Anybody else got tired of scripted fights?

[Hatfright]

Sometimes I wonder if the combat mechanics that are always Positionals / Kill X before bar fills are because of an actual decision of them not to risk the combat design out of their "comfort zone" or it's because of the old sphagetti code structure...

Could be both tho.

Uh, so you do know that A9 is essentially about positioning and burning things down, right? I don't mind it myself, but I prefer A5 as an OT, though it suffers from too much DPS, causing more skipped mechanics from what I can tell in the last few runs I've had of it.

Essentially, yes. But much more fun for me than "you can stand here and here only, otherwise you're all dead".
And yes, A5 is fun too, too bad there's no need for tank swap anymore. And, well, skipping mechanics cuz of too much DPS is a problem for way too many fights today.

[Cilia]

Element of randomness in WoW fights? I don't see it, at all... The fights are scripted, that's why they have DBM over there that shows you the timer of all of boss actions. The thing that can add a lot of variables to the fights are not the randomness, but the fact that most fights can be done in different ways, and DPS there have a lot more responsibility than in XIV, which is basically just predict the telegraphs and react to AoE marks accordingly. Basically very linear fights. WoW's bosses also never follow a specific rule, so it's usually harder to be intuitive on what to do, and that I would also think it's an element that make their fights feel less "scripted".

But still yeah, WoW has that over XIV - those elements tend to make the fights more interesting. The downside is that they are much harder to balance, and often a content patch goes through a lot of hotfixes and adjustments.

I don't use mods, but even if I did, I'm thinking specifically of the Unbound Abomination - final boss of the Underrot in BfA. This guy can't be conventionally damaged - you have to beat on him until a secondary "blood gauge" fills up, spawning adds you kill to actually damage him. He also puts a persistent, stacking DoT onto the party which a helper NPC will periodically cleanse in an AoE around a random party member, and also puts down randomly placed, persistent AoE patches around his boss room that will very quickly kill you if you stand in them. That's just on normal. Hard mode (Mythic difficulty) has those AoE patches turn into mobs that track players, which when killed put their patch back down until they get up again.

This is a 5-man dungeon boss. Admittedly the most difficult one in the expansion, but there's nothing of comparable difficulty in XIV beyond some high-level 2.0 dungeons (Dzmael Darkhold and Aurum Vale). Everything here is learning the boss's telegraphs and dodging, stacking, or spacing as necessary. It's certainly easier, and more convenient, but less fulfilling.

[Genz]

Sometimes I wonder if the combat mechanics that are always Positionals / Kill X before bar fills are because of an actual decision of them not to risk the combat design out of their "comfort zone" or it's because of the old sphagetti code structure...

Rule of thumb : every question "Is it because of old spaghetti code that [...]?", the answer is no.

[Raikai]

I don't use mods, but even if I did, I'm thinking specifically of the Unbound Abomination - final boss of the Underrot in BfA. This guy can't be conventionally damaged - you have to beat on him until a secondary "blood gauge" fills up, spawning adds you kill to actually damage him. He also puts a persistent, stacking DoT onto the party which a helper NPC will periodically cleanse in an AoE around a random party member, and also puts down randomly placed, persistent AoE patches around his boss room that will very quickly kill you if you stand in them. That's just on normal. Hard mode (Mythic difficulty) has those AoE patches turn into mobs that track players, which when killed put their patch back down until they get up again.

This is a 5-man dungeon boss. Admittedly the most difficult one in the expansion, but there's nothing of comparable difficulty in XIV beyond some high-level 2.0 dungeons (Dzmael Darkhold and Aurum Vale). Everything here is learning the boss's telegraphs and dodging, stacking, or spacing as necessary. It's certainly easier, and more convenient, but less fulfilling.

Yeah, I get your point tho... WoW bosses actions are scripted yeah - after all, they don't execute things out of random - the thing is that there are variables out there that aren't exactly random, but they add several more layers of complexity. I truly wish XIV had this, to make DPS life a bit more spicy.

[Kaliesto]

I can't remember which Developer said this, but there was something along the lines of keep Familiarity for the players.

Which I don't agree half the time with that statement.

I actually dredge if the side-quests in the next expansion is going to be the same thing.

[RitsukoSonoda]

But so many of these "endgame" people won't clear content if they have to remember more than up up down down left right left right b a start...

[Hatfright]

I can't remember which Developer said this, but there was something along the lines of keep Familiarity for the players.

Which I don't agree half the time with that statement.

I actually dredge if the side-quests in the next expansion is going to be the same thing.

Well, with so many dungeons, it can be hard to keep track of every single one. But I fail to understand why it should mean "repeat the same thing over and over".

But so many of these "endgame" people won't clear content if they have to remember more than up up down down left right left right b a start...

Good one. =)

[Gameovers]

But so many of these "endgame" people won't clear content if they have to remember more than up up down down left right left right b a start...

Pfft. People can't even do THAT. Lets alone 19 65 09 17 press A or start so both of those codes are too complex for the normal causal nowdays

[RitsukoSonoda]

Pfft. People can't even do THAT. Lets alone 19 65 09 17 press A or start so both of those codes are too complex for the normal causal nowdays

Well at least they can't cheese the content like most fighting games where you easily beat the game by randomly mashing all the buttons and control stick directions.

[Gameovers]

Well at least they can't cheese the content like most fighting games where you easily beat the game by randomly mashing all the buttons and control stick directions.

They must be playing on 1 star. Cause you aint cheeseing Alpha 3's Shin M.Bison by doing that. His freaking Physco crusher is full screen and damn near one shots you. but his music is boss. Now I want to play old capcom games now.