Spell Animations

[Mug]

Oh come on. For people outside alpha there's very little to talk about at the moment. Of course topics like this with so-called nitpicking will arise. You might not like or agree with it, but everyone should be allowed to express their opinion without being sweared at or called whiners (aka the most overused word on this forum).

[Gramul]

Is it the same swatting at invisible bees animation I saw earlier?

[NoctisXZ]

First of all I just wanted to say to those of you who have a problem with this thread.. it's that kind of behavior that'll lead to the games eventual demise if that's the attitude that's going to be taken. Seeing my post as knit-picking or whining just for the sake of whining when it's actually a legitimate complaint is frankly stupid. If you don't have anything constructive to say you should stay out of the conversation.

This is 2012.. not 1999.. spell casting animations should at least be somewhat varied. Taking the same stance to cast a spell over and over again is outdated, but hey.. that's just my opinion. When someone casts Fire, Aero, Blizzard, Thunder.. etc.. do you really find it that appealing for a game in this day and age to go through the same exact animation? I never really dug magic in 1.0 but as someone has already brought up.. it's especially worse if it's the same casting animation across all genders/races.

I don't have on nostalgia goggles. That kind of talk is just annoying because it gives people with nothing to say something to say just because they don't like what another person has to say. I feel as if the spell animations themselves are also a little.. meh. They're awfully fast and you have to pay close attention just to be able to notice them.. imagine what that's going to be like once you're in a group with other people. I'm not saying the spells in FFXI were amazing.. but when I went to cast Stone I was at least able to see that what I cast was Stone without having to take a magnifying glass to the screen.

If I had nothing constructive to say this would be an entirely different story.. but there is some validity to my statements.

[Bittereye]

On behalf of a very special someone, you know who you are, I thought I would bring up something that caught my eye from the latest Alpha video. Spell animations...

Now I know that what was shown was still in the Alpha phase but it doesn't hurt for me to raise some concerns about what I saw. I'm well aware that I'm not privy to certain things but consider this a just in case I'm not wrong kind of scenario.

What I first found interesting about the Conjurer casting was that when it came to both Stone and Aero the casting animation itself was the same, excluding the color of the cast. This in itself worried me slightly because it leads me to believe that most of the offensive spell casting animations are going to be the same.. except with a different color. I know it might not seem like a big deal to some but look at how weapon skills operate.. each skill used is different, casting should be the same.

It'll just seem kind of bland to me if when I go to cast spells like Aero, Fire, Blizzard, Stone.. etc all of the casting animations are exactly the same. Have a little variety when it comes to that kind of thing.. and yes. I am aware that Water had a different casting animation, but it also had an additional knock back effect..

And now onto the spells themselves. I just don't know how I feel about them.. perhaps it's just the speed of battle but they don't really seem all that appealing to me, not to say they're underwhelming. I know that they're low level spells and they aren't supposed to be showy but even if you look at other games like FFXI for example.. even they're low level spells at least were kind of catchy to watch.

I know that things can change and that perhaps the higher level spells are more appealing. But I'm going by what I've seen so far.. no need to rage and tell me to wait and see what happens.. because you know what, things will never change if everyone just waits around to see what happens. It doesn't hurt to give negative feed back as long as it's constructive.

I feel the exact same way you do as do majority of Final Fantasy fans from what I can tell; the spells and animations in ARR (Alpha) are very lack luster and do not have that punch they used to. Stone is OK but Aero and Water are forgettable. Aero looks like it doesnt even happen unless you really really look for it. I hate to bring up XI in these forums :X but those spells to me still look the best from an MMO standpoint after all these years in comparison; even the tier 1 spells. I really hope they are still at the drawing boards on the spells but my intuition says they are done with the animations.

[Wolfie]

It's also 2012, not 1999, where people expect things to be motion capped and pure CGI animations are considered inorganic, tacky, or for children's animations. The cost of doing a different mocap for each spell is exorbitant for something that only the most OCD fanboys will notice.

[NoctisXZ]

It's also 2012, not 1999, where people expect things to be motion capped and pure CGI animations are considered inorganic, tacky, or for children's animations. The cost of doing a different mocap for each spell is exorbitant for something that only the most OCD fanboys will notice.

I must thank you for the laugh you just provided me. Your excuse for the lack of varied spell casting animations is that it would cost to much? That's hilarious... it's also hilarious that you're trying to devalue my comments by not only calling me OCD but by also calling me a fanboy...

Is this something that could be considered game breaking? No.. of course not, but that doesn't change the fact that it's something that can be changed and should be changed. I can only base my thoughts on what I've seen so far.. and so far what I've seen is going to amount to a pretty bland experience when it comes to playing as a mage.

Your argument doesn't really make all that much sense to me honestly.. spells to mages are weapon skills to melee, and as we all know and have clearly seen in the newest video.. each Lancer weapon skill is varied.. he doesn't do the same stabbing motion for each skill now does he? Spell casting should be treated the same way or at least givin some variety.

And yes.. I know that these are low tier spells but when I have to look REALLY hard to be able to see what it is that I've just cast that IS a problem. And in that video it was a solo fight.. magic is going to be totally lost in party play if that's the basis for spells.

[Wolfie]

I must thank you for the laugh you just provided me. Your excuse for the lack of varied spell casting animations is that it would cost to much?

Yes. And it's a very good excuse, given that motion capture is actually exceedingly expensive both in terms of time and monetary costs. Depending on how complex your movements need to be and how many takes you go through before you're satisfied, it's going to be from a few hundred thousand dollars, stretching into the millions of dollars. High quality mocap studios are expensive, and the mocap athletes themselves can also be expensive.

Do you think all of that is going to be recouped by having a little more variety in some motions that the vast majority of players are not going to care about and, most likely, not even notice?

And yes.. I know that these are low tier spells but when I have to look REALLY hard to be able to see what it is that I've just cast that IS a problem. And in that video it was a solo fight.. magic is going to be totally lost in party play if that's the basis for spells.

And now you're exaggerating. I'm calling bulls**t.

[Gramul]

It's also 2012, not 1999, where people expect things to be motion capped and pure CGI animations are considered inorganic, tacky, or for children's animations. The cost of doing a different mocap for each spell is exorbitant for something that only the most OCD fanboys will notice.

Well actually the main cost comes from the actual equipment and the initial hiring of actors. But it still does take time and money to plan them out, make sure they work, and implement them into the game.

Also OCD as an insult doesn't make sense for this sort of scenario. I'm not sure what you think Obsessive-compulsive disorder is, but it's not that.

[Naraku_Diabolos]

We don't know if THM/BLM has different spell casting stances than CNJ/WHM and ARN/SMN. It is like that with casting stances on FFXI (as I was just finish playing it), so I'm sure there will be different stances. It's a good thing with the color of the casting, as you can tell which spell someone is using (something that FFXI didn't do).

[odintius]

I think the animation for conjurer is fine with doing for attack spells they could make a different animation for cure and buff's though also to spice it up not one animation rules all magic type of way. I'm sure each class will have different animations though by class but looking at melee classes how many different types of animations for there ws etc why can't mages have there own set of different animation for spells by element etc instead on just one for all spells? If it doesn't happen it not the end of the world though but be nice to see something different for a change.