•Unbridled Knowledge (Lv. 99) RDM

[Swords]

If you want complexities, play PUP or BLU, now that takes some know how, when it comes to RDM, I refresh, I haste, I cure, I regen if possible, I paralyze (II), I slow, and I blind if possible (oh and maybe pop of a nuke or two just to feel like I'm contributing other then sitting there with my thumb up my arse). I basically just nutshelled the role of a RDM, at least in Abyssea. And for those that say "Well thats Abyssea!", of course, because thats the only content that people are playing, and until that becomes obsolete, there is no point in discussing other content that I can practically solo on my 90 BLU or low man.

That's kind of an Oximoron, saying one jobs over the other simply because it's has a preconceived playstyle that differs from RDM or any other specialized job. RDM can be as complex or simple as you want it to be, same goes for BLU, PUP, or any other job.

Problem is many jobs have a predesignated setting within a group, not because of efficiency but because most players want to take the easiest route (this might coincide with efficiency but is not always the case). Once that becomes a norm, anything that goes outside of those preconceived notions instantly sends up a red flag usually with "wtf you doing" or "ur doing it wrong". RDM has fallen into this setting due to ToAU and many of even the pro-magic crowd have become bored with the drollness of cycles, and want something to spice up their gaming experience from the stagnated state that has befallen RDM (just not through melee). However, it's hard to break away from the preconceived notions without being met with opposition in one form or another.

Don't think I'm just talking about melee RDM either this goes for the mage side and can be applied to other jobs as well. In fact FFXI has had a long history of this. There was a time it was mandatory for melee's to have /THF leveled, all /NIN ever got anyone was called a "n00b", haste WAS considered negligible, and BLM's were the kings of endgame. Of course it took alot of opposition, trial, and error, but those people who stepped out of the norm eventually figured out better methods that eventually became the new norm. Even when SE came out swinging the nerf bat, players never went back to old methods they usually took on or adapted a new form of the current method even if it was more inefficient because it was the "preconceived norm".

Edit: I forgot to mention a noteworthy time when it was considered "optimal" for RDM's to come /BLM to Chainspell > Escape.