The underlying problem with FFxi is... a long post >_>;
The underlying issue with the job in-balances in this game is not due to the fact a certain job has or doesn't have a certain trait or ability to rival another jobs ability to do something else of specific value.
It's the entire system in which hate is generated. I've been poking around the new job abilities being introduced soon and i thought to myself this can't be the answer...
Being a thief since i started this game a year or 2 after NA release i got thinking about how hate is compiled. Thieves have been dissatisfied with updates to the job since Assassin's Charge, but lets not get into that... Thieves main purpose was always to manipulate the flow of battle by placing hate namely on the tank.
Since Abyssea, i don't mean to ruin jobs independence, but, with a good enough Whm, any DD orientated Job can tank the vast majority of that which this game has to offer. Square-Enix used to be against Ninja's tanking but now welcomes it it seems. How about Mnk Whm Thf War Drk Bst Sam Drg Blu Pup Dnc tanking zone bosses and the like in Abyssea. Each job even without an Empy, (I'm living proof, i have Guillotine tanked more NM's than i can count) though some with (like whm), can do this simply with pdt, mdt gear and a decent Whm.
Ironically the only job specifically built for tanking wasn't on the list (pld).
For all these jobs keeping hate off the whm is relatively simple and you don't need any calculator to tell you how,
Do
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..
...
....
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Damage.
150dmg critical strike is 150dmg critical strike. In terms of Hate generated, for all jobs, the only difference is if you're doing any actions with any form of enmity+ on, which is, nowadays irrelevant.
Do enough dmg to keep hate off the already near hate free, Cure5-6, Carabosse Atma, -enmity geared whm, not hard, bam you have an insta tank. Job ability enmity generation doesn't matter anymore. /war's provoke is nothing more than a pulling JA. Soul eater has massive enmity Pull? Sure doesn't show.
What i feel needs to be done, but will never be done knowing SE, is how Threat is calculated on each job individually. I'm talking Decay increased for certain jobs more than others.
It gives tanking back to the jobs who tank. It gives Thief it's job back, It gives jobs like summoner who are limited by things such as perpetual cost that give hate free Dmg a purpose, Puppet masters as well. Rapid threat decay for example would let Dark Knights unleash hell upon their opponents without worry of far too much punishment being dealt back. At the same time Warrior's threat May be slightly increased to force regulate the damage they inflict upon their opponents.
This is not to say i don't feel jobs need improvements, things such as Bloodpact timer restrictions should be far lower if not exist no longer, and the summoners MP should regulate, Steal despoil mug aura steal timers should be split up ect. But i just think we are going about this the wrong way. Sure New abilities help but they can only do so much when a person can cap hate with Kannagi in under a minute and a half.
This is all rather cynical of me, however this is what i feel is the underlying problem with FFxi, It doesn't have to do with individual jobs or how they perform specifically, but the threat generation. It's broken, not breaking. It's an Old system that worked fairly well but was beginning to fail around the time we Hit level 75 cap then became more evident the higher we went in terms of level and how the game has evolved.
Forgive the late post, and no doubt butchered English thanks to it being almost 4:30am.