Thread: A small suggestion for improving FMs

One (mostly fair) criticism of FMs is that many groups can do more DPS by not participating in them.

There is a fairly simple change that could be made to improve this (well, simple design; no idea how difficult it would be to implement of course).

Instead of freezing all participants for a fixed duration, once the FM is complete, let it trigger immediately. Ideally, this would be done only if the FM matched the one set as the preferred one by the group leader.

This would give a slight advantage to groups who finished the correct FM quickly. They would trigger it, and then be able to get back to DPS or whatever.

/signed

I'd like that idea. Hate having to cook a FM like a nade and have lost people while waiting for the FM to go off. Now if only the content designers and the FM designers can live together in harmony.

No.

Currently the extra time (if there is extra time available) allows people to correct errors.
It allows time to jump and reset your contribution and apply the correct manuever.
(yes, I know there was the "ideally" portion of the OP, where it would only complete early if it matched the settings, but fat chance of that.)

/signed

Firing off the set fm as soon as it's completed just makes sense. It cuts out the chance for an add to interrupt someone and ruin the whole thing or possibly someone getting killed because they're frozen instead of popping a cd.

Pdt, this change wouldn't cut down on a group's ability to correct themselves. If it takes the entire fm duration to complete, then it does, whereas more coordinated groups are rewarded with a few extra seconds saved.

If I'm understanding the OP correctly then yes I agree with the OP's FM idea/suggestion.



What I would like to see is our contribution to the FM be instant and that our characters can continue on fighting whilst this FM is completed by other players.

As it stands now, once we participate in a FM (by choosing a color on the FM wheel) our character is stuck in stasis until the FM animation is completed (or the target dies whichever of the two comes first).

A Simple fix for a longtime annoyance.

Originally Posted by LeRaginAsian

Firing off the set fm as soon as it's completed just makes sense.

Right - it's important that it 'auto-fires' just for the selected FM. If you don't get the selected FM, then it would work exactly like it does now. Getting the selected FM just gives removes the 'wait until the timer expires' penalty.

The only drawback I can see is if the team leader set a less-than-6-long FM, such as the ubiquitous GGG-BB, or BBB-GG. In those cases, the FM would trigger, and you wouldn't get to contribute a 6th color. But the extra dps would be better than a 6th color anyway.

This would also encourage (team leaders at least) to make sure they have all the FMs in their list; otherwise they couldn't set the less common ones, like Chill of Bone, Hope of Men, etc.

I actually kind of like this idea. But one thing should be clarified. What if the leader doesn't set a FM? I think that then it should be as it is now, so that people can get FMs in their list. Or maybe it fires off if the group (waiting until every player contributes) creates a valid FM. That way, if one isn't set, you can still get some of the extra time for creating a valid FM. But it would be important that this only take affect once all the group members have contributed, if any do not contribute, it remains as it is now. That way, the entire group has a chance to contribute.

I disagree, the FM should be left as is, to allow for corrections to the FM.

As the OP stated, the group can decide for themselves if they want to participate in it or not - it's a matter of choice.

Originally Posted by daPoppa

I disagree, the FM should be left as is, to allow for corrections to the FM.

As the OP stated, the group can decide for themselves if they want to participate in it or not - it's a matter of choice.

you are contradicting yourself I think. The OP wants the FM to fire instantly. The majority of the posts ask for the instant fire for set FM's.

I've been in several groups where the leader set one thing and then yelled in vent "ALL BLUE!" Happens all the time.

So, if I understand the consensus the set FM would fire immediately but all other FM would incur the pause.

1. Leader does not set an FM. This cannot be instant because it doesn't match the set FM, which is nothing.
2. Leader sets SIX man FM. After the sixth is picked successfully the FM fires, not waiting for a change of mind.
3. Leader sets 5 man FM in a 6man fellowship. The fellowship does not pay attention and starts what they heard him say instead of what he set. This does not match so it does not fire instantly.
4. The 3rd place lags and the 4th, also not paying attention, hits his move. This allows the next guys to make it up as they go because the FM is not set. There is the normal pause, in case the 3rd guy gets the 4th guys attention and he changes his move so they just switch. (yeah that takes a lot of coordination)

*I* see nothing wrong with allowing the set to fire immediately after it is completed. If the leader doesnt want it to happen he needs to get on the ball and inform his ppl there is a change.

Now if I could lock my selection in so that WHEN I came back from lag land, I just needed to hit my color correctly and it would float into the right position, I'd be happy. Personally I think that takes away from the awesome feeling you get when you do get it off through the lag. Making things easy for me is not always good for the game as a whole.

I'll go along with this suggestion.

If you set a specific FM, Pure of Heart for example (GGGBB), and it gets inputted correctly, it should fire off almost immediately after the second blue goes in. Of course, until the colors are correctly entered, the normal length of time would apply.

I have found it quite frustrating to see many an FM get put in correctly, and then have us all standing around waiting for a few seconds for it to actually happen. There have been times when, if the successfully inputted FM would have just gone off a second or two quicker, it would have saved the lives of a few players. Getting killed by other mobs while you are standing locked in place waiting for the correctly entered FM to go off is not fun.

If folks don't like the idea of this being an automatic shortening, then perhaps they can add a pop up button for the party leader instead. As soon as the selected FM is correctly entered, the button would appear or be made available on the Party leader's screen and a click of this button would then fire off the FM immediately.

Originally Posted by Manawydan

If folks don't like the idea of this being an automatic shortening, then perhaps they can add a pop up button for the party leader instead. As soon as the selected FM is correctly entered, the button would appear or be made available on the Party leader's screen and a click of this button would then fire off the FM immediately.

(Sorry for the late replay; I missed your response when you made it.)

I like that idea a lot - give the leader the option to "make it so!" with a second click.