Mouse over actions should really be officially supported.

[EaMett]

I realize it's totally possible to play well using the macros, but you also note that it isn't ideal. Why shouldn't this change be made?

I'm not against a fix at all. I think it would be great, and if it's a low-hanging fruit, all the better. I still think it's such a small difference that time should probably be spent elsewhere. But like you said, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So it's fair game if enough people care.

[Shurrikhan]

I still think it's such a small difference that time should probably be spent elsewhere.

It's literally just a slapped-on modifier applied as a blanket, switching its place with the default <target> mechanism.

The game already has a mouseover function; it just requires one to form a macro to use, and macros have been actively sabotaged in this game by having removing their ability to queue (alongside item usage, general actions like Sprint, and other weird exceptions).

[Arcadious]

I'm not against a fix at all. I think it would be great, and if it's a low-hanging fruit, all the better. I still think it's such a small difference that time should probably be spent elsewhere. But like you said, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So it's fair game if enough people care.

It's absolutely a low hanging fruit, one that it feels like they've intentionally avoided for some time. I'd love to know if they've ever stated somewhere why it's not already a feature in the game.

As for the time comment, I feel like people on these forums like to play Square Enix project manager as a way to trivialize issues others have with the game. I'm not saying that's what you're doing, but it's a common crutch. We can all suggest things we'd like to see and let the company decide what to prioritize.

[Hyperia]

I feel that they hobbled the macro system in an effort to reduce or prevent botting.

But as that has not worked at all, I’d like them to give up on that tactic and allow queuing for mouse over macros and instant macros like swiftcast rez.

[TaleraRistain]

I don't think it's a bad idea but you if you're on keyboard you may not realize you don't need to click to target. You can use function keys to target party members. Until they implement support for this, then something like that may help.

You can also make a key to do /assist on someone who would be targeting the boss, to quickly get back to targeting what you were focused on before having to swap to the party member.

[Shibi]

That's a fair point! But I thought about mentioning that in the OP but I've honestly never met anyone who does that.

I've been F-Key healing for about 18 years. So, there is one person you've now met.

Fkeys, focus, and assist are pretty essential skills in my eyes.

[Spectrum]

As a controller user, I just have my XHB set up so I double tap R2 trigger button to bring up 8 macros I made for "play", one targeting each party slot. Makes it fast to dish out cards!



My tweet.

[Ivtrix]

an actual legitimate case of controller holding mouse and keyboard back

[Rongway]

Just want to add that you also can select party members with the keyboard. With F1 through F8 I think.

It's a bad idea to use F5-F8 at all during combat if you only have one hand on the keyboard because they are so far away from that one hand's resting position. It's still a little bit of a reach to use F1-F4 but at least for most people that's doable while still keeping two or three fingers on their resting keys. The difficulty of accurately pressing a button increases significantly the farther you need to move your hand to press it (See: Fitts's Law), and this difficulty increases even more when you only have a fraction of a second to press it.

[BluexBird]

Started playing this game on my keyboard. I was a tank. Zutvan came out. My hands got destroyed. I really wanted to clear the fight, but I didn't want to get carpal tunnel.

So I got a controller, learned to play on that. Never went back. Years later, I decided to learn how to play healer (AST, even). It was great.

One day my controller's trigger button stops working. I decide to try learning how to heal using mouse and keyboard. On that day, I realized how sorry I am for every single healer in this game that doesn't use a controller.

Use a controller. It will resolve all the issues you brought up in your post.