I find even a priority system is too simplistic for me. All you have to do is keep an internal hierarchy of what needs to be up and make sure it's up. Any periods of downtime just mean I restart my rotation from the beginning. There's not much thinking involved.
My biggest issue with FFXIV's combat is that, even in the harder extreme/savage modes, it's generally about memorizing a script and playing out that script to the letter, and making sure that there are no weak links in your chain (i.e. no party members not playing their role optimally, or missing an important beat, or positioning incorrectly, etc., etc.). Granted, that's a generic MMORPG issue that not even B&S is immune to, but the lack of reactive skills in this game make it way too obvious that that's how things are supposed to go.
Feels like learning to play the Piano, really, except there are three or seven other players all trying to learn the same track and not mess it up for everyone else. It's... I mean, it's definitely skillful, but it's not the kind of thing that moves me, y'know? I like being able to improvise and, well, I also kind of like being able to carry my weaker party members to victory. I'm just egotistical that way.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention one thing B&S has going for it - free respecs all the way, along with skill variations that actually have meaningful differences. For example, one skill can be set up to be a damage shield that blocks 5 attacks in a row, or it can become a buff that only blocks 1 hit but boosts your damage output dramatically over its duration. Another skill can be set up to stun, or it can be set up to give you extra focus regen (their equivalent of MP/TP). Still another can be set up to put you into a different stance when you use it. So on and so forth.
It encourages strategic thinking and adapting to different combat scenarios, something you literally *never see* in FFXIV. Everyone playing a specific class plays exactly the same way. You're either playing your class optimally, or you're not. There are no other options. You just do what your class is designed to do and that's all there is to it. (I imagine that this is part of the reason some folks rail against the game's item system, because they want those possibilities to exist in the game and see items as the way to make that happen.) Now, I have no idea how they could introduce something like that to the game in its current state, but it's something to think about, at least.
I'm still not expecting much from Stormblood. Really, I'm just expecting more of the same. I'll be very pleasantly surprised if we get some major changes going forward.
My biggest issue with FFXIV's combat is that, even in the harder extreme/savage modes, it's generally about memorizing a script and playing out that script to the letter, and making sure that there are no weak links in your chain (i.e. no party members not playing their role optimally, or missing an important beat, or positioning incorrectly, etc., etc.). Granted, that's a generic MMORPG issue that not even B&S is immune to, but the lack of reactive skills in this game make it way too obvious that that's how things are supposed to go.
Feels like learning to play the Piano, really, except there are three or seven other players all trying to learn the same track and not mess it up for everyone else. It's... I mean, it's definitely skillful, but it's not the kind of thing that moves me, y'know? I like being able to improvise and, well, I also kind of like being able to carry my weaker party members to victory. I'm just egotistical that way.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention one thing B&S has going for it - free respecs all the way, along with skill variations that actually have meaningful differences. For example, one skill can be set up to be a damage shield that blocks 5 attacks in a row, or it can become a buff that only blocks 1 hit but boosts your damage output dramatically over its duration. Another skill can be set up to stun, or it can be set up to give you extra focus regen (their equivalent of MP/TP). Still another can be set up to put you into a different stance when you use it. So on and so forth.
It encourages strategic thinking and adapting to different combat scenarios, something you literally *never see* in FFXIV. Everyone playing a specific class plays exactly the same way. You're either playing your class optimally, or you're not. There are no other options. You just do what your class is designed to do and that's all there is to it. (I imagine that this is part of the reason some folks rail against the game's item system, because they want those possibilities to exist in the game and see items as the way to make that happen.) Now, I have no idea how they could introduce something like that to the game in its current state, but it's something to think about, at least.
I'm still not expecting much from Stormblood. Really, I'm just expecting more of the same. I'll be very pleasantly surprised if we get some major changes going forward.
