Each expansion I get hyped and also worried about more skills.

[Nyarlha]

Dragoon has a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 that can also end up being 1, 2, 3, 5, 4. Would you suggest that become 11123 or 11132 instead

Also the combo being 1, 1, 1, or 1, 1, 2 would just feel kinda wrong? I would rather skills get upgraded as you level up, personally, like how they've been doing for a decent bit of them

And what you call a 'false excuse' is literally based on peoples' preferences. I honest hate the PvP combat. I need my skills laid out how they are now for me to actually register them mentally, so if they reduced the skills like how you're suggesting, I would honestly hate combat in the game and possibly start moving away from the game if it's handled any way I personally can't handle. Saying it's a 'false excuse' is literally shutting down what someone thinks about it.

It's definitely preference but the false excuse is saying "it cannot be done because of branching combos". Yes, it can be done.

If having to change your muscle memory is too much for you in the case we get this kind of changes, I hope for you none of your jobs are actually ever revamped like some have been so far from expansion to expansion.

[Lanadra]

That why I main DNS. I wanted to invest on my SAM but too many skills.

You main a Domain Name System?

[Hanayumi]

We'll likely get only 1 or 2 actual full on new skills so I wouldnt worry too much, most of which should fill in some missing skills, "aoe version of this, single target version that" kind of deal. Also likely the rest of the EW skills are just upgrades/passives for existing skills. Yet to run into a serious button bloat problems for controller, and I just use 2 crossbars and 1/2 a crossbar for the L+R/R+L (made them both go to same crossbar 1/2).

[Ayuhra]

I find this quite funny too... there's very little difference about pressing the same key 3 times while it changes than pressing 3 different keys that people put right next to each other in the correct order.

Consolidating the combo systems would allow space to add more abilities to be woven in or more skills that interact with different stages of the combo.

Plus there is indeed a ton of buttons for casters too, for example... Why Seraph and Consolation aren't the same button? Why Dreadyrm Trance doesn't turn into Summon Bahamut, and then into Enkindle Bahamut? Ley Lines could turn into Between the Lines while active. Dream within a Dream could turn into Assassination.

Basically there are a ton of conditional abilities that are only usable after a previous ability is pressed, and those could really merge into the same button.

I agree with this. Also things like Fire IV and Blizzard IV on a BLM. If you can use one you literally cannot use the other even by accident, why are they different buttons?

Yeah no. There are other ways to address by simply enhancing current abilities. Swear to god noone learned any lessons from what Blizzard did over at WoW. Pruning sounds real great until it actually happens and you realize you are left with a bunch of jobs that are just copy and paste of each with literally no differences. We have examples of other MMO's where this has occurred and EVERY single time it was a disaster.

It is a childish MMO playerbase of people all in our 30's by now that cry for new shiny abilities like little kids. They could raise the level cap by 5 and change some of the potencies and I would be happy.

I think you are misreading what I said. I said button prune, not ability prune. There are so many abilities that are only usable while under a condition set by another ability and there are some abilities that are mutually exclusive. These could all get condensed into one button without ruining the flow.

I am also open to combos being put on one button but am a little less sure about that except in conditional combos (1-2-3 but 2 is literally only usable after 1 and 1 does not branch etc)

[Hazama999]

Y'all should be more worried about how many skills they're going to take away at lower levels only to add them back at high level with a different coat of paint lmao.

I remember I played ninja when it first launched in 2.4 and pretty much didn't touch it after leveling it to 50.
Flash forward to me picking it back up in 5.0.

"They put Assassinate at level 60? Assassinate???"

[Bright-Flower]

I'm in favor of the button prune like consolidating ABC combos, but most players seem to consider having more different buttons to press "deep".

It depends on the job. Dragoon, paladin and ninja etc, you could easily prune down the linear combos.

Monk on the other hand, not so much because of perfect balance which lets you hit any combo skill. I think SAM has something similar? So these two jobs have mechanics you'd have to strip away in order to do this.

[ReynTime]

Yeah no. There are other ways to address by simply enhancing current abilities. Swear to god noone learned any lessons from what Blizzard did over at WoW. Pruning sounds real great until it actually happens and you realize you are left with a bunch of jobs that are just copy and paste of each with literally no differences. We have examples of other MMO's where this has occurred and EVERY single time it was a disaster.

It is a childish MMO playerbase of people all in our 30's by now that cry for new shiny abilities like little kids. They could raise the level cap by 5 and change some of the potencies and I would be happy.

XIV already has a bunch of copy-pastes. Mainly in tank and healing roles. It's not the number of buttons, it's how roles get simplified and how the game throws any utility into the trash bin for sake of making the dps tunnel vision more clear.

[Awha]

What is this skill bloat people are talking about? I wish we had more skills empty slots on my hotbar trigger me.

[Rinhi]

I want more skills that I don't have to press

on a serious note, I'd like for them to add combo buttons akin to the playable NPC quests with a toggle

[Nyarlha]

It depends on the job. Dragoon, paladin and ninja etc, you could easily prune down the linear combos.

Monk on the other hand, not so much because of perfect balance which lets you hit any combo skill. I think SAM has something similar? So these two jobs have mechanics you'd have to strip away in order to do this.

Definitely can't change monk since they are not combos.

SAM just has 3 different combos, there would be no issue consolidating that to 3 buttons, one for each sen combo.