"Play what you want!"

...Is a completely useless, and even problematic response to someone, especially newbies, asking questions about what class they should play.

Op: "Hey I'm trying to decide on the one meaningful decision we're allowed to make in the game andI'd like some insight."

Some dude: "it doesnt matter! If you care about your contribution to your party and/or balance you're playing wrong! Play what you like!"

It's an awful attitude to have towards a game centered around group play and generally only serves to generate salt in the community over underskilled players at best. Discuss.

Well, it depends the kind of achievement you're personally aiming for.

If you're just playing couple hours a week/month, and are not even trying to step into raid content, and you're more enjoying the variety of different jobs on the same character, then your statement is absolute correct.

But if you're one of these players, despite the fact that you might be new, are willing to learn and min/max one job on one character, with the goal of end game raiding (hardcore/world first etc) then this statement is wrong, but that player wouldn't be asking tho, he/she would knew already before starting, what race they are playing with, because min/maxing starts already there.

Then you have the player base, that in every game, runs to the forums right from the beginning, asking what class/job is OP. And will return the moment a new patch/expansion or job changes have been made, asking the very same question. These players mostly is what I call "wannabe's" no offense, and these players also will only play a job, that the community declares as OP that day/month/year. Running from one PF/RF to another, trying to get clears, but having no idea how to play their jobs. Then this statement is correct as well, however I wish, we could remove these kind of people from actual raid or party finder content, since it's a waste of time trying to explain to them, how the game works etc.

However, if you have players, that just want to play the way they want to play, sadly this isn't really possible in this game, and will show the moment they step into the duty finder, for their first dungeons etc. You can not, like other games, as example make your healer dex build etc.

Therefore at the end of the day, people should ask for the goals/achievements of the person, before suggestion a class/job to new comers, and give them some points to look up, so they can decide at the end what's best for them. Just saying play what you like to everybody asking, is not going to work 90% of the time. My 2 cents.

I don't see how this is "problematic". 9 times out of 10, that newbie doesnt even have a foundation to form a decision off of, and "play what is fun" is a perfectly valid, if not the most valid advice you can give. the other 1 time is an alt that never even asked in the first place.

Do you know each and every person that asks on a personal level so that you know their exact tastes and skill levels in order to recommend the ideal job for their specific needs? No? Neither does the rest of the population.

I honestly feel like you give any person that needs a genuine and specific answer to a question like this too much credit. If they need that guidance, you shouldn't then defend that they should then make "the one meaningful decision they're allowed to make" on their own. Seems a little backwards to me. I know I would love to have some advice from more experienced people before I jump blindly into tht important of a decision. I think it's called "an educated decision"? or was it "Research"? Oh, what do I know?


Compound onto this the fact that party finder, duty finder, heck, these forums themselves, all push this crazy agenda called "The Meta" and tend to assault any players that don't fall in line. Newbies sure love getting bullied for their decisions they made all on their own, right?

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Originally Posted by LunaFaye

snip snip is not going to work 90% of the time. My 2 cents.

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More or less yeah. More details for helpful responses is great. Just telling them play what you like is almost always going to be useless.

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Originally Posted by Fluffernuff

I don't see how this is "problematic". Snip. I know I would love to have some advice from more experienced people before I jump blindly into tht important of a decision.


Compound onto this the fact that party finder, duty finder, heck, these forums themselves, all push this crazy agenda called "The Meta" and tend to assault any players that don't fall in line.

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It's like you don't understand, but then do, and then don't again so you counter your point.

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Originally Posted by Umbeliel

It's like you don't understand, but then do, and then don't again so you counter your point.

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It's not a counter. It's a continuation to the topic.

If you genuinely need direction, would you rather have an, in your words, an open and unhelpful guidance? or someone shouting jargon you don't understand in your face waving a big stick?

"play what you want!" was, to my knowledge, formed in defiance to the whole meta pushing thing to begin with.

If you don't play what you want and are not happy with your class, then why are you playing if you're not having fun? Any content can be cleared with all classes (so long as people learn how to play them) and only the most obtuse elitist scum will kick because of the class.

If you don't like a class you are never under any obligation to play it. someone who tells you otherwise has no idea what they speak of.

No is not, cause ppl should play the class/job they like, is that simple.


https://media.giphy.com/media/3XiQswSmbjBiU/200.gif

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Originally Posted by Fluffernuff

It's not a counter. It's a continuation to the topic.

If you genuinely need direction, would you rather have an, in your words, an open and unhelpful guidance? or someone shouting jargon you don't understand in your face waving a big stick?

"play what you want!" was, to my knowledge, formed in defiance to the whole meta pushing thing to begin with.

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Both is good. Play what you want is neither.

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Originally Posted by Umbeliel

game centered around group play

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Teaching what to do (i.e explaining mechanics) is quite different from telling them what they should be. "Play what you want"
is the right thing to say because no one should be carbon copy of everyone else. What's the point of playing if someone else
already plays it for you?

Depending on what the group is. Group of friends would know the person asking and can provide specific answers.
Group of strangers will never tell you to play this or that job/race unless they're jerks. Simple as that, applies same for mentors .

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Originally Posted by Umbeliel

generate salt in the community

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I don't understand what you mean by this. They get bullied because some groups don't want particular jobs or race?
I've never heard a raid static doing this, I've seen dps checks for screening process but not in my life imagine being racist like that.
There's a fine line when it comes to describing the community. This is not it.

It depends on context. Usually, I'll respond by asking them what they prefer playing, style wise. If they say ranged, I'll recommend casters or Bard/MCH and go from there. When someone in brand new though, it's completely meaningless to talk about what jobs perform better or synergize. That level of depth only matters in endgame content, which they aren't going to be participating in for some time.