BLU Balance

[Diavolo]

Makes sense, instead of asking for a change to allow you to play the job you want, just hop on the bandwagon.

What's stopping you from playing any of the 22 jobs?

One of my friends was recently playing RDM, another even whips out MNK sometimes and it's at the bottom of the barrel right now. Play what you like. If the people you play with won't allow you to do that then find more open minded people to play with. Many of the players on the more quiet servers claim the low population isn't a detriment to way they play the game. Well, this would be a good time to prove it.

I've been playing since March '04 with a couple of extended breaks in recent years. I know better than to hope for changes to come quickly, so I take advantage of the here and now.

[Vae]

What's stopping you from playing any of the 22 jobs?

One of my friends was recently playing RDM, another even whips out MNK sometimes and it's at the bottom of the barrel right now. Play what you like. If the people you play with won't allow you to do that then find more open minded people to play with. Many of the players on the more quiet servers claim the low population isn't a detriment to way they play the game. Well, this would be a good time to prove it.

I've been playing since March '04 with a couple of extended breaks in recent years. I know better than to hope for changes to come quickly, so I take advantage of the here and now.

Nothing physically stops you from playing other jobs. It's that it's inefficient (by more than an acceptable amount) to go on any job that isn't at least as good as blu. I'd like nothing more than to always be able to go on my main and favorite job. But it's unfair to the people I'm going with to make them work harder to make up for my loss in dps by not being on BLU.

Now some people don't grasp that concept. BLU is literally people just being polite. Realizing that other peoples time is valuable and it's the highest chance of success, because it's so obscenely imbalanced.

[Diavolo]

Nothing physically stops you from playing other jobs. It's that it's inefficient (by more than an acceptable amount) to go on any job that isn't at least as good as blu. I'd like nothing more than to always be able to go on my main and favorite job. But it's unfair to the people I'm going with to make them work harder to make up for my loss in dps by not being on BLU.

Now some people don't grasp that concept. BLU is literally people just being polite. Realizing that other peoples time is valuable and it's the highest chance of success, because it's so obscenely imbalanced.

Are we not playing a video game when we log into FFXI? This isn't a job. You aren't going to lose your ability to continue playing if you take 15-30 seconds longer to complete a battle on a different job. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're not logging into FFXI to make money as fast as possible with a boss judging your every move.

There are 22 jobs in this game and they will never be 100% equally balanced. Even if that utopian setting was possible (what a frighteningly boring image that paints) you still have to deal with a wide variety of skill levels from one player to the next. That's not a weakness, it's a strength. Why not accept it and take advantage of everything the game offers you?

[Eckamus]

You can play anything you want. Being on BLU doesn't mean you can do anything by any means. To be completely honest it depends primarily on the skill level of the people you play with, like Diavolo said. A good example is when I had to tell someone to step down to D Intense because the 2 BLU's we were running with were unable to kill it on VD. We did fine after that on D. They were LS mates and they don't play as often as everyone else. So we adjusted to fit their skill level. The other DD was MNK. Imagine that a MNK doing better than 2 BLU's, but by no means is MNK in a good spot. That job needs a lot of adjustment to fix it. That is a whole other topic though.

Also, I want to look at the Avatar fights. I really can't see any BLU doing them solo in ~3 min. Since they will likely die to the magic damage dealt. You need a GEO for Vex and Attunement, then you can do them in that time frame. Likely on more than just BLU. A lot of times people define it as solo, but it's really them and their mule. I can't say this is the case, but i see no other way a BLU or anything can solo those fights as a close quarters DD without a GEO. Please link a video if you actually have someone soloing it in that time frame. Would be interesting to see.

[Dale]

Are we not playing a video game when we log into FFXI? This isn't a job. You aren't going to lose your ability to continue playing if you take 15-30 seconds longer to complete a battle on a different job. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're not logging into FFXI to make money as fast as possible with a boss judging your every move.

There are 22 jobs in this game and they will never be 100% equally balanced. Even if that utopian setting was possible (what a frighteningly boring image that paints) you still have to deal with a wide variety of skill levels from one player to the next. That's not a weakness, it's a strength. Why not accept it and take advantage of everything the game offers you?

Agreed.

People obsess over this idea that all jobs need to be balanced to the point it ruins the game for them. They are so worried about another job supposedly being better than them at something that they forget what video games are actually suppose to be about - and that is having fun.

If your job is fun to play then it is basically fine. This game never has been never will be or should be 100% balanced. That would make for a very boring game. And these players who obsess over minutia and refuse to group with jobs they believe to be inferior would find reasons not to group with you even if the game was 100% balanced.

Because their balance argument is just the excuse they use. The real reason is there own sense of elitism - and SE can't fix that.

[Urthdigger]

Agreed.

People obsess over this idea that all jobs need to be balanced to the point it ruins the game for them. They are so worried about another job supposedly being better than them at something that they forget what video games are actually suppose to be about - and that is having fun.

If your job is fun to play then it is basically fine. This game never has been never will be or should be 100% balanced. That would make for a very boring game. And these players who obsess over minutia and refuse to group with jobs they believe to be inferior would find reasons not to group with you even if the game was 100% balanced.

Because their balance argument is just the excuse they use. The real reason is there own sense of elitism - and SE can't fix that.

It's a matter of scale. I'm not going to demand that every job be PRECISELY equal, that just leads to bland gameplay. But it definitely needs to be closer than it is today. Back at 75 cap, everyone knew SAM was the best melee, but you COULD still do merits and various endgame events as other melee. Compare that to nowadays, where playing a DD besides BLM or BLU is relegated strictly to LS members taking pity on you. The difference between jobs is so vast these days that for a lot of events people would rather have an EMPTY SLOT than take a lot of the jobs out there.

This isn't just about being "so worried that we forget to have fun." It's about being able to play with people on the job we choose. It's about knowing full well that we're dragging our group down. It's about knowing that this fight that's kicking our ass could be so easily resolved by simply stepping into line and picking the same job as everyone else, that our own stubbornness is making things drastically more difficult. That the promise of all these jobs to play is a lie, and that the list of feasible jobs for any content is so drastically smaller.

[Dale]

It's a matter of scale. I'm not going to demand that every job be PRECISELY equal, that just leads to bland gameplay. But it definitely needs to be closer than it is today. Back at 75 cap, everyone knew SAM was the best melee, but you COULD still do merits and various endgame events as other melee. Compare that to nowadays, where playing a DD besides BLM or BLU is relegated strictly to LS members taking pity on you. The difference between jobs is so vast these days that for a lot of events people would rather have an EMPTY SLOT than take a lot of the jobs out there.

This isn't just about being "so worried that we forget to have fun." It's about being able to play with people on the job we choose. It's about knowing full well that we're dragging our group down. It's about knowing that this fight that's kicking our ass could be so easily resolved by simply stepping into line and picking the same job as everyone else, that our own stubbornness is making things drastically more difficult. That the promise of all these jobs to play is a lie, and that the list of feasible jobs for any content is so drastically smaller.

I find that this game is more balanced than it was in the past.

Back in the ancient days of 75 cap - a lot of jobs just sucked and were awful to play. That is not the case today.

If you want to feel like you are dragging your group down just because you are not playing the most efficient job possible for any given situation - then perhaps it's time you re-assessed. As a previous poster alluded, games are about having fun. This isn't a job, and your goal should not be to accomplish something as quickly or efficiently as possible. It should be to have as much fun as possible.

I am open to legitimate criticisms that have some effect on gameplay. But when it comes to this argument that my job sucks and this other job is OP simply because so and so job can do it faster - I don't find that persuasive. That would require an exact balance to combat that kind of criticism - and that would in effect ruin this game.

Also: it's a myth that everyone is playing either Blue Mage or Black Mage to do endgame events. Who ever told you that doesn't know what they are talking about.

[Urthdigger]

I find that this game is more balanced than it was in the past.

Back in the ancient days of 75 cap - a lot of jobs just sucked and were awful to play. That is not the case today.

If you want to feel like you are dragging your group down just because you are not playing the most efficient job possible for any given situation - then perhaps it's time you re-assessed. As a previous poster alluded, games are about having fun. This isn't a job, and your goal should not be to accomplish something as quickly or efficiently as possible. It should be to have as much fun as possible.

I am open to legitimate criticisms that have some effect on gameplay. But when it comes to this argument that my job sucks and this other job is OP simply because so and so job can do it faster - I don't find that persuasive. That would require an exact balance to combat that kind of criticism - and that would in effect ruin this game.

Also: it's a myth that everyone is playing either Blue Mage or Black Mage to do endgame events. Who ever told you that doesn't know what they are talking about.

The only jobs I recall really sucking back at the 75 cap were BST and PUP. Most of the jobs weren't optimal, sure, but they weren't useless either.

As far as dragging the group down goes, you seem to be missing the point. This isn't about min/maxing and squeezing every second out of the kill time as you possibly can. This is about differences drastic enough to easily mean the difference between success or failure. If you'll excuse the hyperbole, imagine if you decided to show up to an endgame event wearing nothing but level 1 gear. When people object, you state that it's what's fun for you, and they shouldn't have a problem with it. And that likewise, you have no reason to feel bad for your performance. Now, the difference may not be QUITE as drastic as that, but the feeling is the same.