I never compared RDM to BLU, and I know full well that increasing our sword skill won't make any difference in getting parties, which is pretty much why I asked for it. The style of the Red Mage is a mage that wields a sword, this has always been the case. However, in FFXI, RDM sword use is continually being marginalized in all content, an increase in sword skill would show that at least SE is being faithful to the style of the job, rather then simply pretending it doesn't exist.

I don't want RDM to be an exceptional melee DD, what I want is to have meleeing be an acceptable option in some party based content. Things like it being acceptable for a RDM to melee down adds in delve/incursion/etc. Then when the party gets to a boss the RDM can fall back to the backlines and provide some assistance in a support role. A better sword skill would help to change player opinion about what is acceptable for a RDM to do.