Ever hit a macro and have it not trigger? Can this be fixed?

[Indi]

Ever since I've started playing this game I've noticed this problem in the most basic function of the game. I go to hit a macro and nothing happens. At first I thought it was me, but I asked some other players and it seems to be a common thing.

I'm wondering why this still happens 7 years into the game. It seems ridiculous that I need to mash a macro 2 or 3 times every time just to be sure that it will trigger. Has this ever been addressed and is there any kind of work around other than using windower and rebinding everything out of the game's control? Any help much appreciated, thank you. Also in case it matters I play on PC.

[Byrthnoth]

I play on PS2, and unless I hit them too fast (like, hit one then another) my macros always fire. However, if I try to write things using my USB keyboard it can get really messed up if I press the keys too quickly. I don't know if that carries over to PC at all, but that could be the problem too.

[hypnotizd]

Pretty sure the only way you can make it work 100% of the time is to rebind like you suggested. If the game is really laggy (low frame rates, etc) you will experience this. There isn't a work-around and probably wont be unless they re-write the game engine.

[Phraust]

I swear to god if feels like in game macros are done server side or something...

The only thing I can say is rebind everything to Windower binds/macros and all your problems will go away for the most part. I didn't want to ever use windower back in the day, but one day I just got sick of the exact problem you're facing; and I wish I had switched sooner.

If you're worried about all the 'gray area' in windower, just turn it all off.
If you're frustrated with the macro system of windower, its actually really easy to learn, in a day or less you can be fully versed in the system. The only real pain in the ass is having to manually load all your macro sets, but there's add-ons that can do that for you too.

I know you have probably heard the windower rhetoric a million times before, but like you said, after 7 years, this shit is ridiculous... But for 6 years there's been a solution that works flawlessly and safely.

[Gergall]

Every once in a while...maybe once per month...my Stoneskin macro starts acting funny.

Basically I hit a macro that says /ma Stoneskin Gergall
And instead of casting, the blue subtarget arrow pops up. If I hit enter, it casts. This strange behavior continues until I zone, then it works properly again.

[liggy 0]

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...boardsmash.gif

nothing wrong with olde fashion keyboard smashing

[Bluefrostie]

I've been having this problem since they implemented the 20 macro books. I do remember a time where I never had a problem, though. I had/have this problem on both PS2 and computer.

[Byrthnoth]

Every once in a while...maybe once per month...my Stoneskin macro starts acting funny.

Basically I hit a macro that says /ma Stoneskin Gergall
And instead of casting, the blue subtarget arrow pops up. If I hit enter, it casts. This strange behavior continues until I zone, then it works properly again.

You see similar behavior curing NPCs with /DNC using macros. /ja "Curing Waltz II" Armitte will work fine until she dies once or gets resummoned, then it won't work and you'll have to switch to the <stnpc> arrow. Zone out/back and it's fixed. I assume that's because there have been multiple player instances in zone with the same name since you last zoned in.

Change your Gergall to <me> and it'll never mess up. I'd guess you're accidentally duplicating yourself somehow, and it's probably not anything consistent. Teleporters in sea/door CSs that don't technically zone you? Warping to the same zone? Zoning out and back to the mog house a bunch? Tractor? DCing and logging back in quickly? I don't know!

[Valyana]

I often have this problem with FFXI keyboard macros. It's never a problem when I use the gamepad or windower macros.

[Gergall]

Change your Gergall to <me> and it'll never mess up.

Thank you, I will try it out and hopefully it will resolve the issue.

By the way, you mentioned that you have the same problem with your NPC when it dies/despawns and you resummon. You can use <ft> rather than <stnpc> to save yourself from having to pick a subtarget. Hope that helps!

[mackerel]

In-game macros have always been sluggish and unresponsive for me, too. In normal events it's not so bad, but in Dynamis or at Whitegate AH, I have to hold the macro down until it goes off. The problem goes away if I lower my resolution, but who wants to play FFXI with 8-bit graphics?

Windower binds fire instantly every time.

OP asked why this happens, why in a 7 year old game the basic interface would still be sluggish. FFXI runs in one process, one thread. It doesn't take advantage of your graphics card or multi-core system. The most basic function of the game is a loop, something like "draw what goes on the screen, check for input, repeat". Since FFXI runs all in one thread, when your FPS drops to 3 standing at AH, the game can only check for input 3 times per second. And I suspect it doesn't check for input every time it draws a frame.

[Kirschy]

I use a mix of Windower Binds and FFXI macros (which mix between firing /w controller and Ctrl+#), and I've had the problem where macro doesn't fire. I've had it with any combination and it's annoying and noticable.

Also sometimes the server doesn't like when you use two actions too quickly. When there's two JAs I might use together... such as Berserk/Aggressor, Focus/Dodge, SA/TA, LR/SE, etc... sometimes I hit the macros too fast and only one JA fires, sometimes I the server accepts it fine. (I can tell the macros are firing in this case, but server isn't accepting them.)

[Kerberoz]

Happened to me constantly when using game macros. Now I just use keybinds and G15 macros and it never happens.

[drwaffles]

I use a mix of Windower Binds and FFXI macros (which mix between firing /w controller and Ctrl+#), and I've had the problem where macro doesn't fire. I've had it with any combination and it's annoying and noticable.

Also sometimes the server doesn't like when you use two actions too quickly. When there's two JAs I might use together... such as Berserk/Aggressor, Focus/Dodge, SA/TA, LR/SE, etc... sometimes I hit the macros too fast and only one JA fires, sometimes I the server accepts it fine. (I can tell the macros are firing in this case, but server isn't accepting them.)

What really annoys me with this is when I want to use Light Arts > Penury/Celerity in quick succession on WHM/SCH. Virtually every time I try to do this I get the error message for the Stratagem due to not having Light Arts active at the time of pressing the macro even though it does go off.

[dejet]

Rebinds seemed to be the way. Anyone with windower prob does this though most the time i would think.

[Meian]

The only time I have an issue with this is when I am holding for the macro window to pop up, sometimes it may take a second to appear (then comes up fast after that).

[sruon]

The only time I have an issue with this is when I am holding for the macro window to pop up, sometimes it may take a second to appear (then comes up fast after that).

Happens to everyone and everytime. Not a major issue but sometimes it sucks :/

[Sekundes]

I've never had an issue with the game not registering me hitting a macro, when I hit one it always atleast throws out an attempt to macro, even if I did it too soon and the spell/skill can't go off. I guess it's a controller thing, but using the game pad i've never had an issue.

[mdkuser]

I cant believe they never fixed this crap. Having to press 2 keys, that are far from each other on the key board, is really stupid.

[Zolty]

This happens to me every now and then too. I think it's just a bit of lag in the macro bar coming up. If you just hold ctrl or alt for a second or two before hitting your macro it'll be fine.

If you're dealing with something like stun where that second or two might kill you, I'd suggest going the whole "ctrl - m" with stun already selected from the list method of using it, or binding a key to stun directly.