Simple question to everyone whose been playin FFXII. Do you use the active setting which allows battle to continue while giving commands (attack, magic, etc.) except when changing the party leader or do you use the wait setting which will pause the action while accessing the command menu?

I like the Wait setting because it made the change to ADB system alot easier for me. I like gambits, but with the Wait setting I feel that I have much more control over the entire party. With Active I feel I'm only controlling one character and 2 bots are helping me out. I never used Wait back in the ol' ATB days but with this extreme shift to ADB, Wait makes it feel more like an FFX style fight with a twist.

Wait, all the time. Tried with active, but I like to take some time to make some decissions, whether to cast cura or curaga, slow or blind an enemy, etc.

I've been using Wait.

Eventually I'll fiddle with Active but I couldn't be bothered while I'm still getting into the game.

I use wait. I like it... I like to be able to think my moves through. Especialy even more with this one being that everything is real time, so ... imo ... less time to think than previous FF's. Just a personal thing for me.

currently set to wait. maybe i'll get faster later and will want active. but not now. i'm still getting used to the fighting.

Always on "Active". "Wait" does become boring after a while.

Of course, I haven't played the game and probably won't bother for quite a while, but it seems to me that all setting it to Wait does is nerf the game's difficulty a bit and allow you to bypass the intended system in favor of a "For Dummies" mode, which sounds pretty silly to me.

not to me. i need that time to think things through. i've never been a quick thinker. its only until late in the game when i can go through menus hella fast that i'd go for active. but it makes no diffrence to me. going active doesn't make you a better gamer or whatever. it'll simply help force the memorization of the menus and nothing more. i'll take my time with that thank you.

Prak like you said you haven't played the game, so you are kinda ignorant. Wait just makes it feel more like what I'm used to for Final Fantasy games, I'm still in active time battle withdraw.

Good point Tact. Glad I'm not the only one using wait like i thought i was.

Even with wait, you still have to rummage through the commands. The only difference is that you're not getting your ass handed to you while you're trying to select the steal option.

The active and wait options are the same as in previous FF titles, so it doesn't really make it feel any different. I personally have never played a FF with active on it, and I don't prefer to. I like ot take my time to think out my attacks. Just like chess

i just use gambits and really never control anybody so it doesn't matter

Prak like you said you haven't played the game, so you are kinda ignorant. Wait just makes it feel more like what I'm used to for Final Fantasy games, I'm still in active time battle withdraw.

Actually, you're wrong about that. I was returning some movies to Blockbuster yesterday and saw them putting FFXII out on the shelves, so I said "What the hell" and rented it.

After checking it out first-hand, I must say that using wait is definitely the "For dummies" method. See below for elaboration.


Even with wait, you still have to rummage through the commands. The only difference is that you're not getting your ass handed to you while you're trying to select the steal option.

The active and wait options are the same as in previous FF titles, so it doesn't really make it feel any different. I personally have never played a FF with active on it, and I don't prefer to. I like ot take my time to think out my attacks. Just like chess

FFXII is meant to play like a MMOG. If you look at it from the proper frame of mind, using Active is actually very efficient and causes you to lose no time at all. All you really have to do is wait a moment to finish inputting your command so that your character finishes his/her current attack. If your timing is good, there's no pressure to it (as you've described) and it really makes the game feel more tactical and involving. Of course, if you truly want to nerf the difficulty any way you can, that's your own prerogative.

I don't feel that i"m nerfing anything. You still have to wait for your command to queue up and you still have to wait for the next one to become active. However.. what I like about wait is that I can actually take my time to decide what ability I want to use rather than rushing through the menu.

i remember back when in ff7 and ff8, i was so damn fast with the menu's. lol. good ol days. i would just slaughter enemies. i was so good, that when i recorded myself beating ultimecia in ff8, i intentionally slowed down and let her hit me a few times cause i was nailing her so bad in the final battle and stuff. when i showed it to my friends, they thought i was slow. lol


but anyway, in ff12, i do very much feel i'd get wooped if i dind't have it on. the main reason because, i had no idea i can queue up commands...O_o?

are you saying i can maybe do this

attack
fire
attack
heal
attack

all in succession before my char even executes the first one and it'll remmeber? wtf? i don't remember the tutorials telling me that! i only remember it telling me that i can tell him to attack, make him do other stuff, and i never have to tell him to attack again cuase he'll do it by himself. that's all i remember.

that's awesome if i can queue up commands. i'd give him like 20 all in 2 seconds and then just watch. lol

i kept waiting for my chars to do the first thing i told them before giving them new commands. O_o

am i wrong? did i just confuse myself? i'm lost now. >.< battle system more confusing than i first thought. thanks for nothing guys! now your all gonna have to help me understand it again. lol

Wait, currently. Will probably change to Active once I get used to the battle system a bit more.

Oh, and Prak, you don't set the game to Wait mode and nerf the difficulty. The game is set to Wait mode by default. Now whether leaving the default setting is "nerfing" it, I dunno.

Yeah Agent, I noticed that last night when my brother gave it a shot. I don't remember ever setting it to Active, but I guess I must have. Either way, it's not a big deal or anything. I just find it way too easy using Wait.

I'm truely not asking this to be a smartass Prak, but how far are you?

Definately using WAIT

I started out on Active but the lists get so long later into the game that it's impossible to get the kind of strategy off that some later foes take.

I think if you set up your gambits exactly as you need them for your current situation then active mode works fine. I like giving every command though

Yeah, I would agree. If Gambits highly suit your style of play, then Active mode might be okay. But if you're one who relies more on entering commands in the menu and on Gambits as a crutch, then Wait mode is a better choice.

I generally walk around in active mode with gambits on. When I fight bosses, I tend to use Wait to macro-manage the battle. There are some apparent "flaws" of the game that encouraged me to use Wait:

1) the game can only render one animation at a time. So if you have Ashe casts Cura and Vaan casts Fire on an enemy, unlike in MMORPGs where everything happens simultaneously in FF12 you have to wait for one of the action to finish its animation (albeit very fast) before another action can be executed. Practically speaking you lose combat time and speed and put yourself at a disadvantage because during the wait time, your characters aren't doing anything but to wait for the animation to finish. Perhaps it's the limitation of the hardware, I don't know, but it's a shame and it does impact gameplay quite a bit.

2) for the person with questions about queuing perhaps can find the answer above

Hope it helped.

Wait.

I use active early on when fights are easy, later on active is too hard for me -> i find i have to manually cast or use things to get rid of status effects that esuna doesn't cover.

I prefer active. Wait tends to make the battles boring imo. The only time I turn on wait is when im facing particularly hard bosses/marks.

I alternate frequently

I mix both, but well, I think that the best is Active Mode, because it's more hard, and I like challenges more than anything.

Wait Mode it's good too, but I still thinking that is a little bit boring in that way =Z

But well, some bosses are hard, on that way I choose Wait Mode.

After all, the game is for enjoy it, not for say what thing it's better than other everytime when you play. That's what I think

I use both...

Generally, on bosses, I use Wait. You never know exactly what the boss is gonna do so sometimes you have ot change your actions on the fly and not rely on Gambits so much.

However, the most fun part of the gameplay for me is to set up gambits that work PERFECTLY for a given situation so I never have to open the menu. It just feels so SLICK to see your guys doing just what you want because you constructed your licenses and gambits so perfectly. When I'm just fighting regular opponents, I leave Active on. It makes things much more exciting. I do like having the option to switch to Wait if things get too hot though. :)

I wish I had that sort of mastery over Gambits myself, but I just don't have enough Gambits yet. I'm hoping I find another shop with some good ones soon.

I found that I like 'wait' the best.

Ummm...Wait mode IS a little easier then playing in Active mode, and thus, I pick Active.

I was doing wait for a while but I realize my guys are sitting to finish casting something while I am deciding. Now I am on active now

I find Wait too easy, because you can manage to do four sets of quickening to a boss without the boss even moving!

Active on the other hand adds that thrill to gameplay, putting fighting RPG style on the edge, because I guess just like when you fight in real life, whether weapon or not, you have to be quick witted and execute your moves fast to be successful.

This actually relates to another poll - "are you a risk-taker, or cautious?" I consider myself a risk taker b/c I run headlong into new areas fighting every enemy I come across, however I use Wait mode since I'm always learning about new enemies and how best to attack them - something of a conundrum, no?

Anyway, I guess in the end I just haven't bothered to try out Active mode yet - Wait is what I'm used to from previous FF games, and it was the default. Maybe I'll chime in again once I've played around with Active mode.

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If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

I play in Wait too because it was the default, but after reading this thread, I may try active for regular battles, wait for bosses and marks.