enmity
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Final Fantasy XIV outlines changes to the enmity systems
Enmity, hate, threat, or whatever term you prefer is a big part of combat in any MMO. It's the principle around which the concept of a tank is based, the idea that you can have one person responsible for drawing the attention of monsters. And in Final Fantasy XIV, the process of holding that enmity was complex, lacked an indicator, and was generally difficult to gauge. As part of patch 1.18's major battle system overhaul, the functions of enmity are being changed, streamlined, and improved to make tanking more straightforward for all players. Monsters will be gaining a new indicator for enmity, allowing each player to effectively judge whether or not to hold back on attacking based on enmity. Similarly, the process of accumulating, holding, and dispelling enmity will be significantly streamlined. Final Fantasy XIV players fond of taking on the tanking role will want to take a look at the breakdown, which promises to make threat that much easier to hold on to.
The Daily Grind: Threatening
While not every MMO features aggro mechanics (Second Life is remarkably free of them, for example), nine times out of ten endgame content will at least peripherally involve someone tanking something big and nasty. Usually with claws. And in almost every case, tanking involves a series of mechanics about threat. There has to be some reason why the big nasty is targeting the character in four-inch-thick armor with a shield instead of the robed priest that has a coughing fit when she walks too quickly, after all. For the upcoming expansion, World of Warcraft's team is considering making some changes to threat mechanics, something that Spinks summarizes and rails against quite eloquently. It does raise the question, however, of how responsible a tank ought to be for managing threat. How big a part of gameplay should tanking actually be? Do you prefer games where you never have to worry about threat, or games where tanking is a very near thing? Which game do you think featured the most engaging methods for holding enemy attention that you'd like to see more of?
Ninja to be enhanced with Final Fantasy XI's July update, paladin screams already heard
The rivalry between ninjas and pirates is nothing compared to the rivalry between paladins and ninjas in Final Fantasy XI. The two classes have been dueling for years over the space of "best party tank," and have regularly traded the position back and forth thanks to Square-Enix intervention.However, it seems that with the new July update, the tank position may once again veering towards the hands of the ninja thanks to the job enhancement spotlight falling on the assassins from the east. July will be adding the new job ability "Yonin," which will increase a Ninja's enmity (hate gain, for other MMO players), critical strike rating, ninjutsu tool use and evasion, but lower their accuracy. Sounds like a tanking ability to us! (Except for perhaps that accuracy down part, but we'll look past that for now.)
