We Need to Start Expecting Mid-Level Sprouts to Play Better

[Carin-Eri]

Assuming you play RDM as your profile says, this is what I would consider to be the bare minimum knowledge. You don't hardcast Verthunder2/Veraero2/Impact, you use AoE when there are at least 3 targets and you do utilise your melee combo and finishers, whether that is single target or AOE. For a dungeon, that is it. I don't expect you to always be casting, however, that should be the next thing to work on. Your other oGCDs? Not too bothered, it would be nice if you hit them, even if it isn't optimal, just when you notice it.

I would say that is fairly reasonable. It is the foundation of the RDM rotation after all, this is what everything relies on. If you do find yourself getting flustered over doing your rotation and mechanics, I would suggest going to a striking dummy and hitting it for a while, again, just the basics, and get it into muscle memory. The less you have to think about your rotation, the easier it is going to be to think about mechanics or starting to incorporate your other actions into your rotation.

Hopefully this helps you to get better accustomed to RDM and you will feel more confident going into content and not feeling like a hinderance. Also remember, mistakes do still happen, it was just the other day I accidentally walked off the edge of Endsinger and felt stupid, just laugh it off and learn from it.

Thanks for the advice

I'm actually, sort of, getting there with RDM. I do understand the rotation in principle - it's just putting it into practice where, as I said, I can end up getting clumsy, react slowly, and miss things as a result.

Mechanics are probably my biggest setback. I mean, I do generally get the idea - heck, (whilst I realise most here probably find it ridiculously easy anyway) I've played my favorite, Alzadaal's Legacy, frequently enough that I almost never die in that one anymore and I don't usually feel like a deadweight there.
Sadly, put me in Aglaia and I floor tank every boss

[Yeastyloins]

I, for one, agree. But then I guess I would. As I've said, I'm still not great at the game after eight months of playing. I DO try, but still get flustered trying to understand mechanics and work rotations, I'm still clumsy and slow to react, and it's certainly very rare that I feel that I'm asset to the teams I'm with.

Still, I love the game (particularly the MSQ) regardless of this - and it is disappointing that, judging by some of the comments made in this thread, the answer to the fact that I don't meet the unwritten 'acceptable standard' rule is that I should just quit the game.

Heres my question: Did you ever look up a guide for any of the jobs that you play or any of the fights you struggle with?

[Carin-Eri]

Heres my question: Did you ever look up a guide for any of the jobs that you play or any of the fights you struggle with?

Yes. Very much so.

However, reading guides - some of which actually come across as making it all sound overly complicated - (and watching Youtube examples) doesn't necessarily translate to actually playing the game. I, personally, don't find it easy to remember everything outlined in a guide and I don't play on the level of someone good enough to post a guide video on Youtube.

I've, more or less, gotten to grips with RDM. I still don't really understand Bard - the Songs are confusing and I rarely seem to be able to get Blast Arrow to proc. Aside from dabbling in trying Summoner I haven't really played any other job as have generally put effort into being at least competent at the ones I've already played.

[ZedxKayn]

No.

Any video game player base isn't some static thing that gains knowledge after X hours of play or X number of levels.

It gets a bit old explaining infinite cycles to people, but all I can suggest is to think deeply on this: For every expert player that retires from this game, you have one that joins with zero MMO experience. Therefore the player base is constantly morphing into something different. Always.

My dude, modern basketball has been around since something like 1890. Does that mean if you head down to the park right now, all the guys on the court should be pros? Does it even mean that the 30-year-old guy that's been shooting mediocre hoops since he was nine should be any better?

No one can assume with any degree of accuracy how another, random person will perform at any chosen sport, including video games. Not at first glance. You do some research on the person, then maybe. But not at first glance.

But the pros and the guys shooting mediocre hoops aren't being forced to play together or against each other. The woes regarding expectations in this game come largely because better players are being made to do relatively heavy lifting even if they don't want to. In XIV or in basketball, a noticeable discrepancy in skill resulting in a stomp or carrying doesn't make for a truly satisfying experience for anyone involved.

[Wolwosh]

I remember tanking Sastasha in 2013.
1st dungeon Tanking and even said so and I was bad..
My group was so mean to me, so I learned to get good real fast xD
I'm not even looking at how people play anymore..
If I do I would be annoyed constantly, like why is that WHM Glaring when the Tank pulled 10 mobs etc

[VictorSpoils]

I remember tanking Sastasha in 2013.
1st dungeon Tanking and even said so and I was bad..
My group was so mean to me, so I learned to get good real fast xD
I'm not even looking at how people play anymore..
If I do I would be annoyed constantly, like why is that WHM Glaring when the Tank pulled 10 mobs etc

It helps to turn off party battle effects so you can just focus on yourself and enemies.

[Kuroka]

Yes... just no, after a lv 60, youre no longer a new player. I expect at least SOME basic idea of the game, to not stand in the huge orange area, to maybe follow the other 7 or 7 ppl if they run somewhere, to know stacks, aoe markers... if you dont have any rough idea about the design language of this game after lv 70-80, no one can help you...

Idc how well you play your job as long as you got a rough idea and try and dont wear 20 levels too low gear, idm having to explain actually new stuff or stuff that just happens fast, but some stuff... *sigh*


Just earlier i did a tamtara hard run, 3 others, premade, i asked if all knew the bosses as there was no cutscene or new player warning... no answer, ok... ... ...ofc we wiped on the first boss. So i explained, we clear and carry on.... as we hit the 2nd i explain again only to get a "we already tell him on discord" ...yeah, worked great on the first where all of you were killing adds...


And learn resistant players... when you hit ice/pyretic and ppl still trigger it EVERY time, despite being told, having others do it right AND gettin the consequences for their fail... Or players standing next to tanks, dying on aoe tankbusters...


Theres also a thread at the german forum where someone cant clear the lv 50 msq, the new cape westwind lol

[Themarvin]

You don't get good in your first couple of weeks or first few months playing.

You need to have patience, it is a feature that is difficult to master, patience.

Patience is by far most difficult skill in this game.

[Aurikai]

Your assumption is people actually progress through relevant level dungeons as they level, which is most often not the case, it's entirely possible to level in mostly low level content where you won't use a majority of your tool kit. That's the fault of the game for trying to have low queue times.

[Seera1024]

Your assumption is people actually progress through relevant level dungeons as they level, which is most often not the case, it's entirely possible to level in mostly low level content where you won't use a majority of your tool kit. That's the fault of the game for trying to have low queue times.

Yea, I've got bad tankxiety so I've been leveling my tank in Duty Support. I picked Gunbreaker, but there's no trusts between levels 60 and 71 so I've been doing the level 50 cap dungeons to level. It's been great as I've been getting tomestones to buy the level 70 gear. I have, however, been using my mitigation during trash and the Duty Support AI can heal W2W pulls there. Hopefully Urianger, G'raha Tia, and Alphinaud will be able to do the same when I get to the Trust dungeons.