Comments from the Devs

[Grey Jorildyn]

While I agree that recasting pro/shell every 5-7mins is poor game design given a number of factors already mentioned, there is a more intelligent way to play at certain points in time. For example, there is no reason that a single mage should be casting every buff if you've got more than one. If you've got four mages, each one handles a buff. That saves time and is both the best way to play and circumvents many of the aforementioned issues.

[Celeras]

I don't think anybody is arguing that its functionality couldn't be improved, despite Lucavi trying to take the opposite point of that non-existent argument. But if you get your head out of your ass it really is a non-issue, especially considering support classes aren't even in the game yet. We're talking about 2 spells here.

And for people who actually played with the original incarnation of Shell, you know why its duration isn't an hour.

[Vuitton]

I can't believe you're all harping on protect/shell still. Small cast radius? What are you smoking? My Thaum has crazy range and there is a self-buff to increase it further that Con or Thaum can use. Heaven forbid you have to recast. As a healer this has never been an issue for me. NOT ONCE. I am also experienced with healing in other games. I have a level 80 priest in WoW (disc spec) so I also familiar with bubbles, barriers, damage suppression, and clicking Fortitude after every wipe. They're not the same game. A priest has a lot of shit to do in that game and yeah stopping to cast protect/shell like in XIV would be a pain. However in XIV the healers aren't exactly doing a whole lot yet, so who the fuck cares that they have to recast some buffs.

Its not an issue. You guys are just bored and making issues up to bitch for bitching's sake.

"XIV is free to play because healers have to recast protect/shell fairly often as part of their spell routine."

gtfo

[Lucavi]

Yes, Vuitton, because you're cool with it, its perfectly fine. A wonderful counterpoint. I applaud your stance on the issue.

[Niiro]

I don't think anybody is arguing that its functionality couldn't be improved, despite Lucavi trying to take the opposite point of that non-existent argument. But if you get your head out of your ass it really is a non-issue, especially considering support classes aren't even in the game yet. We're talking about 2 spells here.

And for people who actually played with the original incarnation of Shell, you know why its duration isn't an hour.

Except were not playing with the original shell, so why even bring it up.

My thoughts on how to adjust them would be: make the duration for single target 30 mins, duration for AoE decreases with each person in the party. Decrease it by ~22% per party member and a full party has, voila, 5 min duration.

Make the AoE fking huge and problem solved. The larger your party the more bang for your buck you're getting with each cast, so reducing the duration balances that out, as long as the range is huge (like, within sight distance) it's not a problem to recast on the move.

solo 30 mins
party of : mins
2 : 23
3 : 18
4 : 14
5 : 11
6 : 8
7 : 6
8 : 5

[Vuitton]

I think my opinion, as a healer, is a little more informed than yours, thanks. Same with Celeras, who is a R50 thaumaturge. You took yours to R20 or something, right? You're just brimming with veteran field experience.

I think you just hate it when your healer asks you to stay in range to be rebuffed.

[Hioki]

I'd be fine with just increasing the duration to 30 mins just for simplicity.

[Dakin]

Sounds like people are making mountains out of mole hills. Not everyone in the party needs prot/shell. In order to keep them up on the tank, god forbid you have to recast two spells.

[Niiro]

I think my opinion, as a healer, is a little more informed than yours, thanks. Same with Celeras, who is a R50 thaumaturge. You took yours to R20 or something, right? You're just brimming with veteran field experience.

I think you just hate it when your healer asks you to stay in range to be rebuffed.

1. Wrong on all counts
2. The healer shouldn't have to remind everyone to gather for such a simple thing, especially when people are spread out fighting different mobs.
3. Why are you in favor of a system that is needlessly bothersome?

[miokomioko]

This is pretty much an argument between people hating it... and people who don't care either way because their leet skills at the vidya makes it a non-issue.

[Arelian]

3. Why are you in favor of a system that is needlessly bothersome?

Bolded for emphasis. Why are people so against making something simpler so the vast majority of people can enjoy it?

Fuck the hardcore, casuals are what bring the money in and they're the ones that should be thought of when a game needs to start bringing in revenue.

[Lordender]

I don't even think hardcore/casual even applies here, its just a stupid mechanic that could be improved on. I can see both sides to the argument but this is going to become such a chore later on down the line when there is alot more buffs to use. They need to make both spells instant cast, large radius, I don't really think the duration is as much of an issue as it is trying to make sure people are grouped with going through active/passive mode + cast time to get it on everybody before they move again.

[Hiroishime]

I am r50 mages and i think it is cumbersome for something that feels like placebo effect -_-, they should just make it like a class special trait when they join a party, a CON joins a party, tada protect/shell effect for everyone in range. THM joins a party, tada M.acc buff for everyone in range. MAR joins a party, Crit Rate up for everyone in range, and yada yada.

[Aro]

I think what might be bothering some people is the fact that it's really not as big of an issue as people are putting it out to be... I mean it might be cumbersome for some, but I don't think it really warrants such "passionate" responses. I'd much prefer it being 30min but in the end it's not really game breaking for me nor should it be for anyone else. Probably the only reason it's 5min right now is because when you switch actions it doesn't wipe your buffs, and changing it so it does might usher in new annoyances.

[Woozer]

Our friendly neighborhood Japanese reps talked with Minagawa about all this setting action-related stuff.

We are currently working on addressing this so that actions for each class will be remembered when you change classes. When this feature is implemented it will remove the need to fix your action bar every time you change classes, as well as the need to set actions via text commands.

I'm sure you are all dying to know when this feature will be ready... We're currently aiming to implement this during patch 1.19, but depending on how development and testing progress, there is a possibility that it could be pushed back.

Sorry we can't make a concrete promise for 1.19, but hang in there just a bit more!

Sauce

Sweet mother of God, if this makes it into 1.19 it will be the single greatest day in FFXIV's short history.

[Kurokikaze]

Wow I want that so fucking bad. I hate hopping between GLA, ARC, LNC, THM, and CON soooo much. It's at the point where I'm on ARC most of the time because swapping back is too much work. lol

[miokomioko]

Totally. Especially the pains of switching from a high rank class to a low rank class. It honestly keeps me from playing other classes as much as I would like due to how cumbersome switching is.

[Kaylia]

Losing half of your abilities everytime you change your class was one of the worst thing since the beta. Sure, there was way around it, but it's hard to focus on bigger gameplay issue when the most basic stuff are done so horribly.

I'm also happy with the guildleve counter change. That was another terrible menu to nagivate through, and any improvement is welcomed..... In fact, every menu in this game are terrible and laggy.


[edit]
I really hope the networks code is going to be improved in 1.19. It might not be a huge change for us, but it's most likely one of the biggest reasons why the game suck so badly.

[Gokulo]

I really hope the networks code is going to be improved in 1.19. It might not be a huge change for us, but it's most likely one of the biggest reasons why the game such so badly.

Sadly there's no indication for that yet anywhere, so the chances are very small. Especially no mention in the last letter makes it unlikely.

[Spider-Dan]

abilities are remembered per class

JESUS CHRIST PLEASE FINALLY