BLU Balance

[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.