Raeje Draeka

When a male character is the strongest one, he’s “badass” and “the favorite of the bunch”.

People: “Oh wow, he’s the coolest ahhhhhhhh!”

Female Character: *is aloof and distant*

As I’ve become more interested in Nai becoming a performing character after she’d carried the desire to do so in her heart secretly for a long, long while I’ve investigated quite a bit into what exactly influences macro timing. I found that macro timing was strangely randomly inconsistent, even sitting alone testing them in the inn room. 

The XIV community figured out a long while ago that FPS influences macro execution speed because many client events are tied to client performance, the faster your game runs the faster your macro executes, the faster that macro executes in your client the faster it can be sent out by your client. Obviously this can mean the difference between a world first and failure to progression raiders.

But what might not be known is that macro <wait> command execution can be affected by unstable fps and variance in frame time.

What is frame time? Frame time is the time it takes for a program to render a frame. Frame time is a much more nuanced assessment of performance because it can vary wildly within the same FPS measurement. 

Frame time can be too high or too low. Ideally frame-time should only change when fps changes expressed as 1/fps - so an ideal frame time for 60 fps would be 16.6 - with frame time lowering as FPS increases. 

But if frame time is too fast - let’s say a 10 ms frame time outputting 60 fps - then problems can occur. The most commonly observed problem with out of sync frame time is what’s known as the “micro stutter”, that is a “snag” in the performance of your game despite a “steady” fps. 

So back to my macro timing problem. I figured out that differences in frame time can cause a <wait.5> command to actually execute as if it were a <wait.5.20> command. That is, instead of waiting five seconds, the macro will wait 5 and 1/5th seconds before executing. 

Why does this happen? I don’t have access to XIV’s source code, but my software engineer (which is my career) guess is that the <wait> command’s “counting seconds” can be delayed by variance in frame time because a “second” can be completed out of sync with a frame being rendered and pushed out to your display.

What does this mean for performance roleplayers in XIV? It means your frame time should be as stable as possible if you want your <wait> commands to execute as you expect.

I limit my frames per second in XIV with nvidia profile inspector, free software that allows you to do a lot more with your gpu than the default control panel allows. My gpu limitation on XIV is 59 fps because XIV’s animation physics fail beyond 60 fps. I have a 200 hz monitor with gsync, so the frame rate limiter XIV provides in the system configuration doesn’t properly keep my fps at 59, so I used gpu driver limitations instead. 

What I didn’t know is that gpu limitation isn’t perfect. It actually allows variance in frame time as pictured here:

Note that 14.9 ms is not close to the 1/fps ideal, which in my case is 16.9. I saw frame times as high as 20 ms and as low as 11.4 ms all while maintaining a “steady” 59 fps. Please note that variance in the fps graph is because the fps is actually varying in the tens of millseconds.

I’ve found that this variance of frame time within the same fps will always happen if XIV’s frame rate limit setting is set to “None” even if you’re not limiting your game fps with the gpu or the game is running buttery smooth to your eyes, as was the case with my circumstances. Note that I haven’t tested this out on AMD gpus and the doubtless countless configurations that are out there in the wilds so there may be exceptions I don’t know about.

Here’s the fps and frame time with frame rate limiter set to 1/1:

Look at that! Near perfect frame time with no variance whatsoever. Under these conditions the <wait> command executes exactly as I expect it to 100% of the time.

So what’s the tl;dr regarding precise macro timing with the <wait> or /wait command? During performance role play that uses precise macro timing be sure to set the frame rate limiter in system configuration and be sure that your computer can hit that frame rate limit. For some of you that means performing your song/act/whatever at ½ rate (30 fps for most of you) because you can’t hit 60 fps in a crowded event.

As I’ve become more interested in Nai becoming a performing character after she’d carried the desire to do so in her heart secretly for a long, long while I’ve investigated quite a bit into what exactly influences macro timing. I found that macro timing was strangely randomly inconsistent, even sitting alone testing them in the inn room. 

The XIV community figured out a long while ago that FPS influences macro execution speed because many client events are tied to client performance, the faster your game runs the faster your macro executes, the faster that macro executes in your client the faster it can be sent out by your client. Obviously this can mean the difference between a world first and failure to progression raiders.

But what might not be known is that macro <wait> command execution can be affected by unstable fps and variance in frame time.

What is frame time? Frame time is the time it takes for a program to render a frame. Frame time is a much more nuanced assessment of performance because it can vary wildly within the same FPS measurement. 

Frame time can be too high or too low. Ideally frame-time should only change when fps changes expressed as 1/fps - so an ideal frame time for 60 fps would be 16.6 - with frame time lowering as FPS increases. 

But if frame time is too fast - let’s say a 10 ms frame time outputting 60 fps - then problems can occur. The most commonly observed problem with out of sync frame time is what’s known as the “micro stutter”, that is a “snag” in the performance of your game despite a “steady” fps. 

So back to my macro timing problem. I figured out that differences in frame time can cause a <wait.5> command to actually execute as if it were a <wait.5.20> command. That is, instead of waiting five seconds, the macro will wait 5 and 1/5th seconds before executing. 

Why does this happen? I don’t have access to XIV’s source code, but my software engineer (which is my career) guess is that the <wait> command’s “counting seconds” can be delayed by variance in frame time because a “second” can be completed out of sync with a frame being rendered and pushed out to your display.

What does this mean for performance roleplayers in XIV? It means your frame time should be as stable as possible if you want your <wait> commands to execute as you expect.

I limit my frames per second in XIV with nvidia profile inspector, free software that allows you to do a lot more with your gpu than the default control panel allows. My gpu limitation on XIV is 59 fps because XIV’s animation physics fail beyond 60 fps. I have a 200 hz monitor with gsync, so the frame rate limiter XIV provides in the system configuration doesn’t properly keep my fps at 59, so I used gpu driver limitations instead. 

What I didn’t know is that gpu limitation isn’t perfect. It actually allows variance in frame time as pictured here:

Note that 14.9 ms is not close to the 1/fps ideal, which in my case is 16.9. I saw frame times as high as 20 ms and as low as 11.4 ms all while maintaining a “steady” 59 fps. Please note that variance in the fps graph is because the fps is actually varying in the tens of millseconds.

I’ve found that this variance of frame time within the same fps will always happen if XIV’s frame rate limit setting is set to “None” even if you’re not limiting your game fps with the gpu or the game is running buttery smooth to your eyes, as was the case with my circumstances. Note that I haven’t tested this out on AMD gpus and the doubtless countless configurations that are out there in the wilds so there may be exceptions I don’t know about.

Here’s the fps and frame time with frame rate limiter set to 1/1:

Look at that! Near perfect frame time with no variance whatsoever. Under these conditions the <wait> command executes exactly as I expect it to 100% of the time.

So what’s the tl;dr regarding precise macro timing with the <wait> or /wait command? During performance role play that uses precise macro timing be sure to set the frame rate limiter in system configuration and be sure that your computer can hit that frame rate limit. For some of you that means performing your song/act/whatever at ½ rate (30 fps for most of you) because you can’t hit 60 fps in a crowded event.

Dragon Tree Hotel & Lounge Presents

Poetry Night

Balmung Goblet

Ward 5 Plot 49

Sunday, September 9th

Dragon Tree Hotel & Lounge Presents

Poetry Night

Balmung Goblet

Ward 5 Plot 49

Sunday, September 9th

Dragon Tree Hotel & Lounge Presents

Poetry Night

July 15

Balmung

Goblet

Ward 5 Plot 49

To preface this, I don’t know Oz on any level. This post is not made to defend them in any way, nor excuse their actions. I don’t know if there is any truth to their claims of receiving a threatening email with their personal information attached, but regardless of whether it’s true or not, I felt this post was necessary to make. I am writing this not as somebody who has any knowledge of Oz, but as somebody who has also been doxxed.

Doxxing is always illegal, whether it is done against a federal employee, a state employee, or a regular person. There are federal and state laws that specifically address doxxing government employees. With regular citizens, doxxing falls under various state criminal laws, such as stalking, cyberstalking, harassment, threats, and other such laws.

This is the second time that an anonymous gossip/hate blog has been shut down due to private information belonging to members of our community being published, shared, or used to threaten people online, and I feel that this is something of a problem. It is an issue that there are people in our community who believe that this kind of behaviour is acceptable.  

There is no justification to dox somebody. There is no excuse. There is no good reason to publish private information about a person on the internet. There is no way to know somebody’s true intentions online, and there’s no way to know just where that information could end up, or how permanently it could damage a person. 

Sharing private information goes beyond the realm of juicy internet gossip. It’s much more than ‘tea spilling’, or rumour-mongering; it’s straight-up malicious, and it’s a crime. 

If you see somebody engaging in this behaviour, hold them accountable. Don’t let it slide. Speak up.

To preface this, I don’t know Oz on any level. This post is not made to defend them in any way, nor excuse their actions. I don’t know if there is any truth to their claims of receiving a threatening email with their personal information attached, but regardless of whether it’s true or not, I felt this post was necessary to make. I am writing this not as somebody who has any knowledge of Oz, but as somebody who has also been doxxed.

Doxxing is always illegal, whether it is done against a federal employee, a state employee, or a regular person. There are federal and state laws that specifically address doxxing government employees. With regular citizens, doxxing falls under various state criminal laws, such as stalking, cyberstalking, harassment, threats, and other such laws.

This is the second time that an anonymous gossip/hate blog has been shut down due to private information belonging to members of our community being published, shared, or used to threaten people online, and I feel that this is something of a problem. It is an issue that there are people in our community who believe that this kind of behaviour is acceptable.  

There is no justification to dox somebody. There is no excuse. There is no good reason to publish private information about a person on the internet. There is no way to know somebody’s true intentions online, and there’s no way to know just where that information could end up, or how permanently it could damage a person. 

Sharing private information goes beyond the realm of juicy internet gossip. It’s much more than ‘tea spilling’, or rumour-mongering; it’s straight-up malicious, and it’s a crime. 

If you see somebody engaging in this behaviour, hold them accountable. Don’t let it slide. Speak up.

Mysterium, the Ivory Tower, is holding a monthly open house!

Bring us your magickal problems, your wounds in need of healing, and your spells that need breaking, or just come by to enjoy the performance, talk shop with fellow mages, check out our massive library, or enjoy free drinks in our lounge.

This month’s open house will be held on Friday, July 6 at 8pm Central Time at the Ivory Tower (Shirogane 16, 46).

Each month has a special performance. This month:

Dragon Tree Hotel & Lounge Presents

Poetry Night

July 15

Balmung

Goblet

Ward 5 Plot 49