "braindead" and "too easy anyways" pressing a rotation it is indeed making a big difference especially in hard content. DPS checks are a thing because ppl are often doing their rotation wrong or don't know it in the first place. It definetly adds a layer of difficulty in already stressful fights and seperates good from not so good players.
It would indeed simplify the gameplay quite a lot if they changed this, imo and I'd rather not see the game watered down even more.

[SavingPrincess]

The "swap button" system (i.e. the PVP system) works well for classes that have different static combos, like DRG Full Thrust or Chaos Thrust combos... but would break for classes who's combos "fork" or can be "interchanged."

Honestly, this type of system would really help the Duty Finder in general if it were optional. If you give new players the option to implement "dummy buttons" for their basic rotations, while letting veterans/hardcore players customize by keeping everything separate... you would end up with a lot more "good enough" players, and it would not affect the "best of the best" players whatsoever, other than making their DF's a little less aggravating.

[Kuroka]

But it would work for some and thats a start. Also it would free up bottoms so we dont end up with 3 skills till lv 50 at 7.0 lol ...no but really, imagine still having 3 buttons but diffent combos on em - GNB uses it for its lv 70 skill and its amazing, imagine the other 3 moves would be one button as well, we could get another combo to interact with it later on too...

And on some jobs... like RDM i hate using the enchanted combo as smt the server would not take the first or mid step and waste my mana, on a button that would not work as it would be locked into the right order.

[Shurrikhan]

I always find it odd when people talk about how consolidating combos to a single button would help with carpal tunnel or arthritis when it really wouldn't. It's a repetitive action either way, it doesn't matter that much whether you are pressing 3 buttons or one button, you are still pressing buttons repeatedly for minutes on end.

The majority of stress that forms carpal tunnel and the like doesn't actually come from softly pressing a button X number of times with one's thumb or the like, but rather from the turning of the wrist or stretching of the hand, etc., in repositioning from one button to another, especially when doing so in a rush.

Personally, I probably wouldn't use the feature, as moving through the keys helps me keep track of timing and makes me less prone to mistakes. After my hands have cycled through keys A, B, C, and D some number of times, I'll know it's time to Hagakure and, soon after that, Tsubame-Gaeshi.

But I see little to no reason to deny others the option if they feel it'd help them.

What little reason exists is based solely in slippery slopes: "If we let them consolidate our combo skills, they'll design arounds that fact and give us even more bloat oGCDs to make up for it!" All I can offer to that argument is, well, maybe, but likely not. That they've already bloated our "combos", by nature of their being XIV-style "combos", certainly hasn't prevented them from giving plenty of oGCD (or, say, in Monk's case, even GCD) bloat.