We had an interesting discussion on stream the other day while progging E8S. Is saying mechanics are “solved” the appropriate word? Are rotation helpers a means to solving mechanics, or are they an unnecessary advantage? I’m curious to hear your thoughts and opinions on this, considering the verbiage is different from WoW!
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Irked!
Yes, mechanics in FFXIV can be "solved" without third-party tools unlike in WoW. This is why I'd always argue that FFXIV is a better designed game when it comes to fight mechanics.
FF14 mechanics are puzzles meant the be solved. My hot take is people want the easy solve so they say a third party tool is needed are some puzzles clunkier than others for sure but when you are making the game to be played across a broad spectrum of PCs plus PS4/5 and Xbox thats bound to happen
People choose to use 3rd party tools even in WoW. Even in WoW these are not necessary for most content, but people are lazy. The one thing about WoW is there can be multiple ways to "resolve" or handle a mechanic. People are lazy and don't want to think for themselves so they pick one way – the way Echo or another raid group did it. I guess some in FFXIV are this way as well, but I find them more willing to "tweak" the guides than many random WoW groups. And yes, some people do "solve" mechanics since it may not be obvious what needs to be done.
The way I personally see it in FF is that you "theorise" a mechanic's solved state, you "execute" the steps to achieve that solution, and if everyone has lived and the mechanic has no remaining pieces, it has been "resolved". So personally, rather than solve I would replace it with "execute". There is cases of solving mechanics in FF, but most players aren't figuring out how the puzzle works, they're "executing" a solution someone else has come up with.
As for what the comment says, I cannot agree with it whatsoever. All this content is cleared without third party tools, multiple times no matter what pattern you get. And is often done without even communicating to each other. So I don't believe a group of people choosing to use 3rd party tools constitutes a failed mechanic, I just believe those players are too entitled to their need of clearing a piece of content. Everyone can clear fights in this game, but that doesn't mean that there's no work to do. Using 3rd party tools because you can't be bothered to spend the time to understand the actual mechanics is honestly pretty infuriating to me, as it shows a lack of disrespect to those who made the mechanics clearable by anyone without those 3rd party tools. Trust in yourself, and trust in the others in your group. If you cannot trust yourself to execute those mechanics, then commit as much time as you can to learning them so you know how to read them, and how to stretch those mechanics in the best possible way for you. Everyone can clear fights, you just have to try.