[Job Adjustmentｓ Manifesto] RDM

[Eeek]

I believe I speak for nearly everyone though when I say that single target party buffs are just not fun.

Any sort of party enhancement spells should find another way to spread themselves then having to sit there and manually click every single person in your party with every single buff.

If I wanted to perform mundane repetitive tasks more often I'd just go ask for more hours at my job where I actually get payed for it.

There's really no fun in subjugating people to do the types of tasks that machines were built for.

(also, fencer would be nice for AE cleaving with /sch. Situational, sure, but still has a use)

Level.

A different.

Job.

Your moogle has 19 other jobs to choose from. Cycling buffs is a simply fact of life for every mage in FFXI. Even BLMs, at least the ones who aren't loling over getting 2-shotted all the time, have to routinely cycle their defensive buffs.

And besides, it's a little odd to complain about repetitive tasks in an MMO.

[Hyrist]

There's a difference in volume and task relations there, Eek.

Leveling a job isn't fixing a flawed game/job design, it's avoiding it.

Honestly though, I don't think the teidum would be so bad if there was more to buff with, or if the duration increases were across the board without need for full AF3+2.

If they're going to do it right, and turn RDM into a buffer/debuffer class of the caliber they're claiming, we're going to need more buff variety, and better buffs in general. It's just insulting the way they described this job when it falls SO far short of the mark, and their track record for giving Red Mages new spells and abilities is razor thin.

[Covenant]

What are the "numbers"? Is my general themes for all "Manifesto" SE threads.

Even before Scholar came on the scene, if felt it was important to get RDM off the enhancing cycles(haste and refresh). I prayed for hastaga and refreshaga. Then Scholar with accession came on the scene and I cried foul. But with the additions of composure and /sch accession some of the imbalance was redressed. However, moving forward I'd like SE to expand RDM/scholar Accession capabilities to include Haste, Haste II, Gain types, and Enspells II's. Keeping these RDM exclusive accession would make RDM shine again even if we couldn't swing out swords. Just being able to accession Haste or creating a "Hastaga" would free RDM enough so that we could swing more, conserving MP for Increased hea,ing and nuking.

Finally, "instant-cast" job ability on our next spell...or, close to it. Even if 10 min timer would be cool to have. This would add another option other than /sch and darks arts parsimony?

[Deadvinta]

I'd be one hundred percent OK with SE taking away our buffing role and giving it to Scholar. Then we can focus on being a swordplay and enfeebling class. A saboteur.

[Duelle]

I'd be one hundred percent OK with SE taking away our buffing role and giving it to Scholar. Then we can focus on being a swordplay and enfeebling class. A saboteur.

I could live with this. I do wonder how the naysayers would react to this, though.

[cidbahamut]

I could live with this. I do wonder how the naysayers would react to this, though.

The level of profanity would make sailors blush.

[Greatguardian]

Honestly though, I don't think the tedium would be so bad if there was more to buff with, or if the duration increases were across the board without need for full AF3+2.

That's just the thing, though. What is so wrong with simply getting full AF3+2 to increase buff duration? Job fixes and enhancements don't have to be universal. There has to be a legitimate difference an awesome, well geared RDM and a full AF1 RDM that doesn't use macros.

People realized in late 2009 that Paladin really wasn't as durable as people made it out to be. In fact, other jobs like SAM, NIN, DRK, and MNK were able to take even less damage than Paladin while dealing more! So what did SE do? They added Ochain, a god-tier Shield on the casual-friendly Empyrean path, which easily made Paladin the most durable job in the game. Does that mean that SE needs to add even more global durability boosts to Paladin? No way. There is absolutely no reason that every single person who goes into their mog house and tells their moogle to change them to Paladin should be entitled to being indestructible.

Likewise, there is absolutely no reason that every single person who goes into their mog house and tells their moogle to change them to Red Mage should be entitled to having significantly relieved buffing rotations. You earn that extra time by putting the effort into gearing your job well.

Does this mean it becomes significantly harder to melee or keep up all of your buffs when you're not geared well enough to reduce your buffing time commitment? Sure. Hell, does it turn around and make melee completely nonviable in some situations? Sure. Is that a fault of the job or the Developers? Nah. AF3+2 is casual content. Empyreans are casual content. There's really no reason that everyone can't complete at least one set.

Therein lies the difference in perspective between some of the camps, though. The question becomes, should a job be good naked and better with gear, or bad naked and good with gear? Anyone without good gear, without gil, without any drive, or resources, or friends, or knowledge about the game, and/or desire to learn about the game is going to pick the former. Anyone with good gear, with gil, with drive, with resources, with friends, with knowledge about the game, and/or with the desire to learn about the game is going to pick the latter.

SE chose for us, though. They picked the latter. The Developers are far less forgiving than even the most "elitist" players. If X job is useless for an event, the Devs will say "Well go change your damn job". If Y job is unable to do something without nice gear, the Devs will say "Well go get nice gear". And frankly, I'm fine with that. FFXI is not, and has never been, a casual game.

[Supersun]

Cycling buffs is a simply fact of life for every mage in FFXI.

You misunderstand what I mean by cycling buffs. I don't mean pressing macros 2-9 so I can buff myself every 9+ minutes

What I mean is Haste, Refresh, Other Spell, Haste, Refresh, Other Spell, ect... aka, the TouA merit party where 1/2 of your time is spent cycling 3 different spells because SE didn't think it was a design flaw to create single target buffs that were expected to be kept on 6 people that only lasted 3 minutes.

Edit for GG: It'd just be better if the cycles were relieved for both the person with and without gear while the person with the gear has more powerful buffs instead of the static crap we've been dealing with.

[Greatguardian]

Stuff's easier when you have nice gear. Conversely, stuff's harder when you don't. Fact of life.

[Supersun]

Stuff's easier when you have nice gear. Conversely, stuff's harder when you don't. Fact of life.

Except in a TouA merit party where a naked Rdm could essentially perform the same job as a fully geared Rdm?

Because pre abyssea we neither got duration OR potency to our buffs.