A %T is <<<<<SLOWED>>>>Follow

Get over it, I think they are fun to read and they add to the role playing.

The first time a very few might actually be amusing. Mostly they become annoying, repetitive and add nothing to anything - least of all roleplay.

Hotbuttons? Hell I type them all out by hand.

"Complete heal to %T"

I mean...you people do know how to type right? It shouldn't take more than 2 seconds to type a few short words.

Cherick tells the group, All Slow

The raid situation is even more critical. Our Guild Raids have always been hot on this. Offenders get 1 polite request to edit them, followed by 1 instruction if the request didn't work. Ignore that and they're kicked from raid.

And yes, some (few lately) are funny the 1st time.

Awful wordy, but better.

I'm a really fast reader so even if they have a four-line message I can usually read it in time, so I don't have a problem with long messages.

Besides, even if I couldn't read fast at all I still probably wouldn't care. The reason for this is that, in general, people tend to tell you what they're doing in the first couple of words AND THEN give their quirky little message. Still gets the point across, but they get to have their little bit of fun.

Honestly though I prefer short-ish messages. Four lines IS too long, but two is perfectly cool with me.

Ok, I'm a minimalist, I hate all the combat spam. If it gets to long, I usually quit reading it. Which then causes me to miss some of the more important messages, ie. RUN!!, Evac!! etc.

Also with my cleric I don't announce heals, except for CH. I figure if I'm doing my job, you'll know it. I don't need to tell you I'm doing my job. And other than calls for assist, mezzes, slows and maybe debuffs all the rest is just clutter. My CH message is something along the lines of "CH incoming on %t, please stay in range." Other than that, it seems like a lot of wasted effort.

I agree but disagree...

Keep it one line yes but not so short/small that it gets missed in chat or battle spam.

Have 2 sets of hot keys..one set for raids when you really want members to see that you have whatever slowed or healed who ever.

Another set for group where you want group members to see the message but not anoy the hell out of them.

There are certain things that require messages, certain things that don't. I always have a message when I pull. It allows people to see what we're up against and be prepared. No one needs to use it for assisting me though, since they should be assisting the tank after he engages (who assists me when I call for it). I only provide messages for anything else (mezzing, chain mezzing to break gates and CHs, debuffing, slowing, etc) a few times, then I won't do it anymore. People should understand that I'm on top of it by then.

Adds should always be called so the CC can take care of them in case they didn't see them. Group buffs should be called so I don't run out of range just before it lands (as Kelti pointed out already). If we only have one healer, heals don't need to be announced, but all members should be ready to take alternate action if they don't get healed by a certain percentage. If the cleric fizzles and can't get a CH off in time but can get a quick heal, the tank should be ready to hit a /disc when he's at 20% without even thinking about it.

This is all taking for granted that you have a group that knows what it's doing though. Since pickup groups are almost guaranteed to have at least one complete idiot in it, your mileage may vary and you'll have to adjust accordingly.

As a Cleric i announce all my heals just so the grp knows it is coming and i am not napping. They are 1 line hot keys.

I have a train hotkey that is in all caps so the zone knows trouble is coming.

I have a group emergency hotkey saying zone now zone now zone now all in caps.

Our Enc uses a 4 line hotkey for Kei which tells not to use McDonald's as they ruin the rain forest to raise beef or similar to that lol.

Playin a sham means there are many types of roles I play. Truth to tell playing with buddies (guild or friends) we often agree that we will all do our job, and buttons dont really come into it... I like this kind of play, but it only works with genuinely trusted and competent players.

Heal hot buttons are important if more than one healer is operating. The TANK don't need to know you are doing a 10sec cast (what is the poor sap going to do anyway?) but the other healer has to know.

For those who "just type them" this is not optimal. A hot button can include the exact heal message (or slow message) edited for the gorup situation, and the cast command as well.

I allways hotbutton my Canni V... scares healers witless when you drop 2k and no mob is near. In pick up groups I also tell the healer to leave canni repair to me with Q.

Malo aint important to hot button (or cripple and such) UNLESS you are teaming with other casters and the sequence is critical.

One problem with hot buttons is if you incorporate the cast command, what do you do if you fail or fizzle? For that reason I cast Slow normally, but hot button the success message.

By the way "slow" by itself is a command or request. "Slowed" would do it.. "%T is slowed" is ideal I think. You could add for higher planes a choice of "is slowed" or "is partially slowed".

Have a "%t resisted my spell" button as well if such information is important (eg mellee is not going to engage till mob is slowed).

The hot button system is highly idiosyncratic, and could well do witih a makeover. I'm thinking a dialogue where you can easily edit and set up your buttons a set at a time, with "click to insert mobs name" buttons.

It's funny but I never understood why support classes feel the need to justify themselves within the group by spamming all sorts of hotkeyed messages.

True there are some situations(mez, pacify and CH being the main ones that come to mind), where a hotkey is needed so that group members know not to run for their lives, or not to touch a certain mob, but really, if you're an enchanter or shaman isn't your job in the group to slow the mobs? If you're a cleric isn't your job to heal?

The only time I can understand you informing the group about things like slow or malo is if they are resisted. That way the cleric knows the tank will be taking a bit of an extra beating until you can get a slow to stick, or the wizard knows to hold off on those massive nukes so he doesn't end up blowing his mana on resists.

It should be understood that unless stated otherwise, each group member is doing what they're supposed to be doing. I've yet to run into a rogue who has an "I'm backstabbing the mob" hotkey, yet it's pretty much assumed that the rogue is backstabbing regularly. Why constantly tell the group that you're doing the job you're supposed to do? Just do it and move on.