They mentioned a new field operation type of content (so Diadem/Eureka/Bozja like). We don't know more than this.
Printable View
This is probably because you've never set foot in high end then. Not doing your positionals in there is literally griefing, at least in the first weeks.
I agree with the feeling, but as a counterpoint, I must point out that support roles have never been as popular. Queues were a lot more hardcore back then on DPS jobs. Tanks especially fare better, since they used to be THE job in need and today, it's more on healers although it's less clear cut.
I do them. I find them pointless because I don't parse. Also, I have done Savage. Granted, it was back in Stormblood, but I did it. I was a tank back then. My dps mattered, but I also didn't give a shit about it. I told my group that much as well. And they never complained about it. You're assuming I don't do them because of my feelings towards them. You are wrong categorically. You're also assuming the run of the mill average player is going to think missing positionals is griefing. Shit most of them can't move out of aoe markers and run away with the stack markers at level 90. It's madness.
I’m not sure how swapping tanks as the “pls I’ll pay you to join my party” to healers really shows any remote improvement in the state of support roles, healers have worse satisfaction than they did pre 5.0 and they have never had as sustained length of time with functionally instant queues, tanks seem to have mildly improved but I’m not sure if it’s actual improvement on the tanks part or if tanks looks relatively better because healers have gotten so much worse
Are you sure they're more popular now than they were before? It's very likely that people are more likely to casually play supports now because they're all roughly following the same mold so it's easier to swap within the role, also they made levelling a lot easier compared to the older eras so more people are likely to play more jobs. But if we're looking at people who main a role, I'd assume that a part of the people who main the tank or healer role would've left the role because of the massive simplifications.
Now, one can argue that the role is fine as long as there are people casually playing the role and replacing the vets who quit, but we have 2 DPS jobs that are pretty well-received coming. How many of the people who casually dabble in the support role would still play the support role after those 2 DPS jobs come out? And what would happen to said support roles if they fail to keep the newer players while also losing the older players?
You said meaningless, so it's possible we didn't understand the word the same way there. I only replied because they do indeed matter in challenging content, at least for a while.
If you meant meaningless in terms of design though... It's very divisive from what I've seen. Some people swear by them, some hate them (I do hate them, that's what does keep me in the rphys department for serious content).
I have never implied that support roles are faring better in terms of design. I think they are in a terrible state, healers especially, but tanks as well. I'm just saying the queues were more hardcore on DPS back in the days, which has to account for something (like Aravell said, more accessible, underlying battle mechanisms outright axed or simplified, less intimidating, etc).
I don't hate them. I just don't see your average player getting bent outta shape because they lost 60 potency on an attack. To me, at that level, it is completely meaningless. Sure, high-end people get their rocks off, but I don't see nailing a positional hard. And if you removed them, I could see the combat improving since that limitation is gone. You don't have to plan around them, and in most fights, they already don't. So why tow that line? They're basically irrelevant now.
Nor did I, I said that the swapping tanks for healers as the role that’s always in need doesn’t show the support roles are more popular like you originally implied The queues have been roughly stable, fluctuating based on the recently released jobs, queues may have been proportionally longer because there were less players but it’s not like any changes made since about SB have suddenly flooded the queues with support roles
As a player that started in vanilla HW, I do remember having notoriously longer dps queues, whether it was for targeted leveling dungeons, or roulettes (all of them). Tank queues were always instant (like healers today), and healers were somewhere in between. My point is that I always felt the need for support more dire back then. Could wrong, I don't have SE's data. But the point provided by Aravell above don't seem like a huge leap of logic to me.
The only thing I'm hoping for is that they don't dumb the game down further. I've been here since before HW launched, when we had "cross-class" abilities, and tanks had DPS and Tank stances. Back when aggro management was a thing. It's been sad to see so many features/skills/etc pruned away. SCH/SMN feels the most egregious; they removed enough skills/abilities to build a whole new class with it. I miss my DoTs. As a SCH, it gave me something to do during healing downtime, besides spamming Broil 60 times. :rolleyes: