Please focus on giving console players more hotbar space, instead of removing actions

[CaedemSanguis]

I dont think that the issue is the amount of buttons in your rotation, it’s how each button works

WoW has classes with 5-10 core rotation buttons, and they feel much more fun than FF14’s 30 buttons rotation

[Sesera]

16 buttons per hotbar
3 easily accessed hotbars
that's 48 skill you can use easily
You don't need more than 48 skills

[Reimmi]

Rather we have less buttons for damage and more utility stuff + reasons to use them in fights personally

[CaedemSanguis]

There's no need for more buttons

WoW have a 3rd of FF14 buttons and rotations are harder

Viper has less buttons than DRG, he's harder than DRG

[angienessyo]

There's no need for more buttons

WoW have a 3rd of FF14 buttons and rotations are harder

Viper has less buttons than DRG, he's harder than DRG

Agreed. While there are classes/specs in WoW that have like, a billion buttons, that doesn't necessarily make them hard or fun, just busy. (and one of the worst offenders, Brewmaster monk, is getting a much needed reduction in button bloat) Arcane mage as far as I know is considered one of the hardest specs to play and it's not all that many buttons. Probably a similar button count to a lot of dps jobs in FF14. Havoc demon hunter is very few buttons, has a very simple rotation but playing it well can be challenging because all its difficulty is rolled up into how well you can position your character/use your movement tools to do optimal dps without dying. I mostly play fury warrior which is basically a 2-3 button rotation that's super easy but fun because it's an extremely high APM spec.

[Sjol]

There are 32 reasonably accessible non-meta keys with the left hand on all QWERTY keyboards. Some keyboards have additional access but have you reaching into the right-hand area.

However:

Some of those aren't really usable for actions: ESC, CAPS, TAB (3)
Some are needed for targeting: F1-F6 (6)
Some are needed for movement: WASD, SPACE (5)

Leaving us with: ~, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Q, E, R, T, F, G, Z, X, C, V, B (18)

You need a certain number of actions for non-combat things: mounting, etc. This is up to the player.

It's also inaccessible to force more than two buttons to be pressed with a single hand at the same time. You might be able to do it, but not everyone can, comfortably.

That leaves us with 18 unmodified and 18 modified buttons, for a total of 36 for everything. If you reserve just 4 for non-combat purposes, that leaves you with a cap of 32 actions.

That said, I don't think you really need 32 buttons to make a meaningful rotation based on playing other MMOs and even PvP in this one. We do have some jobs that push right up to that limit, and I think a couple that push past it. Honestly, I would like to see a hard cap of 32 actions per job, if not a little bit lower.

I do think that if SE got rid of the role actions and replaced them with individual job actions, they could free up a lot of button and design space as well as separate the jobs more in terms of design space.

[CNitsah]

Leaving us with: ~, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Q, E, R, T, F, G, Z, X, C, V, B (18)

Everyone does not have pianist hands. I can't get to 6 if I still need my basic position is wasd(qwerty)/zqsd (azerty). There is a reason why basic left index position is F and you use your right hand to type 7 in 10 fingers typing (which is comparatively to the same distance as 6 with your index on D). With your right index on D instead of F the keys 6, T, G and B are too far to be easily used for a lot of people, especially when your index basic position is W/Z instead of S (that meakes even V hard to reach without losing your base hand position).

I would also add that only the numbers are useful for skills, since you can't really remap your keys every time you change job (or I just didn't search enough, in that case forget this part of the comment). You can't use most your list for ability. Basically, from those 18 button you pretend are usable, you can only use 6 for actual skills.

[Sjol]

Everyone does not have pianist hands. I can't get to 6 if I still need my basic position is wasd(qwerty)/zqsd (azerty). There is a reason why basic left index position is F and you use your right hand to type 7 in 10 fingers typing (which is comparatively to the same distance as 6 with your index on D). With your right index on D instead of F the keys 6, T, G and B are too far to be easily used for a lot of people, especially when your index basic position is W/Z instead of S (that meakes even V hard to reach without losing your base hand position).

I would also add that only the numbers are useful for skills, since you can't really remap your keys every time you change job (or I just didn't search enough, in that case forget this part of the comment). You can't use most your list for ability. Basically, from those 18 button you pretend are usable, you can only use 6 for actual skills.

Oh, I hear you. I have to move my hand out of position to even hit the '6' key. My point is that's the extreme and it only really leaves us with 36 max for the extreme. So, people asking for more than that are basically forcing you into contortionism.

I would like to see it more like 24 or less. I think proc-based gameplay is a lot more engaging, personally. I'm firmly in the more keys does not equal more skill.

[1313]

Any more than 32 buttons is pretty much unplayable, on controller, no thank you.

[Graveyardprincess]

Any more than 32 buttons is pretty much unplayable, on controller, no thank you.

get good then, on controller i can use 25 emotes +all my abilitys and joking around at the same time with no delay lol