Increasing number of players using 3rd party tools

[ForteNightshade]

Nael quotes DO appear above her head in a large text-bubble, and have done so since the day the content launched. The only point in the fight where you might have difficulty reading the quote is during adds, particularly if you are far from the boss. Fortunately you can just glance at your chat box for all of 2 seconds or rely on your tanks to call the mechanic.

Ultimate content is geared towards the literal best players in the world, and I don't think it's asking a lot to expect them to be able to read 3 words. It's not that different from learning to read any other boss tell, barring cases of genuine dyslexia.

Here is a video guide of the quotes in question. In what world is this a big, large text-bubble? Not only that but it lasts for less than three seconds (the video is slowed down) before you're meant to react. Just because a fight is geared towards the higher end player doesn't mean mechanics like this are fun to execute. There is nothing mechanically interesting about deciphering a text quote mid-comment. For the same reason I try not reading FC or linkshell messages during chat, I don't enjoy an RP mechanic. It's needlessly distracting from the actual reason I enjoy this type of content: gameplay. This takes away from that aspect of the fight so I read a quote. Have I done it? Yes, several times. And I don't blame anyone for immediately installing triggers. It's just a poorly designed idea.

If you're relying on your tanks or any one person for a callout. What's really the difference over a TTS? If the whole argument is "do the mechanic yourself" Well, you aren't. You're dead if someone else isn't telling you what to do.

Regardless, it isn't about how much its asking from players but rather if the mechanic is fun to engage with. It isn't for the reasons stated above.

[LittleImp]

If you're relying on your tanks or any one person for a callout. What's really the difference over a TTS? If the whole argument is "do the mechanic yourself" Well, you aren't. You're dead if someone else isn't telling you what to do.

This game is a team-based game, and someone, somewhere is having to perform some kind of execution to make that callout. When you use TTS, there is no longer a single person in your group actively involved with the mechanic as it was intended.

I never had any problems learning to read nael quotes so it's just hard for me to empathize with people who struggled with that mechanic. I don't see reading some text as being any different from say, reading a castbar or looking at whether or not a boss is lifting their left or right arm. It's just another way of communicating a mechanic at the end of the day, and reading it is inherently part of the execution of that fight. The quotes even come out during completely inactive parts of the fight, giving you plenty of time to read them. Using a plugin to mentally parse it for you is using a robot to simplify the fight execution, hence it being a crutch. I will continue to standby stating that it's a crutch, and that it detracts from the execution of the fight. Not every mechanic will be fun to every person. I have griped about many, many mechanics over the years, but I would never entertain using a third party tool to circumvent them just because I don't personally don't find them fun.

Using third party tools for diagnostic purposes between pulls is fine, but I genuinely believe that it's gone too far when the tool assists you with fight execution, regardless of if you find a mechanic 'fun' or not.