New Healer Job Request

[vetch]

Disabled person to other disabled person: "Hey I've developed a few macros that can make it easier to play the game without damaging your hands, the only hands you'll ever have, that you need to preserve as long as you can because it's incredibly difficult to interact with the world when you don't have them."

Raiders: "Be careful, you'll lose 10% of your DPS uptime (on a healer job)!"

It's a question of priorities. Disabled people don't always have hundreds of extra bucks to drop on peripherals to fix something that should have been fixed by the billion-dollar corporation before the game shipped.

If you feel so strongly about disabled people having access to that missing 10%, get on CBU3's case every time they use 'accessibility' as shorthand for 'we made this shit so incredibly easy you guys' instead of respecting its actual meaning: functional accommodations for disabled people. Like, just as an example, a working macro system would be a great disability accommodation.

[IDontPetLalas]

Disabled person to other disabled person: "Hey I've developed a few macros that can make it easier to play the game without damaging your hands, the only hands you'll ever have, that you need to preserve as long as you can because it's incredibly difficult to interact with the world when you don't have them."

Raiders: "Be careful, you'll lose 10% of your DPS uptime (on a healer job)!"

It's a question of priorities. Disabled people don't always have hundreds of extra bucks to drop on peripherals to fix something that should have been fixed by the billion-dollar corporation before the game shipped.

If you feel so strongly about disabled people having access to that missing 10%, get on CBU3's case every time they use 'accessibility' as shorthand for 'we made this shit so incredibly easy you guys' instead of respecting its actual meaning: functional accommodations for disabled people. Like, just as an example, a working macro system would be a great disability accommodation.

I don't know if you have some specific dislike for raiders, but it seems you either aren't aware of or skipped over the affect on other abilities i.e healing that were mentioned..

There are ways to accommodate various disabilities without the use of macros, I don't know perhaps SE may improve the current system one day by streamlining it - similar to the PVP rework. Who knows - better to ask them in their suggestion forum.

[LilimoLimomo]

If I remember, I'll do some tests tonight and report back the results!

Alright, I did some tests tonight! Even got some footage of them that I can upload to a YouTube channel as soon as I figure out how to make one for it. Some of what I said was accurate, but I also learned some things I didn't know!

First, so you understand my methodology, I tested using two macros on my level 90 BLM with 1196 Spell Speed (2.36 recast):

/macroicon "Blizzard"
/macroerror off
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"
/ac "Blizzard"

and

/macroicon "Scathe"
/macroerror off
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"
/ac "Scathe"

Now, for the results:

First, there is one transparent benefit of not using macros: increased action queue time.

So for example, if I want to cast two consecutive Scathe attacks, my second Scathe will be queued up if I press the standard Scathe button when my GCD cooldown is just over 3/4 complete; when the GCD cooldown completes at 4/4, the second Scathe will immediately be cast. However, if I press my Scathe macro at 3/4 GCD cooldown, the action will not be queued. For the Scathe macro, the earliest I could queue it was at roughly 7/8 of the GCD cooldown. So in this case, the non-macro button had roughly twice as much of a queue window.

I also discovered that the queue window differed — for both macros and non-macros — depending on what kind of action was previously cast. Specifically, the queue window becomes shorter whenever the preceding action has a cast bar; this is presumably because you aren't just waiting for the GCD to return, but you are waiting for the previous action to be cast. I'm guessing this is just animation lock, although there's a part of me that wonders if it may be something else because this effect also differed depending on whether or not a macro was used.

So for example, if I want to cast two consecutive Blizzard attacks, my second Blizzard will be queued up if I press the standard Blizzard button when my cast bar has roughly 0.3 seconds remaining; then when the cast finishes, the second Blizzard will start charging. However, if I press my Blizzard macro at 0.3 cooldown, the action will not be queued. For the Blizzard macro, the earliest I could queue it was around 0.1 seconds of the cast remaining.

So to summarize this section, I'd recommend trying macros as they still allow actions to be queued, but if the amount of queue window you're getting from them is below what you need to feel comfortable and/or effective, know that using a non-macro will result in at least double the queue window!

Next, I did a test to determine whether macros actually resulted in lost GCD's. Earlier in the day I had seen the video that the Balance Discord links to in order to demonstrate that your GCD can slip when using macros: https://youtu.be/VgpUCgExvbA

When I initially watched that video, I was skeptical. I noticed how the player seemed to be mashing the macros, which you should never do, as pressing the macro again resets rather than letting it finished. So that was one red flag. And while the video didn't show the macro being used — which is vital to the methodology of the experiment — my best guess was that the macro being used probably looked like this:

/macroicon "Glare"
/macroerror off
/ac "Glare"

...because if it only had a single line of Glare, that would explain why the player felt the need to mash the button. If that was true, it would mean the macro wasn't doing much, if any, queuing, which might explain why the GCD was slipping.

However, even with those suspicions, I'll be honest: after my unexpected discovery that macros had shorter queue windows than non-macros, I was worried that my own results might mirror those in the video. So I was a bit surprised when I found out that no, my macros were not resulting in any GCD loss!

My methodology was as follows: I went to the level 90 Stone Sky Sea and started The Final Day (normal). Then I cast Blizzard repeatedly until 1 minute had passed on the timer. Afterwards, I saved a video of the attempts and manually counted the number of Blizzard spells that hit the target before the timer had been reduced from 3:00 to 2:00.

The only difference between my two tests was:

• For the non-macro Blizzard test, I took full advantage of the larger queue window in an effort to ensure no slippage between casts. I aimed to press the button again at roughly 0.25 seconds remaining of each cast.

• For the macro Blizzard test, I needed to press the button later because of the smaller queue window, so I pressed it at the time I am used to pressing the button when playing a caster: a split-second before the cast bar fills (kind of like a rhythm game).

To my surprise, both tests resulted in 25 casts.

However, what was even more surprising was that the non-macro test's final Blizzard hit with 0 seconds to spare, while the macro test's final Blizzard hit with 1 second to spare. Somehow, the slippage actually occurred on the non-macro side. I have absolutely no explanation for this, because in theory, the best case scenario seems like it should have been equal. Perhaps this suggests that some other mechanic is happening that none of us are aware of?

If I hadn't done it myself, I'd be very skeptical of what I was reading here. Which is another reason why I'll be uploading my videos as soon as I'm able to, so that anyone who's interested can check my work. If there were flaws in the test, I hope someone can point them out! And if there aren't, then I hope to find a way to spread this knowledge to the rest of the community. But before any of that can happen, we'll need some peer review!

Anyway, that's my update for today. If this topic interests you, I hope you'll take a look at my videos when I find a way to upload them to verify what I've written here!

[FuzzyJCats]

Microsoft has an adaptive controller you could try. When I looked last it was like 200 bucks but it has come down a lot.

Yes yes, I have the MSFT elite controller v2 - best ergonomic controller in the world, but you MUST buy it at Best Buy for the 2-year warranty, it tends to break less than 1 yr and I'm pretty gentle with controller.

I think the above issues with macros PROVE that we need something very simple like the healer job I'm recommending - I'm just not good at the game and YoshiP should consider those with visual, physical disabilities with slow reflexes (not all of us are teenaged boys who have catlike reflexes) by implementing something that doesn't have button bloat, easy to remember combos, no oGCDs (the GCDs potency will have to be higher to compensate).

[FuzzyJCats]

Lilimo, interesting! It makes sense then to make all GCDs macros like the above, but I think the problem may be when you try to combo 2 actions in 1 macro? Again, all of this can be done away with if SqEnix implements my proposal ofc (I intentionally made it OP). Joking aside, I hope this post will open the developer's eyes to challenges that people with disabilities, like me, have.

That being said, the community is really kind, I only need to say I have slow reflexes as I die the 100th time in a Nier raid, and they STILL rez me, even though their MP/dps/healing spells can otherwise be used more effectively. Even so, it feels awful to feel like you're holding back progress.

[FuzzyJCats]

Alright, I did some tests tonight! Even got some footage of them that I can upload to a YouTube channel as soon as I figure out how to make one for it.

Anyway, that's my update for today. If this topic interests you, I hope you'll take a look at my videos when I find a way to upload them to verify what I've written here!

I would LOVE to watch your video, let me know when you post it on YT!

[FuzzyJCats]

Just wanted to say that combat macros like your healing and damage one are generally not recommended, FFXIV doesn't handle them very well it will typically introduce small delays in skill execution, which over time can add up, that you wouldn't have it you executed them manually (or even worse it won't fire if there is a lag spike).

if someone has a specific issue in targeting there are ways to change your UI with a macro so that cards are easily applied in the party list (probably what Fuzzy is referring to, if so that really helps), and there are also ways to easily set up/define your focus target.

Yes I do use the macro/icons 1 through 8 so I just press then number to target. It works really well!

[Renathras]

Yes yes, I have the MSFT elite controller v2 - best ergonomic controller in the world, but you MUST buy it at Best Buy for the 2-year warranty, it tends to break less than 1 yr and I'm pretty gentle with controller.

I think the above issues with macros PROVE that we need something very simple like the healer job I'm recommending - I'm just not good at the game and YoshiP should consider those with visual, physical disabilities with slow reflexes (not all of us are teenaged boys who have catlike reflexes) by implementing something that doesn't have button bloat, easy to remember combos, no oGCDs (the GCDs potency will have to be higher to compensate).

Hm, I'm kind of curious. A lot of people play WHM because it has a low APM and pretty gradual pace and easy to understand kit. You said you like AST a lot, I take it you dislike WHM or have tried it and found that it has some complications that don't suit your needs?

If you haven't, I'd suggest trying it out since the low APM, low need to target people (you can use Medica 2 and Afflatus Rapture to heal people since WHM's heals are strong and direct), and pretty flexible kit might suit you if you've never given it a shot. WHM is very GCD based. Where the others have single and AOE oGCDs, WHM has Solace and Rapture which are GCDs that work the same way (since the "refund" their damage via Misery). It has Tetra and Benison if you need them, but you can also just brute force your healing with a lot of GCDs and the few oGCDs you use a lot like Assize just do "free" healing.

Not saying to swap or anything, everyone likes what they like, but one thing I do like about WHM is it has a more easy-going pace. I think the only Jobs with lower APM are like BLM (sorta tied with it), SGE, and WAR. Here's a thread with the OP showing average "casts per minute" (same thing as "actions per minute"). The way to think about it is "higher number means more busy/more need to press buttons at a fast-ish pace:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...minute_by_job/

Job CPM Min Max
NIN 47.9 47.1(8th) 49.2(1st)
MCH 47.0 46.3(4th) 48.2(1st)
BRD 45.0 44.7(2nd,5th) 45.9(10th)
GNB 44.1 42.9(9th) 45.5(2nd)
SAM 42.7 41.8(1st) 43.8(4th)
DRG 42.5 41.9(5th) 43.1(10th)
MNK 41.9 40.2(6th) 43.3(5th)
AST 41.5 39.3(7th) 43.5(2nd)
DRK 41.2 39.8(9th) 44.3(7th)
DNC 39.5 37.8(5th) 42.4(4th)
RDM 38.2 37.4(6th) 39.1(3rd)
RPR 37.6 36.8(3rd,6th) 38.4(2nd)
SMN 37.5 37.0(9th) 38.0(2nd)
SCH 37.2 36.0(7th) 38.4(5th,6th)
PLD 35.7 35.1(10th) 36.6(4th)
WAR 35.3 34.9(2nd,4th) 36.0(3rd,9th)
SGE 34.3 32.2(4th) 35.9(10th)
BLM 33.3 31.9(3rd) 35.2(8th)
WHM 33.0 31.8(5th,8th) 34.9(2nd)

.

EDIT: Note there's a table there, so it's easier to read on reddit.

Also note this was 6.2, so before the PLD change and some random other things, but this is still going to be largely true.

It also doesn't speak to how EASY a Job is (BLM being near the bottom), just how easy-going the pace/cadence of how fast you need to press buttons is.

[LilimoLimomo]

Lilimo, interesting! It makes sense then to make all GCDs macros like the above, but I think the problem may be when you try to combo 2 actions in 1 macro?

I tried to make what I wrote here a bit more succinct and summarized it in a new thread that I hope will change the way the community thinks about macros; I also put links to my videos there if you're still interested: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...44#post6333744

To answer your question, if you simply use multiple actions in a macro, that won't innately cause an issue; thanks to you asking about that I did a test about it and wrote about it in my big post.

However, if you are using the /wait command, there's the chance that it could cause a delay, because /wait commands always take at minimum 1 second. So if waiting a full second between 2 actions would result in a loss, then that's something to be aware of. But there are also times where it's fine to do that, like if you have an instant-cast GCD and want it to always automatically be followed up with a weaved oGCD. A macro like that will probably prevent the possibility of a double-weave, but if you don't need to do a double-weave then nothing of value is lost.

Thanks for helping inspire me to do this!

[FuzzyJCats]

I tried to make what I wrote here a bit more succinct and summarized it in a new thread that I hope will change the way the community thinks about macros; I also put links to my videos there if you're still interested: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...44#post6333744

To answer your question, if you simply use multiple actions in a macro, that won't innately cause an issue; thanks to you asking about that I did a test about it and wrote about it in my big post.

However, if you are using the /wait command, there's the chance that it could cause a delay, because /wait commands always take at minimum 1 second. So if waiting a full second between 2 actions would result in a loss, then that's something to be aware of. But there are also times where it's fine to do that, like if you have an instant-cast GCD and want it to always automatically be followed up with a weaved oGCD. A macro like that will probably prevent the possibility of a double-weave, but if you don't need to do a double-weave then nothing of value is lost.

Thanks for helping inspire me to do this!

Thank you will definitely read your post Lilimo!