How do you define (meaningful) choice?

[Mortex]

You can arguably claim that there was some skill gap there, even if it was overwhelmed by "ping/packet_loss gap", but... there was no more "choice" of whether to use Cleric Stance than was already had in the choice between using Glare and using Cure II.

It just let you choose which part of your kit you were allowed access to. It's the still the same kit; it is not enlarged by locking it out, nor are its nuances deepened through a mere single extra GCD of locking out a given tool's opposite part of the kit.

Apply that to any other role. You want to switch from a combo opener to a sequential/RNG-procced action? Gotta hit your Infantry Stance. True Thrust, Infantry Stance, Disembowel, Chaos Thrust, Release Infantry Stance, Wheeling Thrust, Infantry Stance, Fang and Claw, Raiden Thrust, Vorpal Thrust, Full Thrust, Release Infantry Stance, Fang and Claw, Infantry Stance, Wheeling Thrust.

Stormbite, Caustic, Infantry Stance, Refulgent Arrow, Barrage-Refulgent Arrow, Release Infantry Stance, Burst Shot, Infantry Stance, Refulgent Arrow.

Fail to make those swaps, and you lose the vast majority of your output.

Skill gap there? Sure. But choice? None. And you could have that exact same degree of skill gap, or more, by... being expected to type in a specified 4-digit code between each GCD, to note whether it's an odd GCD or even GCD, etc., etc.. It's bloat.


Yes, it's so bad that we... must add several 0s to our choice and significant clunk to our gameplay? Surely that'll fix it??

No "it's bad, so let's throw fecal matter at it," does not work.


None of which has to do with Cleric Stance, nor would be helped or complimented by Cleric Stance. By all means, let's bring back some of that degree of danger... but there's no reason to ask for clunk back.

:: That said, tanks are just 1 in 4 players. Given the increased prevalence of body-checks, it's not as if the rest are increasingly getting a free ride or seeing no consequence for their failure.

I mean you were still allowed to use healing spells in cleric as same as you can use combos without the step beforehand and I argue that you don’t have any choices either in any job in that regard except how much resources you take into a burst windows. Like a drg never using fang and claw or wheeling trust will never get raiden trust so I assume you could call these two attacks the raiden stance. Also body checks were always there they just became more (grand cross doing more dmg the less people you had or forsake having a set amount off mechs you need people for, biblio mech on o7 with light parties and etc).

Like you can do almost any content with just 1-1-1-1 combos so I assume every combo is just bloat. Because why press more when you can do it easy. When the most meaningful choice in this kind of content is how fast I’m through then i think the entire game in that regard is flawed.