What is even the difference between ATB active, wait, and recommended.

[Arthur Morrigan]

I'd tried out all of these and can't find any difference. Enemies still attack me as I navigate menus even when I set it to wait.

[PureRok]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย AirborneMuffins:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Improper Use:

It does not work like it should.

On the PS1 if it was set to 'wait' you could afk on your turn

absolutely untrue for any FF title. Ever.

Well, not all of them. There are several that don't use the ATB system and are 100% turn based, and so you could actually just AFK on your turn until the end of time.

But, in FF games with ATB, you are correct.

I personally never liked the ATB system and have always preferred pure turn based gameplay, so I always set it to wait and the slowest speed.

[Improper Use]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Kiran:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Improper Use:

It does not work like it should.

On the PS1 if it was set to 'wait' you could afk on your turn

you are actually wrong. even in original ps1 version the wait applies only when you are in menus that chooses targets, magics, summons and items not in the list of commands itself

you are correct. my statement was not!

damn it!

[NBOX21]

While you can't pause during gameplay either (one of the few blemishes on an otherwise amazing game), you can pause during battle if you need to take a break or take some time to think about your next strategy.

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Spider:

Guys, if "wait" made it so that time didn't pass while sitting at the menus, when exactly could it pass? It doesn't pass during attack animations, it doesn't pass while selecting a spell or item, so if it also didn't pass while sitting at the initial selection during combat, time would never pass, and you would never be able to attack to begin with.

In wait mode, time still passes either once you've selected your command and are about to execute said command (after selecting your target) or if you haven't selected a command during your turn (like attack, magic, item, etc.) but not during most attack animations like summons or limit breaks. So time will still pass if you're not doing anything, which can still be used to your advantage.

You will see TIME change to WAIT in the bottom right above the ATB bars if time has stopped during battle, and then back again when the flow of time returns to normal.

[Xengre]

Just use the pause command if you want to go afk as stated. The real intent of the Wait, Recommended, Active is for how you pursue combat and the impact is actually overwhelmingly significant.

With wait you can use magic, summons, and items strategically in a meaningful way. Use this if you want to use magic and summons frequently, or honestly at all.

Recommended is okay if you want to rarely use certain casting type abilities but you will be surprised at how much time is lost in the menu scrolling to it, even quickly, and before the time stops at the start/end of an animation which can give bosses a significant edge as they have priority and speed typically. Unless you are using a very powerful spell (almost exclusively just a few enemy skills, or Cure magic, Choco/Mog for 99% of the game) anything other than a command based move is a bad idea most of the time.

Active gives group fight advantage to multiple enemies but allows the player to abusively wail on the boss with typical attacks. Certain buffs like barrier/mbarrier are weaker here due to how fast they deplete but you also complete battles much faster because you build ATB and almost always get 3 turns between boss attacks. Here attack is simply superior to the point only the most overpowered magic (excluding Ruby Weapon fight), is viable, even on casters like Aeris (a great example would be bird fight when Yuffie steals your materia there are magic fire/bolt 3 items you can use from the shops against boss... try that tactic with Aeris in party vs just spamming attack on active/recommended even with Aeris and see how much easier attack spam is in that fight. The overpowered magic would be E.Skill's Beta and other elemental AoE spells, White Wind, Big Guard, and the basic heal Cure (until WhiteWind with HP Plus materia), Choco/Mog (paralyzes bosses like Aeris 2nd limit break).

[Elder Whale]

Holy ♥♥♥♥, the gatekeeping in this thread. If I want to pick my ass or write this comment while wait is selected I should be able to. Why do the gatekeepers give a ♥♥♥♥?

[DonutSteel]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Festive Whale:

Holy ♥♥♥♥, the gatekeeping in this thread. If I want to pick my ass or write this comment while wait is selected I should be able to. Why do the gatekeepers give a ♥♥♥♥?

Thank you

Everyone says "pause" but my problem is fast forwarding the game makes it much harder in a supposed "turn based" game. I should be allowed to take my time in a "turn based" game.

[DonutSteel]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย DogsAndCats:

Maybe they just want to argue? I'm just going by what I remember and what the game manual says. Could be wrong. Anyways, great game. Going to unsubscribe from this discussion.

This is super toxic. You are labeling me "just want to argue" just because I want to be able to take my time in a TURN BASED game. Honestly what a toxic mindset. No wonder gamers are labeled toxic.

[ColdNhungry]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย DonutSteel:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย DogsAndCats:

Maybe they just want to argue? I'm just going by what I remember and what the game manual says. Could be wrong. Anyways, great game. Going to unsubscribe from this discussion.

This is super toxic. You are labeling me "just want to argue" just because I want to be able to take my time in a TURN BASED game. Honestly what a toxic mindset. No wonder gamers are labeled toxic.

It's been explained quite clearly that it is not how the game functions. Your assumption that it is fully turn-based combat is wrong. Not accepting reality and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on others who are explaining how the combat works is the actual toxic mindset here. You need to check yourself.

[ColdNhungry]

FFX for comparison was fully turn based, no? I haven't played that one since it came out, but it had queue window on the top right showing the order of the next five or so turns. I don't exactly remember the mechanics for how spells like haste would work though. Maybe rearrange the queue? I'll have to give that one another go soon..

[Psyduck]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Spider:

Guys, if "wait" made it so that time didn't pass while sitting at the menus, when exactly could it pass? It doesn't pass during attack animations, it doesn't pass while selecting a spell or item, so if it also didn't pass while sitting at the initial selection during combat, time would never pass, and you would never be able to attack to begin with.

maybe they are talking about stopping the enemies from attacking while scrolling through the battle menu, not about stopping time from passing

[-$ilver-]

I remember playing the PS1 version and trying the different options. They basically all felt the same to me, so I stuck with the default. If the game touts different versions, they should really feel different, not basically all the same.

[(Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Spider:

Guys, if "wait" made it so that time didn't pass while sitting at the menus, when exactly could it pass? It doesn't pass during attack animations, it doesn't pass while selecting a spell or item, so if it also didn't pass while sitting at the initial selection during combat, time would never pass, and you would never be able to attack to begin with.

They could have created a separate attack ordering system that just uses the Speed stat itself to set the order when the game is set to Wait, rather than using it to configure ATB fill speed, but I’m guessing they still wanted the visual of the bar filling so they didn’t do that.

[(Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Dargsy Wargon:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย (Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr:

They could have created a separate attack ordering system that just uses the Speed stat itself to set the order when the game is set to Wait, rather than using it to configure ATB fill speed, but I’m guessing they still wanted the visual of the bar filling so they didn’t do that.

I think that would completely mess with the game's balance, not that it was great to begin with.

Probably not as much as you might think. Shorter battles would probably be no different in order.

[Schala 天]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย DonutSteel:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย DogsAndCats:

Maybe they just want to argue? I'm just going by what I remember and what the game manual says. Could be wrong. Anyways, great game. Going to unsubscribe from this discussion.

This is super toxic. You are labeling me "just want to argue" just because I want to be able to take my time in a TURN BASED game. Honestly what a toxic mindset. No wonder gamers are labeled toxic.

Then play a turn based game.
FF4-9 is not turn based, it runs on active time battle, which isn't quite the same thing, but almost.

Does "Active Time battle" sound like you're supposed to spend 10 minutes on your turn?

[Xengre]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย DonutSteel:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย DogsAndCats:

Maybe they just want to argue? I'm just going by what I remember and what the game manual says. Could be wrong. Anyways, great game. Going to unsubscribe from this discussion.

This is super toxic. You are labeling me "just want to argue" just because I want to be able to take my time in a TURN BASED game. Honestly what a toxic mindset. No wonder gamers are labeled toxic.

I wouldn't normally reply to something like this and you will probably not see it but your post is what is toxic here. This is NOT a TURN BASED game. This is an ATB based game. If you want turn based you should be avoiding the entire Final Fantasy franchise except Final Fantasy X (don't touch its sequel btw lol). You would be better off with games like Legend of Dragoon, Legend of Heroes series, Shadow Hearts Covenant, Xenogears, Persona games, etc. But not a franchise and game famous for its ATB system... That is on you and no one else, nor is it BS. Grow up.