Thread: 5.3 Preliminary Patch Note

Originally Posted by Dogempire

I mean a lot of attacks in this game you learn to avoid by dying to it, sure it may suck the first time to die but it's just part of the game

Most attacks in this game that are direct 1-hit kills are telegraphed in some way; a mechanic that kills you outright without providing some means of reading it and reacting is garbage.

I get the feeling that people who play MMO's a lot don't get a lot of exposure to games with well designed combat.

Regardless, I like the fact that SE is recognizing and addressing some of the shoddy designs in their old content. The coincounter change is a good one.

Originally Posted by Dogempire

I mean it has a name for the attack, sure it's not telegraphed by a huge glowing orange indicator, but attacks that you can only dodge by reading its name exist in the game. (Shiva's axe/scythe kick and starboard/larboard from Omega come to mind among other things, as well as ram's/dragon's voice)

I don't believe any of those are 1 hit kills, but this is what I mean when I say I don't think people who play MMO's have a lot of exposure to games with well designed combat. Finding other examples of poorly designed combat mechanics in this MMO doesn't make them less poorly designed.

If there are other instances in this game of completely untelegraphed 1 hit kills then they I wouldn't be opposed to them being changed as well. It's just lazy crap design that honestly shouldn't even be in MMO's, regardless of how low the bar is currently set for MMO gameplay.

Originally Posted by Dogempire

Just because you don't like an aspect of combat doesn't mean it's poorly designed. Sure there are MMOs and games with combat systems that are leagues above FFXIV and its tab-targeting, but this game does pretty well at putting some variety into what limited options the combat has.

I'm not saying it's poorly designed because I don't like it. It's poorly designed because it's missing a key element that any attack needs, which is the ability to react and/or adjust. If it had a telegraph you could react... If it didn't kill you in 1 hit you could adjust. It's a pretty basic tenet that's used in pretty much any game with gameplay that's worth a damn. I view missing the boat on something that basic as being a little embarrassing, even for an MMO.

I simply applaud SE for recognizing it and doing something about it at least. And of course I'm not entirely surprised that a lot of the reactions to the change are "OH NOEZ!! HOW DARE U TRY TO FIX A DESIGN FAILURE IN AN OLD FIGHT! WE NEED THAT MECHANIC TO BE TRASH FOR SOME REASON!"