Sluggish Running+Enter Battle Animations

[Kailok]

First things first, this is not a hate thread, nor am I flaming, or trolling, or knit-picking. I'm simply making an observation that Yoshi-P's team might want to look into in order to quicken the game a bit. If this has already been considered then I apologize.

All of my friends and I have noticed that when you're running through the game, it feels heavy, like you're trying to run through jello. I decided to test out the time it takes to start, go, direct turn, and then stop running.

Now, I understand that physics are important to "realism", but it feels like it's just too much for any MMO. If I'm trying to move in different directions quickly (merely as an example, perhaps future content may need rapid movement?) the character's start/stop animations seem to get a tad confused and the animations don't catch up until I've already done the movement.

Below is a video I found that, I think, shows the sluggishness of the animations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew8Qi2aePVE&feature=related


Notice on the very first mob it takes the player over 4 seconds to stop running and take out their weapon + begin attacking. If you are trying to battle someone for rights to an NM, that's simply not quick enough.

Running:

Start/Changing Direction - Takes 1 (Mississippi) second. Yeah, this seems small, but if I notice a monster is about to aggro me and I have to get out of the way, that 1 full second could mean a big problem.

Stop running - Takes 2 (Mississippi) seconds after lifting my finger from the button. This is two extra seconds of running past where I wanted to stop. Again, seems small, but it can become an issue when you're trying to chase a mob and enter battle mode quickly.

I also decided to look into how long it takes me to draw my weapon + put it away.

Drawing my weapon - 3 (Mississippi) seconds from pressing the button until the character had the weapon out.
Putting weapon away - 3 (Mississippi) seconds from pressing the button until my character put the weapon away.

I decided that an example vs FFXI would be sufficient considering it is the only other wide-spread MMO SE has released. In the video below you will notice some things:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJqwiKfjYJI&feature=related

1) When he starts running, his character is immediately on the go. (I am aware he uses Flee during the fights. I'm strictly speaking without any buffs or debuffs on his character.)
2) At time 0:58 you will see him stop to draw his sword. This whole process only took 1 full second to complete.
3) When his character goes to stop before an attack, the character immediately stops (Good example is at time 3:37).

Something to consider: I think the animation length times themselves as well as the actual physics of the stopping, turning, battle and passive modes should be quickened. It shouldn't take me 4-5 seconds from the time I get to the monster to actually begin attacking it, because if the monster actually was attacking me first, they would have 4-5 seconds of time to do more damage to me than I did to it.



Please give CONSTRUCTIVE feedback. - Reasons why/why not.

[Moth]

Perhaps you are just lagging? I've never had any problem like this.

[Kailok]

I've gotten both of the results on two different computers in two separate areas. I've also seen the same thing in FFXIV videos on the net.

Note: Both computers had 5/5 bandwidth and each is a decently built machine that handles the FFXIV graphics easily

[DNO]

I've gotten both of the results on two different computers in two separate areas. I've also seen the same thing in FFXIV videos on the net.

Note: Both computers had 5/5 bandwidth and each is a decently built machine that handles the FFXIV graphics easily

What are the specs on you PC?

[Kailok]

My PC:
Quad core 2.9GHz Proc
Video Card: 9800GT
4 gigs of 1200 RAM

My brother's PC(at a different location with a different ISP):
Intel Dual Core 2 @2.40GHZ
Cross-firing 2 9800GT cards
6gigs of 1600 RAM


I don't think it's a lag issue. It's not like other games where there are a lot of people around me and the area gets laggy (There's literally 4 people in the whole zone at this point). I don't get lag spikes due to graphics as each of the computers have their settings set to under what they should be able to run. I even tested it by lowering all of the graphic settings to the lowest point and testing it there as well. As I said, I've tested it multiple times, even had friends try it out (one of which even lives in Britain, with a different ISP and a more powerful setup) and they got the same times back as I did.

[Randis]

FFXIV is a RPG and not some action game or fighting game. I really do like the realistic animations, they give the character weight and connect him to the ground. In so many other MMO it feel like the character is as light as a feather and often the steps don't even match the ground speed.
The only thing that really annoys me is the delay you have before and after all actions.
For example if you do repairs, character will stand around for 1-2 seconds then go down and after he is done it will another moment until you have your controls back… Same with shopping.
You very often loose the control of your character because initiating certain actions make him freeze for a moment.

[Kailok]

I agree that FFXIV is an RPG, and I'm not saying to turn it into one as quick as that. I like the realistic animations as well, I just think they take too long. Our characters don't run fast enough where you need to take two seconds to stop yourself. Even at full sprint in RL I could stop myself quicker than that by doing the same motion with my legs and crouching a bit to slow down. It's more like they're running around at a leisurely pace, and if you're with friends hunting monsters, I don't think you would be going about it at a leisurely pace.

You're also right and I completely agree that things take a couple seconds delay before continuing. It's kind of what I'm getting at. Not only does the running/entering battle take too long, but pretty much everything else in general has this delay behind it which in itself makes the game feel even heavier.

[Cairdeas]

This might sound weird but is your camera zoomed in or out but not all the way? If your not zoomed in all the way or all the way out you'll be seeing the game at a weird angle and it makes it look weird.

[Physic]

FFXIV is a RPG and not some action game or fighting game. I really do like the realistic animations, they give the character weight and connect him to the ground. In so many other MMO it feel like the character is as light as a feather and often the steps don't even match the ground speed.
The only thing that really annoys me is the delay you have before and after all actions.
For example if you do repairs, character will stand around for 1-2 seconds then go down and after he is done it will another moment until you have your controls back… Same with shopping.
You very often loose the control of your character because initiating certain actions make him freeze for a moment.

Its an rpg, not an old folks retirement home. These are supposed to be hardened adventurers, in magical world where people can do fantastical things. Look at how people move in cutscenes, they RUN they jump, they jump into the sky! I dont think they need to kill the stop and start animations, i think they are good, but they may need to speed them up. I definetly think they could increase the movement speed of the game across the board, and it wouldnt hurt to add new run animations for when people use quick/movement speed skills.

[Kailok]

This might sound weird but is your camera zoomed in or out but not all the way? If your not zoomed in all the way or all the way out you'll be seeing the game at a weird angle and it makes it look weird.

I just checked it both zoomed in and zoomed out all the way and I got the same results. Thanks for tryin' though :]