Please allow players to save unlimited HUD and Keybinds, and assign them per Job

[Eorzean_username]

"But if we do this, there won't be enough room on the server, and it will have to be stored locally!"

Yes, that's fine, I don't care. That's already exactly how it is for me (see below). So, please, if this is the only thing holding you back — do it anyway.

Currently, this is what I have to do every single time that I switch Jobs in XIV:

https://imgur.com/a/2LHz2lB

This also means setting all my general / nonspecific HUD and Configuration settings again... on every Job... every time something changes. Yes, it's as tedious and frustrating as it sounds.

And here's examples of most of my other Job HUDs, if this matters:

https://imgur.com/a/gH5vvs9

Also, I'd like to point out that this is generally a standard feature in games with different Classes, and XIV is the one doing it "weird" by forcing all Jobs to share one HUD and Keybind set:

• World of Warcraft: every character has a unique HUD and Keybinds.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: every character has a unique HUD and you can save an infinite number of Keybind templates.
• ...okay I'm already tired of typing this section, but in general, this is the case more often than not. (we don't need to talk about Guild Wars 2, especially because it's a UX abomination in many, many, many ways.)

"You can set different actions to different hotbar slots per Job already, though!"

Yeah, I was tired, so that "messed up PLD HUD" example didn't convey this very well (since I haven't updated the "MCH HUD version of PLD" since like 2018).

But the problem is that this "solution" only works if you have a 1:1 relationship between HUD and Keybind placement for every single Job.

Due to having extremely different rotations, gauges, cooldown arrays, and so on, this is not actually practical, and will force you to display all sorts of useless garbage that will clutter and distract from important information, and could easily have been placed on a hidden bar... if the Keybinds lined up to allow that.

What I want (and what I currently brute-force via HUD Backup manipulation) is the ability to have a completely unique HUD Layout, Keybind settings, and Action placement per Job.

"Okay, but why?"

Because I have brain problems or something, and it's really difficult for me to play Jobs correctly unless I organize all of the information in a way that is clean, compact, easy to read, and specifically-tailored to each particular Job's rotation and design.

This includes GCD indicators, cooldown timers, keybind assignments, buff and debuff placement, cast bar placement, Party HUD placement... etc, etc, etc. (See above)

"I don't understand your examples, many important actions are missing..."

No, they're not. If an action does not need to be displayed, I don't display it. This is another reason why I want a unique HUD and Keybind per Job.

For example, I don't need to see the starter action for a combo chain. That action is always available. I only need to know if one of the subsequent combo actions is currently active.

I also don't need to see a generic Gauge-dump action like "Edge of Shadow" or "Bloodspiller". Its "cooldown" is just the rate at which Gauge is generated, meaning that I only need to see the Gauge quantity, not the icon.

Or there's some other way of easily tracking an action's cooldown. For example, "Hypercharge" will always be available again one full GCD after Hypercharge ends, so the cooldown is irrelevant.

Or the cooldown is completely useless information. For example, it's physically impossible for "Summon Bahamut" or "Automaton Queen" to still be on cooldown by the time you have enough Dreadwyrm Points or Battery to cast it again, so these cooldown clocks are just pointless clutter.

...etc, etc, etc. Each HUD is designed to chop out as much unnecessary visual information as possible, so that I know that everything changing and updating on my screen is "important" information.

"Okay, then why do you have Scathe visible..."

Each Caster class needs to have one arbitrary "dud" action visible somewhere so that I can track the GCD clock during instant casts. I usually choose an awful action that I don't want to actually use, so that it doesn't have any chance of sending my brain conflicting information about my rotation.

SE devs: This would probably be the single-largest QOL update that you could possibly make for me as a player...

...so if you could seriously consider making this option available, I would appreciate it a lot.

Also it would be very helpful to have an "Export/Import HUD" and "Export/Import Keybinds" option added at the same time...

...so that I don't have to manually-redo about 22+ HUD and Keybind designs when I'm finally able to go back to keeping everything stored in one User Interface file.

But, I'd still happily go through that one-time brute-force effort, if it meant no longer having to do this tedious Log out → Swap → Log in process every time I swap Jobs.

[Rongway]

With the amount of homogeneity in jobs, I find it baffling that people can't fit all their job controls into two sets of keybinds and four hud layouts.

Could we do with a third set of keybinds and an extra hud layout or two for convenience? Yes, absolutely. Do we need an unlimited number of each? No.

If your control scheme for each job is so unique that it needs a completely different keyboard and monitor for each job, I have to wonder why you're not making parallel keybind and UI decisions for the jobs based on their many similarities. At worst, the jobs can be grouped into three UI families:

• Healers
• BLM, SMN, BRD, DNC
• Everyone else

No, there isn't an exact 1:1:...:1 association between all the actions for every job in each group, but there are enough similarities that if you can't line up all the obvious matches and then fit the rest of your actions into the remaining keys, I have to ask...are you purposely avoiding mapping similar actions to the same button to make everything feel more unique? Don't. Things feel samey because they are.

[Brightamethyst]

You can already have four different HUD layouts and switch between them at will.

This seems very much like a you issue rather than a general game issue. You seem to be playing in a VERY non-standard way and I doubt this change would actually help very many people.

[Callinon]

Currently, this is what I have to do every single time that I switch Jobs in XIV:

https://imgur.com/a/2LHz2lB

This also means setting all my general / nonspecific HUD and Configuration settings again... on every Job... every time something changes. Yes, it's as tedious and frustrating as it sounds.

And here's examples of most of my other Job HUDs, if this matters:

https://imgur.com/a/gH5vvs9

This ... seems excessive. While I recognize that having unlimited hud layouts and keybind saves would technically solve your problem, I think your problem isn't what you think it is.

I think your problem is a lack of planning.

Listen, I get it, I play a bazillion jobs too. On other MMOs I'm a severe altoholic. I like playing everything if at all possible. The primary thing I learned when I started doing that was that I had no possibility of remembering 36+ different button layouts for all the classes I was playing. I had to standardize it, and so that's exactly what I did.

Now I use a Razer Orbweaver for this, so this exact layout wouldn't apply to most people, but you take this and get the idea.

1-4: Base rotational
5: Basic AoE
6: Execute
7: Interrupt
8: Snare
9: "Big" rotational button (think things like Apex Arrow)
0: Major cooldown
-: Mobility ability
=: Basic ranged ability

And then I have shift, ctrl, and alt-modified bars too. They're all set up the same way. Shift is more rotational stuff, healing abilities go here. Ctrl is personal buffs, stances, tanking cooldowns, that sort of thing. Alt is party/raid buffs or things that are primarily intended to effect other people. I'd say on average each class varies in its button placement by less than 5%. Some classes have a few more rotational buttons, some have more buffs, but the job gets done. This way I can play any class and even if the whole thing isn't exact on every class, it's close enough that I can be functional while I remember what's different about the one I'm playing that day.

This is the only way I've found that I can keep sane, but damnit it works.