XIV EW Job-Gameplay is Terrible... Why?

[Valence]

I see this sentiment thrown out a lot, but yes, the general idea is supposed to be that maintaining the correct rotation while focusing on Extreme/Savage/Ultimate mechanics is a skill. If someone is capable of pressing their buttons perfectly even while they're being overwhelmed by unfamiliar mechanics they're just seeing for the first time and/or progging, that should indicate a level of muscle memory/job mastery that can only be attributed to player skill. Now, in Endwalker the focus has definitely shifted away from job complexity into mechanics dancing, so people take the combo gameplay for granted because of how easy it is to execute. But you can probably imagine a world (maybe in previous expansions, even!) where combos are more involved, or the rotation is harder with a heavy focus on oGCD management, or you have more individual responsibilities to juggle on your job (TP and MP management say hello) and more easily picture how even a 1-2-3 combo provides value in creating difficulty that allows for player skill to be expressed. At the end of the day, as minuscule as it is, even a 1-2-3 combo creates more of a skill floor and fail state than mindlessly pressing 1-1-1 over and over.

To tie this in to the topic of the thread, it's been a massive failing on Endwalker's part to shift all of the intricacies of combat into the mechanics dancing while leaving the players with nothing interesting to do. A lot of jobs can basically sleep through the majority of their rotation, because if it's not the burst window, you can bet they're doing bland 1-2-3 filler with maybe an occasional oGCD to dump gauge when at risk of overcapping. And that leads to the sentiment we have now, that "1-2-3 combos are so boring and bland and skill-less, we're better off making them into auto-combos!". Did people forget that healers have been tearing their hair out since Stormblood ended because they've been reduced to 1-1-1-1 gameplay for two entire expansions now? The solution is to move in the opposite direction: make jobs more involved and developed, give them more things to do, and the focus will be alleviated from the extremely barebones 1-2-3 combo gameplay we have going for us right now. Give players a skill ceiling that takes real time and effort to achieve, something to strive for, and people will actually want to engage with the gameplay to earn that mastery — that's hundreds of hours of content right there that EW is severely lacking because of how simplified the core gameplay has become.

I only stated that there is very little difference between 1-1-1 and 1-2-3. If people feel differently, then it's their right to do so, after all it's subjective. To me in the grander scheme of things it's tomato and tomato. If we were talking about branching or proccing combos though, I'd be more inclined to agree, because it suddenly brings options and choice.

On healers, they have been tearing their hair out because they've lost dots and attack options, not because they've lost a 1-2-3 combo... I don't even know why you're making that comparison, it doesn't make any logical sense. Healers have literally nothing to do with combos at all because healers have never had any combo to begin with. Their intricacies lied elsewhere (dots mostly, energy drain, and cleric stance in HW if we want to be pedantic about it). But if the only basis for comparison is spamming 1-1-1, then I guess it's a difference of perception because to me it's not very different from spamming 1-2-3.

I am however utterly confused why you keep hammering to me that job should be made more intricate because it's literally what I've been defending alongside everybody here since the start. Maybe you haven't read the whole thread, but I truly do. I just don't think that basic 1-2-3 combos bring anything of value in that direction though, and I actually find them harmful to it all. If they had kept all branching combos and proccing combos on half the jobs that lost them however, I wouldn't be making any criticism against them, and I wouldn't be pushing for a combo compression to make more room for other interesting abilities, but alas, that's where we are right now. They could also bring back the branches and procs though (at the cost of hotbar space), I wouldn't mind either.

YEah you're either a troll or missing the point.

It's why the 2 min meta was bought up, it's why Savage was bought up. Healers are the exact reason why combo consolidation would never work and why the 2 min meta is INTRINSIC to this dicussion. Prior to it's existence, in ShB and SB, we had multiple burst windows to break up only pressing 1-2-3. And because of that It was and still is a skill so many have mastered to do while in content.

Sadly jobs like BRD, MCH and what not have been dumbed down to being near where healers are and healers are BEGGING to have better kits. It's why I said that the current state of the combo system is a symptom of the 2 min meta, the combo system is fine, the game needs to be better.

Like you honestly can't talk about the state of combat without the 2 min meta being bought up.

As said above, healers have nothing to do with any of this as they do not rely on combos and have never done. Healers are another problem, and I have trouble understanding how you can even attempt to make such a comparison. It holds no logical sense whatsoever.

Can't say I agree with you on the difficulty or skill of pressing 1-2-3 with different burst metas anyway. 60s is still insanely long and imo you're just being extra disingenuous with this argument. I don't see what combos have to do with a different burst meta. And actually, I can talk of the state of combat without bringing up the 2min meta, because not everything revolves around it by far. People make a big fuss about it, but it's one the lesser issues of the whole battle system. I don't like it more than you do, but you're literally being obsessed by the tip of the iceberg at best.

I do not however disagree with the fact that rphys has been dumbed down to ridiculous levels, especially MCH, and by the way, MCH was already butchered to a basic 1-2-3 combo in ShB, and it was still as unskillful and bland as it is today in EW to play, no matter the burst meta.