Check out the hottest discussions from the previous week in the FFXIV General Forum.

The newness of Patch 1.18 has worn off a bit, but we're starting to learn more about what's in store for the next big update. Granted, we already know some of the juiciest information -- such as the alleged implementation of airships and chocobos -- but in the past few days Square Enix has dropped some tidbits about tweaks to the user interface and battle system. As usual, these items have been met with mixed results, but that's to be expected.

I've had a busy week in real life, with parenthood and work distracting me from life in Eorzea, but I'm looking forward to some weekend free time spent battling baddies on my Gladiator.

On with the links:

Title: Improvements to the Action Bar and Unit Frames

MAKE IT BIGGER! Yeah, yeah, I couldn't resist. But in all fairness, that looks like Square Enix's plan of action to remedy this problem (whatever the problem is). My question is how making the hotbar bigger will allow me to target party members easier? In a small party at the end of last week, I had the hardest time targeting my linkshell mates to cure them in battle -- we died a couple times because of it. Hopefully the hotbar fix is accompanied by more meaningful UI changes as well.

Title: Official Darkhold Tactics: Just Bring 6 Mages!

Not only is Final Fantasy XIV becoming more like FFXI, specifically the game is becoming more like Divine Might -- just bring mages! Players are collectively groaning over a magazine's finding that the best way to get all five chests of the Darkhold dungeon is to have a party of five or six mages, which has undoubtably left many people wondering what will be left for the eventually samurai job to do. SE had better be careful about making battles and dungeons that require truly balanced efforts, otherwise we'll be right back to pigeonholing jobs and the whole armory system will be for nothing.

Title: Updates to Combat System and Auto Attack

By and large, the implementation of auto attack was 1) a success and 2) good for the game. However, some players complained about the slow pace of battle (it is?) and the slow TP gain (say what?). Fortunately, the development team replied to concerns stating it has no plans to increase the speed of auto attack rounds, and that haste gear and other items will offer bonuses to attack speed. The development team also seems satisfied with the rate of TP gain, but says new skills will be added that do not operate on TP. That's a good compromise that should satisfy the players who want to open up each fight with a special move.