[dev1022] Auto-attack system questions and discussion

[Malakhim]

I don't know about most of you, but when I'm playing a video game, I want to be engaged and focused on the game, not watching TV or doing anything else. If you find yourself doing just that in any MMO, then that should probably be indicative of a huge problem with MMOs in general, which is that people would rather be doing other crap than be focused on the combat.

I feel that introducing an active battle system in FFXIV is something SE did to deal with that, but people still don't appreciate the fact that you ARE engaged and you HAVE to be able to react with the right abilities at the right moments. This could probably say something worrying about MMO players in general, and it makes me question why they're playing MMOs in the first place.

I think this is why we can't come to a consensus as to why an auto-attack should or shouldn't be introduced to the game. What are "traditional" MMO players looking for in an MMO?

Or maybe the question should be rephrased to "what makes the game uninteresting enough that people would want to do something else while "playing" it?

[MaxWinter]

Well i hope weapon skills come back from ff11 the curent feel of combat is all over the place , im not sure if auto attack is a good idea or not.
Also i wonder if the upper limit of damage could be more than ff11 where you only did a few hundred points of damage , instead why not make tougher monsters and make the damage(magic and physical dmg) go into thousands.

It would make it feel like you gained something rather than staying in same place.

[Sephr]

The system needs a rework (as it's getting). Applying auto-attack to the current system doesn't work because the majority of the time you're spamming one attack. Applying it to a system where you use a multitude of different spells and abilities makes far more sense.

We'll have to wait and see what happens with the battle system changes.

[Malakhim]

If they were to add an auto-attack feature, I would hope that they take enough consideration into making it optional as well as relevant to the FFXIV experience. In an MMO space where EVERYONE is using auto-attack, which as another poster mentioned is essentially just letting the game spam for you, how are you supposed to have any sort of product differentiation? Besides, there is a sizable amount of people who do appreciate the much more active nature of combat.

[Harly]

I totally agree with Nephera. Guild marks to get skills only through leves is very difficult. Couples with the cost, it's almost not worth trying to get them, especially for a casual player.

[Lebannen]

Seeing as to how they have a stamina bar, I think implementing auto attack would ruin the pace of the battle. Besides having to push a button per attack just feels more interactive if you ask me. I would want them to increase the execution speed of the actions instead of having too wait a couple of seconds before the action is carried out.

[Velhart]

I welcome auto-attack. It would give me the opportunity to be more flexible with my abilities. As a tank, I don't like having to keep having to come back to basic attacking when I need to do everything I can to make sure that I keep the enemy in my sights. So having myself auto-attack while I use abilities to keep hate will greatly help me.

[Geist]

That's a good suggestion.

Myself, I haven't been feeling the need for a mandatory auto-attack feature - making it an available option is all right, but really... combat is hardly that fast-paced. To each their own, though.

[Seikninkuru]

I welcome auto-attack. It would give me the opportunity to be more flexible with my abilities. As a tank, I don't like having to keep having to come back to basic attacking when I need to do everything I can to make sure that I keep the enemy in my sights. So having myself auto-attack while I use abilities to keep hate will greatly help me.

You're playing the game wrong, at least as a tank. Sorry, but I think the main problem is people are just too incapable of learning how to do anything new. As a tank if you're spamming light/heavy slash while fighting you're doing something wrong, sorry.

[Synapse]

You're playing the game wrong, at least as a tank. Sorry, but I think the main problem is people are just too incapable of learning how to do anything new. As a tank if you're spamming light/heavy slash while fighting you're doing something wrong, sorry.

Whts wrong with using Heavy Slash? its better to gain some hate through heavy slash while trying to use ur others moves such as rampart / sentinel / cure etc to get more hate/survive, and not stand there without doing anything while these skills are charging up.