On Red Mage melee...

[Hyrist]

Who cares what the archetype is?
o/

Who cares what the class is called?
o/

This game thrives on it's archtypes, it was the primary draw for the majority of it's playerbase, and int continues to be a draw for people. In spite of all of it's flaws and benefits, the one thing it will always hold over every other MMO is that it is THE Final Fantasy MMO.

You think Archetypes aren't important. Take a look at how FFXIV is changing their 'unique' jobs back into those archetypes.

You can debate how 'awesome' (lol) a mage Red Mage is/was, whatever. But you're never going to bat down the desire to have more of the jobs Archetypical role and capabilities, ever.

And honestly, you can easily achieve it without harming the back-line role people have come to enjoy. You're arguing it down out of dislike for the players that desire it and how it differs from your viewpoint. Rather than looking at the entirety of both sides objectively and seeing the easy compromise that could benefit both camps and Red Mage's identity as a whole.

[Merton9999]

From a mechanics perspective BLU is decent. I don't like how it plays, nor what the class entails. Besides, a scimitar and pointy shoes don't even come close to replacing the pimp hat and rapier.

Agreed. This is exactly why I would love it if RDM functioned liked BLU. BLU outfits are atrocious. I continued with RDM after it became a Cyclist just because I wanted to wear the chapeau.

To the "Go play BLU" crowd: I already play BLU because it's what I wanted out of RDM mechanically. I'll continue to suggest that I be able to do it in a pimp hat, thanks. I'm sure that makes me the poster child of everything that's wrong with the FFXI playerbase, so be it.

Actually, maybe when I grow up I'll have the existential maturity to look past symbols and other such trappings, and be a better gamer. Nah, somehow I think when the Gaming Intelligentsia has their way and turns FFXV into a hamburger tossing match, that'll be the first midnight release I skip.

Seriously, I don't know how the parsing and spreadsheet obsessed have gotten to such a point to suggest that imagery doesn't matter in a video game. My only reasonable guess is it's just a hysterical attempt at making a play style preference seem like a principal.

As Hyrist continues to point out, there's no reason RDM can't do both.

[cidbahamut]

It's not that it doesn't matter at all, it's that it doesn't matter when it comes to class design. Honestly, if the appearance is that important to you but BLU gives you what you're looking for mechanically then just get the PC version and edit the .dat files so you wear the pimp suit.

[Stylin]

ITT: Progress is "damaging" to the game.

The reason this thread has 1000+ posts is not because a compromise is impossible; this lies on your shoulders for having the hubris to tell other people they're not allowed to want something.

[cidbahamut]

ITT: wasting time and resources on trivial things instead of making meaningful adjustments is "progress".

[Supersun]

ITT: just because you don't care for the lore of the final fantasy series means the Dev team isn't allowed to take 2 minutes to change 5 lines of code that would satisfy 99% of these complaints and every change in this game has to be relevant to you.

Seriously, your anti-melee rdm fanaticism is starting to scare me Cid. Your crusade is starting to borderline Starcade level obsession.

[cidbahamut]

I'm anti-stupid, not anti-rdm. Red Mage is the job I play pretty much to the exclusion of everything else. Sorry if you can't tell the difference.

[Seriha]

Some irony, Drjones.

[Greatguardian]

ITT: just because you don't care for the lore of the final fantasy series means the Dev team isn't allowed to take 2 minutes to change 5 lines of code that would satisfy 99% of these complaints and every change in this game has to be relevant to you.

Seriously, your anti-melee rdm fanaticism is starting to scare me Cid. Your crusade is starting to borderline Starcade level obsession.

You're right. I forgot. The Devs just have a magic switch somewhere in their office that allows them to make Red Mage Melee good. They just never turned it on. No worries, I'm sure if you rabble about it enough they'll consider exerting the enormous amount of effort it would take to turn that switch on and everything would be hunky dory.

Oh yes and I obviously love crushing the dreams of other people. That's totally the only reason I post here.

[Swords]

ITT: wasting time and resources on trivial things instead of making meaningful adjustments is "progress".

You know progress is always preceded by trial and error, and SE can only predict how the audience will react to a new adjustment. If everything was going to go to SE's original plan NIN would have never been a tank, RNG would have never needed to be nerfed, we would still be in balanced parties, and zerging would only be referenced to Starcraft games.

Most of these "trivial" things are usually taken out of context to what SE originally intends, even if the "trivial" item fits the "Archtype" of the class. THF are all about treasure and trickery, thus get abilities like steal, mug, despoil, SA, TA, and TH. Not all those abilities are considered useful especially in a party setting, but they're there and are a part of the job. RDM is no different in this aspect, it's based off a fencer/magic swordsman Archtype and gets things like en-spells and composure for the melee side and buffs, nukes, cures, and enfeebles for the magic side.

Weather or not players consider one aspect viable, useful, or useless is a different story, but no matter how much SE listens or chooses not to listen there are folks who are still going to be unhappy and think anything that's changed that might deter a job from it's current state is the worst thing that could happen to the job.