Option to reduce ( but not remove entirely) player effects

[IDontPetLalas]

Doesn't help with the constant flashbangs, though.

That brought back some PTSD from Red Mage LB from DR runs....

[TheMightyMollusk]

That brought back some PTSD from Red Mage LB from DR runs....

Sure, but RDM can only do it once a fight. Summoners do it every thirty seconds or so. And multiple summoners can all do it repeatedly.

[Renathras]

I'd like something between the current "All" and "Limited."

"All" typically hides the boss behind a shower of constant sparkles and explosions. "Limited" makes your party members look like they're wildly swinging their arms for no reason.

There must be a middle ground. For lack of a better reference, I'll use how things look when fighting Engels in Copied Factory.

Concur. This is the problem, there's no middle ground. "there's no chill", so to speak.

Show all: The SGE next to me is shooting massive lasers.
Show limited: The SGE next to me is flailing their arms and doing the physical MOTIONS of shooting massive lasers, but not shooting any massive lasers.
Show none: The SGE next to me is flailing their arms and doing the physical MOTIONS of shooting massive lasers, but not shooting any massive lasers.

Show all: The WHM next to me is shooting massive holy explosions and having huge glowy bubbles of healing.
Show limited: The WHM next to me is flailing their arms and doing the physical MOTIONS of shooting massive holy explosions, but not shooting any massive holy explosions; but still having huge glowy bubbles of healing.
Show none: The WHM next to me is flailing their arms and doing the physical MOTIONS of shooting massive holy explosions, but not shooting any massive holy explosions; and the huge bubbles of healing are invisible so I can't tell at a glance if I'm in them or not.

There needs to be some option between all and limited where you still see spell effects, but at a reduced level of...presence?

Limited doesn't show general spell effects. It only shows things like party buffs/effects such as Passage of Arms or Sacred Soil (stuff you want to know to move into), but doesn't show the players doing anything else, so it still looks like none as far as the other players flailing around doing nothing.

I'm not sure how to do this other than making the effects smaller or less bright (filter?) or something. Some solution like using the lowest ranks of the spells could work in cases like Dosis, but less so in cases like Holy. So I'm not sure the answer other than that there needs to be something between all and limited.

[Renathras]

...

I kind of agree.

For me, it's when doing something like the final boss of the 24 man, I CANNOT SEE the arms/circle thing before the three charges unless I have spell effects off. If I have them off (or have only mine showing), I can see them clear as day. I do agree it's partly how attacks are telegraphed. I remember the first time trying to do Savages being like "Wait, so you have to look at the boss?" "Yeah, when Eric has his arm up, you can see these three gems, and..." "Wait, you can see his arm?!" It was the weirdest thing since I was used to encounters...not doing that. In Extremes, there were a few that did, but usually the attack tell was the name (a lot of ShB Extremes had like in/out mechanics with different names), or the boss would do something noticeable, like Titania. When she does the in/out runes, people would talk about a purple or green glow. I couldn't see those OVER THE VISUAL SOUND OF HOW AWESOME EVERYONE'S SPELLS WERE...but I COULD see her wings, and that's the tell I used. Her wings either floof out and she rises or they bunch in and she slightly crouches. And her wings stuck out far enough I could usually see them sticking out of the mass of spell effect lightshow.

Now, "look at the boss" has become a thing in even normal content - which is kind of annoying for this reason - so I've taken to turning my spell effects to self only and party limited. Now I can see the boss tells fine and they're super easy!...but now the immersion is garbage since the SGE, BLM, etc next to me looks like a total impotent moron flailing about and doing nothing.

I really wish there was some happy medium OR we could go back to boss tells being away from their body and obvious enough by either visual or name that even with spell effects on, you can work it out. As things used to be.

Is mean the big summoned creatures? Mao has much troubles with thems. Mao view blocked muchly.

/petsize all small

Try that, it really helps. Not with the explosion on the boss (that's the spell effect), but you don't have Titan's glorious arse filling your ENTIRE camera. If you want Titans' glorious arse filling your entire camera, though, you'd want /petsize all large.

I see TONS of comments like this one in many MMO communities, lol.
Am I the only person whose 1st hour in every game is thoroughly checking out the available settings?

To be fair, that one's hidden in an odd place. Who'd think under "general -> character" you'd find visual spell settings? Not under visuals or display or hud or party. It's not in a really logical place.

And comments like that are what people should remember - while things may seem obvious to people who have been around for a while, not only are they not necessarily so to new people, they may not be so to older people as well.