Anyone feel the game may be -too- standardized?

I haven't been keeping up with dev posts since the game launched and if anything has been said about this issue then please let me know!

While I usually like the simple approach to most games, I think one of the biggest appeals to MMOs is differentiating your character and building it into something your own. Not just aesthetically, but mechanically as well! And as of right now there's really no way to do that. Gear progression is a straight line (Which has resulted in some awful end game community elitism), Classes currently have no place within the endgame and might as well not exist, stats are incredibly bare bones with no room for unique character builds...I mean, the game just launched, yeah, but from what I've seen and heard during the game's development it's all very intentionally like this from their core design standpoints

Which honestly doesn't make much sense to me because the two -biggest- selling points of XIV, it's much more in depth crafting and gathering systems, and the skill swapping 'Armory' system, have no room to grow whatsoever. Crafting and gathering has no place in an endgame setup done with linear gear upgrades from dungeons, and Jobs are so rigid in structure that there's no room for playing with the Armory System (Partly due to the sheer stat upgrades and equipment pools granted from job stones, making classes near useless) Additionally jobs themselves begin to feel homogeneous due to the forced role groupings. I come from playing Blue Mage sub Dance in XI, which was an incredibly versatile job combination that could fill -any- role in the party if you built it right. I just can't see that ever working in XIV as of now, which is sad because those are my favorite types of classes to play

So yeah, just a small rant. Feel free to comment, or show me if the devs have talked about this at all (Would really appreciate it!)

I fully agree. The only difference to classes at lvl 50 is when someone doesnt take the time to get a cross class spell.

Conj 1 got quick cast
Conj 2 did not.

Not a whole lot of difference there.

I been highlighting this point few weeks ago and the white knight label me as crazy WOW fanboy trying to ruin FF14.
So, you too are crazy WOW fanboy for thinking like that.
Go enjoy the sunset and the wind blowing moment. Stop complaining.
The only issue with the game is the crowd noise is annoying.

I agree on a per class basis. However, I have multiple classes at level 50. So /shrug

It doesn't feel very different from World of Warcraft to be honest. I have a Shaman with a healing and caster dps spec. Arcanist feels a lot like that.

Only thing I would suggest for FF14 is having at least two jobs for each class.

Well there is nothing in the rule book that says you have to equip a soul stone for a party. In fact I think PvP is when we are going to see a lot more classes with mix matched abilities.

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Originally Posted by Dyvid

Well there is nothing in the rule book that says you have to equip a soul stone for a party.

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Aside hurting yourself and party performance? Absolutely - You gain too much by using your stone that it's fairly noticeable early game and end-game.

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Originally Posted by Jocko

Classes currently have no place within the endgame and might as well not exist

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Been saying this from day 1, from the introduction of the job system and until the class system is dead.

The class system does nothing but create a terrible anchor that weighs down any notion of jobs themselves being unique and fun.

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Originally Posted by Tupsi

Aside hurting yourself and party performance? Absolutely - You gain too much by using your stone that it's fairly noticeable early game and end-game.

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So you got proof of this? Last time i checked they can take alot of cross class skills vs a job, one might say they can be effective in their own way. Like i asked, do you have proof or are you relying on base assumptions?

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Originally Posted by ArcheustheWise

So you got proof of this? Last time i checked they can take alor of cross class skills vs a job, one might say they can be effective in their own way, if you don't have proof do not speak like you do. But thanks!

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I'll take this as sarcasm so no worries.

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Originally Posted by Tupsi

I'll take this as sarcasm so no worries.

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Ill take this as assumption, no worries.

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Originally Posted by ArcheustheWise

So you got proof of this? Last time i checked they can take alot of cross class skills vs a job, one might say they can be effective in their own way. Like i asked, do you have proof or are you relying on base assumptions?

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Problem is that jobs get a decent amount of extra attributes compared to classes.

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Originally Posted by ArcheustheWise

So you got proof of this? Last time i checked they can take alot of cross class skills vs a job, one might say they can be effective in their own way. Like i asked, do you have proof or are you relying on base assumptions?

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Yeah, why bother with getting bonus stats and Benediction on White Mage when you can just stay as a Conjurer and get cool skills like Featherfoot and Raging Strikes!

Or maybe I'll trade Hallowed Ground and Shield Oath from Paladin and get Haymaker and Feint instead!

So lets see im in game here right now. Considering you can get only SELECT cross class skills in conjunction with your BLM, and only 5 of those select. Vs me taking the stone off and having 10 cross class abilities, from a much BIGGER pool of abilties mind you not just select, one might say i can still be viable, very much so in fact.

After all why does vanya gear have thm on it instead of JUST BLM? Hmmm... INTERESTING isn't it? (btw i know the gear fact was something someone was going to try and slap me in the face so ill just ground that here and now)

Until someone has level all classes to 50 and actually tried it instead of assuming, im just going to say no one has proof otherwise aside from base assumptions

Simply equipping your soul stone shows you how much of a boost you get compared to just going as the base class - Raw output > a bunch of extra scaled down skills. Vanya was a set from 1.0 that was made to try to sway people into playing classes more, same with the original Relic Item bases.

Testing have been done, even during EA. You don't need "all 50s and all combos" to see that just equipping your job boosts your output simply because of the stat boost.

You get a big boost in base stats by equipping the job stone.

Which out weighs any additional ability you may get if you had 5 more slots.

there is also the relic weapon handout which is job only. so classes may as welll not exist. they are an inconvenience that dont add anything tbh. Sch and smn would of been better seperate too since they share stat allocation meaning you have to use 10k seals each time to not be gimp if you want to play the other job.

I don't think classes being useless is an issue. They are intended to be buildups for a job, a phase to experiment. Common practice for many asian MMO's where basic class A turns into advanced job B, like RO or Lineage to name a few.

The highlight of this post for me is the customization of endgame Jobs. As OP said, one of the main selling point is the armory system and the ability to swap Jobs take cross-class abilities. However the current pool of total options given to players is indeed very poor. Some you might even question it's existence. Why would any self respecting BLM take ruin? Why was it placed as an option at all? What's the point of PLD being able to cast cure and heal only for 200 or 300? Questions only the Dev team can answer.

The reasonable argument here would be to have some side abilities a player can choose from while maintaining the current jobs uniqueness. Having a DRG casting fire would smudge job identify a bit. Still that doesn't mean to be void of all interesting picks. Cross class abilities have so much potential. You could add specific bonuses or procs.

Give PLD's cure a boost in potency but a long CD, give BLM's ruin as a dot, something to make all choices compelling and fun.

They could do this. Give jobs a "prime" ability slot in which they take 1 abilties from another class which is higher level.
e.g pld could choose cure2 , repose or medica. Blm could choose ressurection ,shadowflare or bio 2 , smn could choose fire3 , thunder 3 ,sleep or blizzard 3

classes could be given multiple prime slots.

It is up to se though and their "vision" how much they want to limit us =P. Currently jobs are very boring and cookie cutter . everyone ends up the same. Not to mention how everyone looks the same.

In ffxiv 1.0 and even 1.23 the cross class ability list was much larger.

I like it the way it is. Last thing I need is seeing a dps trying to act like they are a healer in a dungeon...

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Originally Posted by Genjisamurai

I like it the way it is. Last thing I need is seeing a dps trying to act like they are a healer in a dungeon...

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I'd assume they put in cross-class abilities for a purpose. If PLD aren't mean to pop a heal of some kind, why the link with it with cure?
You're right though, tank should be tank and healer should be healer. By no means should PLD be able to cast cure like a CNJ, but give that cure something so it serves a purpose that fits the Job named Paladin. Otherwise they might as well remove it as it is a useless placeholder.

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Originally Posted by sharazisspecial

They could do this. Give jobs a "prime" ability slot in which they take 1 abilties from another class which is higher level.

classes could be given multiple prime slots.

It is up to se though and their "vision" how much they want to limit us =P. Currently jobs are very boring and cookie cutter . everyone ends up the same. Not to mention how everyone looks the same.

In ffxiv 1.0 and even 1.23 the cross class ability list was much larger.

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That's an cool idea, would love to see it balanced and implemented. I think they just took the system from 1.0 and balanced it a bit. Didn't really add depth to it besides animation, timing, and basic mechanics. I can hardly imagine the pressure that comes with improving the game from 1.0... Must have a lot on their plate. Happy with the results so far but expect more depth from skills in future!