[dev1049], [dev1042] Feedback
Hopefully i will have more time to go over this post a bit later and get more detailed. As these updates have not yet passed, i suppose i could be wrong in assuming many things.
[dev1049]
Firstly with the new weapon skill releases i am worried that future merit point upgrades are forcing players to long term specialize in a general attribute. Im always fine with upgrades to something a character has already learned at a previous level or throwing in a couple merit/learn-able abilities with which there are still enough category points to cover everything else. I also understand what i do not like, i can re-merit to change. What i dont understand is the lack of learning weapon skills regularly through skill, skill/quest scenarios. Players now seem to be forced to specialize for long term or be possibly considered gimp. It makes it difficult to balance your character how you want while still being useful to your group. I like the idea of meriting already learned weapon skills individually or maybe have more general merit options like "Improve WS accuracy", "Improve WS attack power", Improve WS skillchain bonus", etc.
[dev1042]
Next most i feel more than slightly irked that where Scholar does not even know Regen IV yet at 95 that they somehow get Regen IV (which i have no problem with scholar having), and Regen V (which i do have a problem with white mage not even being able to learn when scholar can!) next update. I understand there is a problem with scholar currently being desirable to play and balance fixes are needed, but it feels people have forgotten what the job names in themselves mean. A white mage is supposed to be a curative master, not a single basic healing spell should be passed up by them.
Back when Treasures of Aht Urhgan was released Paladin (along with many other "less desirable" classes) received a fair amount of upgrades. Better enmity control through edited abilities, some merits further assisting those abilities, auto-refresh, and shield mastery. It didnt just let Paladin finally be a very good tank in exp parties, but let them have more than a grain of notorious monsters they could effectively tank. The latest patches have given many jobs wanted improvements and a couple were left behind again. I feel that no party wants a Paladin tank anymore regardless of the situation. There are few notorious monsters that paladin can tank without difficulty and after trying ninja myself it definitely feels that paladin has a very unfair set of disadvantages. The few things that paladin are given now for hate control are too long of a cool down to be of much use such as Divine Emblem + Holy II (dont even bother wasting the mp otherwise if the job ability is not up).
A couple things i think paladin are missing:
*Better enmity control abilities that are straight forward or maybe just job traits that increase enmity naturally.
*Job traits that further a paladins defense or magic defense, probably more like damage reduction since defense is meaning a bit less now.
Whereas this article has been entirely about my grievances with the upcoming patches i want to note that i do enjoy the direction Final Fantasy XI is going and i feel as if the best days are still ahead. Before the forum there was not much in ways of communicating these ideas to the development team and this is what i wanted to start with. Also where i have only talked about balancing ideas for 2 jobs i do understand that others need balancing too and that is probably a subject for those who know those jobs better than i do.