Redo FFXIV: Remove the dance, introduce RNG encounters

[Ivtrix]

I think that all this would do is push more people to use cactbot LOL

[Saraide]

I think that all this would do is push more people to use cactbot LOL

In content like alliance raids? Idk about that one but if it makes my roulettes smoother then by all means.

[Hurlstone]

Na, i'm all for adding abit more variety to battles, but I like the dance.

[Amnmaat]

Na, i'm all for adding abit more variety to battles, but I like the dance.

Thank you for this reply. I would like to learn why you (and others) like the dance in non-extreme, non-savage, non-ultimate content?

[Shurrikhan]

Thank you for this reply. I would like to learn why you (and others) like the dance in non-extreme, non-savage, non-ultimate content?

Your OP does not, at time of writing this post, specify those boundaries; your wording goes slightly out of its way, even, to imply that your example was arbitrary, rather than being applied solely to the past-levelcaps / Alliance Raids from which you drew that example.

If you want feedback on your idea as if you had planned its implementation to exclude Ultimate, Savage, and Extreme content, you may want to note that you do not want to use this on Ultimates, Savages, or Extremes.

[Amnmaat]

Your OP does not specify those boundaries; your wording goes slightly out of its way, even, to imply that your example was arbitrary, rather than being applied solely to the past-levelcaps / Alliance Raids from which you drew that example.

People need to read beyond the OP, as I replied to valkyrie, I was talking about regular casual content like crystal tower. If cbu3 is too apprehensive to go back and introduce this programming script to past non-High level content then they could introduce it with dawntrail content.

[Shurrikhan]

People need to read beyond the OP, as I replied to valkyrie, I was talking about regular casual content like crystal tower. If cbu3 is too apprehensive to go back and introduce this programming script to past non-High level content then they could introduce it with dawntrail content.

Mate, people are not obliged to read through your every further reply across the whole thread just to glean details that you, having forgotten to include them earlier, could have taken 10 seconds to edit into the OP.



Now, as for why people like "the dance":

It's because, especially in terms of positioning, the dance is the actual player-felt mechanic, rather than the individual mechanics themselves.

Consider, for instance, DRG positionals. Ostensibly, it has the highest portion of positions of any melee, with 5 positionals for every 10 GCDs. In practice, though, unless the boss is very frequently turning, its repositioning requirements are perfectly average, at just 2 times it actually needs to move per 25 seconds, as compared to SAM's twice per 18s. Similarly, Ninja only needs to use its Flank attack once per roughly 15 GCDs, but if the boss is moving a ton, just chaining in an Aeolian every 3rd GCD between those Armor Crushes may still require a lot of repositioning. It's not where you to be so much has the movement required to get there.

Mechanics work similarly. If mechanic A requires you to be at position A and mechanic B requires you to be at position B, the player experience is effectively just in moving in timely fashion from A to B, complete with banking mobility tools to be ready for over that period, knowing when you can first move and by when you must arrive, etc., etc.

Rather than feeling mechanic A or B in itself, we tend to feel the transition, wherein A->B is effectively just Dance Step [1]. And most good fights have what feel like interesting, well-paced (not too lenient, but too tight) transitions. Make them entirely random without any modicum of bridging conditionality and you lose that, leaving you with just the quality of transitions seen on fights typically not considered at well-designed.

You can do randomization, and a degree of it --if well-situated-- can often help make fights more interesting, but you can't pull it off by JUST throwing randomization into the mix without regard for how those mechanics would sync up.