When I heard about the 7.2 BLM changes, I expected that the shorter cast times and loss of timers would result in less engagement and satisfaction in the moment-to-moment job experience.
But what I didn't expect was how those shortened cast times would impact the feeling of casting each individual spell. And there's no spell where I'm feeling this difference more than Flare.
On paper, a reduction from 3 seconds to 2 seconds of cast time might not seem like much in terms of game feel. And yet, when I cast Flare now, despite it having the same visual effects, the spell feels like it lacks weight and power.
If I had to take a guess as to why, I'd posit that fantasy media has taught us that the longer a spell takes to channel, the more powerful the result will be when the cast is completed. And alongside that there's the natural psychological process of anticipation: the longer the spell takes to channel, the more our anticipation for the result builds, and at the moment of the cast all of that anticipation gets released, and that release has a feeling to it, a weight.
So now that Fire and Flare have the same cast time, they feel much more similar to cast, even if their effects are meaningfully different. And in my subjective opinion, it's a bummer to lose part of what made this iconic spell feel more weighty and powerful.
That's one more layer of disappointment I have about the BLM changes that I wanted to post as feedback.
Continue reading...
But what I didn't expect was how those shortened cast times would impact the feeling of casting each individual spell. And there's no spell where I'm feeling this difference more than Flare.
On paper, a reduction from 3 seconds to 2 seconds of cast time might not seem like much in terms of game feel. And yet, when I cast Flare now, despite it having the same visual effects, the spell feels like it lacks weight and power.
If I had to take a guess as to why, I'd posit that fantasy media has taught us that the longer a spell takes to channel, the more powerful the result will be when the cast is completed. And alongside that there's the natural psychological process of anticipation: the longer the spell takes to channel, the more our anticipation for the result builds, and at the moment of the cast all of that anticipation gets released, and that release has a feeling to it, a weight.
So now that Fire and Flare have the same cast time, they feel much more similar to cast, even if their effects are meaningfully different. And in my subjective opinion, it's a bummer to lose part of what made this iconic spell feel more weighty and powerful.
That's one more layer of disappointment I have about the BLM changes that I wanted to post as feedback.
Continue reading...