Buffs that last a bit longer

[RichardButte]

So, buffs should last forever? I think someone else suggested that, but I thought they were being sarcastic.

Actually, yes.

They're usually called "auras" and simply having them on and active means party members within range get the buff until you A) turn it off or B) they leave the party.

They work great in MMOs that were developed this decade.

Does this also apply to heals? Because constantly re-healing is such a chore. Once you're healed, they should make it so you stay healed. Don't make us do "maintenance" on heals, SE!

A buff needs to be cast and recast when its timer runs out, regardless of when that happens. That makes it a regularly scheduled maintenance chore.

Heals need to happen in the midst of battle to save a party member from dying. Heals are a battle action (ie an action that happens in response to battle).

The two could not be further apart.

Better yet, if it's such a chore to buff, then how about we make it so that everyone starts the game fully buffed, and they stay buffed forever? So we can get rid of "maintenance" on buffs altogether. (And also get rid of buffing classes.)

Stop turning things into bizarre absolutes.

Seriously, if you think buffing is tedious, then maybe don't play a buffing class.
It sounds like you're more suited to being a melee. I know several melee classes have counter-attacks that you can launch based on environmental cues. Maybe instead of turning everything into a counter-attacking class, you could play one of the counter-attacking classes.

Ah yes, this silly strawman. The old "If you don't like it, don't play it" argument. Yeah, that's JUST what XIV needs right now: more people not playing because they don't like it.

No, buffing is tedious because it's a recurring inevitability, based on the facts that A) buffs are going to run out and B) there is nothing stopping you from recasting them.

Healing is a different story because you can only heal so quickly, meaning that healing power and output is directly related to battle because it determines what situations you and your party members can and cannot survive.

Other MMOs have figured out how to not turn buffing classes into virtual janitors. There's no reason XIV can't do the same.

Under this system that you're envisioning, how would mobs decide whom to attack? Should it be random? If you're getting rid of aggro management,

Where did I say that aggro management should be done away with? I said it wasn't enjoyable, which it isn't, hence why making an exception for an auto-refresh of a buff not generating aggro isn't going to break the game in two.

So now we've eliminated buffers, tanks, and potentially healers. If we could just find a way to get rid of DPS classes, we won't need any players at all.

And with the attitude of "Don't like it? Don't play it" that you have, we won't have a GAME to worry about in the long run anyway.

Honestly, the "minor inconveniences" are basic facets of MMOs, like aggro. Getting rid of those, and coming up with something entirely new, is not a "minor inconvenience."

No, the minor inconvenience was the notion that the entire system wouldn't work because of ONE example where an auto-refreshing buff might generate some extra aggro, which you then took and blew out of proportion, saying that I was suggesting abolishing the entire aggro management system because I thought aggro generation should be negated for buffs that happen automatically.

And by making buffs last so long, you'd actually be making buffers *less* valuable. If I can get hour-long buffs, why do I need a buffer in my party? Just cast the buff, and then you can go afk while the rest of us do stuff.

Here's my idea on the situation:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...und-the-caster

If you're in the party with the caster, the buff is always on in an AoE around the caster. If the caster removes the buff from their action bar, the buff goes away. If you leave the party, the buff goes away.

The whole point of the recast timer is to ensure that players who aren't in the party with the buffer don't have the buffs. Why else would they be so short? Buffing isn't hard. It doesn't use copious amounts of mana. There's no "challenge" like "Will I get this heal off in time to save the tank?!", no. It's just boring and tedious, hence why there's no need to make casters recast buffs every five minutes.

You won't be able to buff people outside of your party, true, but considering buffs only last five minutes, how much help would those buffs truly be?

If you don't want to buff, then my suggestion would be to not play a buffer class. There are plenty of other jobs that you can play. Find something you like, and go with that.

And that's the kind of attitude that will run this game straight into the ground.

Don't like the battle system? Go play something else. Don't like crafting? Go play something else. Shame most everyone did, and now XIV is running a second beta until they can get the game back to the point where someone will actually pay to play it.

SE doesn't need to tell potential paying customers to go pound sand. They need to hear the feedback and criticisms that will help shape this into a better game, and ensuring support classes don't need to act like virtual janitors would definitely be a step in the right direction.