Letter from the Producer, XLIV (03/19/2013)

[Vuitton]

if the focus of Phase 2 is only gamepad testing then arguably its not gonna be a very long phase. i also wonder how many people actually use gamepads to begin with on the PC out of that 100k testers..

Me and all of my other PC friends use a wireless gamepad as our main way to play XIV.

[Raldo]

Me and all of my other PC friends don't, stalemate.

[Spira]

seems like a sizeable group then.
i suppose it really depends on how much advantage you have with controller vs keyboard.

im still undecided because I actually enjoyed FFXI entirely with keyboard, altho i would play with controller on ps2. and the traditionalist in me probably thinks controller is the proper way to play since FF is supposedly a console game.. or something lol.

[Hyan]

How will the pad be inferior to kb+mouse with the 2.5~2sec GCD in place?

[Dakin]

Can't wait to own some keyboard turning or controller turning noobs in pvp.

I played all FFXI and FFXIV controller only. Mouse and keyboard is just so much quicker in terms of reaction, and actually works well in 2.0. Controller will have to match or exceed it to make me use it for anything other than gathering/crafting.

[Mina]

Can't wait to own some keyboard turning or controller turning noobs in pvp.

I played all FFXI and FFXIV controller only. Mouse and keyboard is just so much quicker in terms of reaction, and actually works well in 2.0. Controller will have to match or exceed it to make me use it for anything other than gathering/crafting.

Call me dumb but how smooth is it to gather and craft? Would you say it's more comfortable? I like to chat with my friends while doing these activities. I feel like that would somehow be a waste to keep switching between a controller and the keyboard. Just wondering if anyone has their 2 cents on the matter. :/

[miokomioko]

Crafting/Gathering is extremely simple now. There's no time-limits whatsoever unless you're on a leve.

My only concern is that while crafting is executed almost entirely via the action bar, gathering involves clicking on a separate list of items as well as using the action bar, AND running around, so it depends on how easy it is to simultaneously move and target, and simultaneously navigate the gathering list and execute actions with a gamepad.

[Mina]

Crafting/Gathering is extremely simple now. There's no time-limits whatsoever unless you're on a leve.

Well I remember that from the last time I played before doomsday but I didn't use a controller back then.

[Karinastar]

Anyone not using Legacy control scheme with controller is retarded, and that should solve the turning/maneuverability concerns vs kb/mouse. So long as the camera sensitivity is remotely decent or there's an instant auto-center behind the player button it'll be fine. Most MMOs don't offer a 3rd person action game/console-style control option and thus people who don't use the mouse to maneuver are slow as hell. The other part of the equation is if the new UI enables you to input actions at a fast enough rate. If Tera's scheme (which is pretty similar) is any indication, it should be able to keep up fine for most jobs, especially with the GCD limiting APM anyway. I really doubt it'll be better than mouse/kb unless they really design content with controller use in mind, but I think it can be good enough to be competitive.

As for other stuff like gathering etc while chatting, I just play at my PC so it's really nbd to just set the controller down on my lap and type. I'm probably just used to it though, and my hands start cramping up so bad after a while of mouse/kb play that it's more comfortable for me.

[Jamison]

I'm not saying a controller will absolutely be 100% as quick as keyboard+mouse, but with 16 actions available as a 2-button combination always at the ready, 32 more actions available with an up/down combination of the d-pad... and all of that independent of moving and targeting, I struggle to see how it will be a problem in any way, shape or form. What we haven't seen at all yet is the menu interactions, and that does have some potential to be janky. We'll find out soon enough, though.

[Gulkeeva]

Main things for keyboard + mouse for me
1. Quick reply to people, I don't have to drop the controller, to type, and then switch back, not sure how "safely" this can be done during say a "intensive boss fight" but can be done easily on keyboard+mouse.
2. quick turning
3. alt-tab to hentai quickly! (very important)
4. alt-tab to lookup info, like future quest info, guides etc
5. alt-tab to mithra/miqo'te hentai (also very important)
6. my keyboard has "music player" functionality controls, so I don't have to swap around, I can play/pause/skip forward/back etc on my keyboard...!
7. mithra/miqo'te hentai very important

[Churchill]

Targeting is what'll be slow, it's always what's slow in any system that doesn't use a mouse.

[Vuitton]

I targeted and communicated during boss fights like Ifrit, Moogle, Garuda, and Nael just fine with a controller. Same with instances. But I also type like 90 words per minute, so I can set down the controller quickly and then quickly type something or push-to-talk ventrilo. The controller can easily/quickly toggle the types of things you can target, such as hostile mobs only using left-right on the d-pad, and the up-down d-pad targets party members. I actually think I target much more quickly than mouse players who tend to use tab to target and thus must cycle through everything on their screen or click (and clicking is a mess when there are multiple mobs grouped together.)

I've never had an issue with a controller. FWIW, I've also successfully done hard mode raiding in WoW for several years using a mouse/keyboard/nostromo, so I would know if I was being hindered.

[miokomioko]

I actually despise mouse targeting during crowded pulls. Once you have enmity on what's appropriate, it's fine since you can just click on the names of either party members or mobs in their lists to do what you need to do. But trying to get a target on the one unclaimed mob out of the 5+ that aggro'd your tank only with a mouse is stupid.

[Dakin]

Comparing the need for twitch reaction and camera/character movement in 1.0 to WoW raiding isn't a very good parallel . I have also done both, finished content in 1.0 via controller and did WoTLK hard modes. I can't imagine trying to do fights like LK or putricide HM with a controller, no matter how intuitive the ui is.

Not to say 2.0 raiding will be similar in difficulty or margin or error. Controller will be sufficient, but for min maxing keyboard will always win.

[Raldo]

I actually despise mouse targeting during crowded pulls. Once you have enmity on what's appropriate, it's fine since you can just click on the names of either party members or mobs in their lists to do what you need to do. But trying to get a target on the one unclaimed mob out of the 5+ that aggro'd your tank only with a mouse is stupid.

I have a similar experience to this. All I wanted to do was heal people who were getting decimated by their leves or something, and the fuckers just WOULD NOT stop constantly moving in hopes that they were keeping the monster at some sort of distance to slow their attacks. Several people died because I could not target them in time. I dearly missed being able to tab-target player characters at these points.

I don't know if they need to fatten up the mouse-hitboxes or what, but it doesn't feel right somehow.

For monster targetting, I generally use tab targetting though, so I'll probably only have this issue when alliance content gets made, and I need to target non-party members.

[Manako]

I use both keyboard and controller, Mostly I used the controller for navigation and the keyboard for everything else. I'm excited to see how its implemented in phase 2 and hope that it will still let me use both schemas.

[Sephiroth]

I can't get used to keyboard + mouse setup. I tried to play with it in the beta for a few hours before I had to give up and make the controls as close to 1.0 as possible. Even then there's some remaining annoyances where I still have to pick up the mouse such as NPC targeting. Not a big fan of the keyboard either however as playing for long periods puts too much strain on my wrists. Might see how the controller interface works but I can't imagine it will beat the convenience of being able to hit the 1 to = keys. You'll have to remember lots of different key combinations and then combat because as annoying as Batman Arkham City which was just a pain in the arse due to the dozens of different key combinations you had to remember for different attacks. Either that or you'll be doing a lot of scrolling along an action bar which sounds slow.

[Takiwaki]

Funny story is that My wife hates controllers in fact coming from FFXI she is used to playing with keyboard only, no mouse either lol. She is very much excited for FFXIV, as its a game that can be played fully KB only, I had a terrible time trying to get her to play GW2 with a kb and mouse... Not very successful =/

[Dakin]

Even more convenient when you bind q e t f c x g z and shift variants for abilities. I rarely have anything bound past 4 because it is too far to reach comfortably.