MCH average nobodies?

I just got my MCH to 60 and I enjoy the mechanics of the class. I also like both steampunk and gun users. What annoyed me about the MCH was the lore. It essentially comes down to them being a bunch of average/weak nobodies who make up for their lack of skill by using guns? This doesn't sound like a badass hero. They couldn't make the lore a bit better?

I took it more as a "power to the people" story. They're an equivalent to the temple knights for the lower classes. A regular person who takes up arms and is able to fight on the same level as mages who practice accient arts thought to be lost to time and the like seems pretty badass to me.

Many would argue the opposite, the fact that they can get a lot of crap done despite being 'nobodies' is precisely what makes them badass in the first place. Their lore also sheds a lot of light on what the nobility thinks of commoners being able to fight as well ('honorable' vs 'practical'). And what's not skillful about being able to use guns? It's not as fancy as swordplay, but it gets the job done. Besides, gunplay is largely new (to Eorzea at least), your very soul crystal tells you this much.

Bards are kind of in the same boat too, in the sense that their quests so far doesn't place much emphasis on the Bards themselves (other than your character being the first -real- new Bard in a while and potentially setting up a new branch in the Gridanian military with Bards in their ranks), but building up the lore of the world in general as well (a disastrous battle VS the Ixals in the past, the legend of the Ballad of Oblivion, a Moogle colony used to exist in the Sea of Clouds that was wiped out, and the implication that a Siren beast tribe exists somewhere).

My point is that our MCH character is not "special" like the other classes. You could literally take any average Joe Shmoe and put them in our shoes and they would be able to achieve the same feats as us because it is not through practice/training that we are empowered. The entire "Warrior of Light" shtick doesn't make sense as the MCH.

Well, giving nobodies the power of death is the very concept of guns.

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Originally Posted by MomoOG

My point is that our MCH character is not "special" like the other classes. You could literally take any average Joe Shmoe and put them in our shoes and they would be able to achieve the same feats as us because it is not through practice/training that we are empowered. The entire "Warrior of Light" shtick doesn't make sense as the MCH.

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In the MCH questline, our character as well as one other are markedly better marksmen than the other MCHs and this has an effect on what we're capable of. While yes, the idea is "anyone can pick this up and shoot it" there is a lot of training the WoL did to be able to make some of the trick shots they are capable of.

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Originally Posted by Unholychinchilla

I took it more as a "power to the people" story. They're an equivalent to the temple knights for the lower classes. A regular person who takes up arms and is able to fight on the same level as mages who practice accient arts thought to be lost to time and the like seems pretty badass to me.

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Isn't this exactly the Rogue Storyline, but told AFTER the WoL is already the hero of legend, and thus makes less sense?

So it bothers you? With merely a bit of lead and a bit of gunpowder, a mere civilian can participate in battle. It doesn't require much aim. It doesn't require experience or training. It doesn't even require courage. With just a bit of science, those bits of scum on your shoes have become strong enough to lord over you. Status? Fame? Money? Skill? Talent? Dedication? All worthless in the face of a loaded barrel. Throw away your steel and pick up the nearest gun if you hope to win any time soon, else a bullet between the eyes will show you just how equal we are.

A gun is a devastating weapon, not for the destructive power that it wields, but with the simplicity in its design and the ease of use it takes to wield it.

The story is supposed to have more of an emphasis on rising against the social norm established by the old order in Ishgard. To show that the common man can be just as deserving as any seasoned knight for the right to a rightful place on the battlefield.

It does pose a curious question though: now that they have proven themselves to Ishgardian nobility, what direction will their story go?

I don't know about you, but I like the idea of change and upheaval that comes with the MCH storyline. don't get me wrong, a gun is a weapon a commoner can use, with no special training, no birthright, and no superpowers, but the Warrior of Light is damn good with a gun. Take it from me, I main the class. I would definitely call myself a badass hero, thanks.

The highlight of the story is that it's new and innovative, and bringing change to the world in ways no other class has; it's not "a bunch of nobodies make up for their weakness", it's "a bunch of nobodies find strength they never knew". I mean, I don't know about you, social darwinist, but I think that a handful of commoners from the Brume overturning a literal millennium of caste systems, serfdom, nepotism, and the very concept of conventional warfare with some black powder and steel is pretty far from "a bunch of weak losers".

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Originally Posted by Atlaworks

I don't know about you, but I like the idea of change and upheaval that comes with the MCH storyline. don't get me wrong, a gun is a weapon a commoner can use, with no special training, no birthright, and no superpowers, but the Warrior of Light is damn good with a gun. Take it from me, I main the class. I would definitely call myself a badass hero, thanks.

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The actual reasoning for all of the WoL's MCH abilities, is they're either given gadgets by the MCH guild leader, or taught by a drunk ex-pirate. That's significantly less badass than any other Job.

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Originally Posted by CosmicKirby

The actual reasoning for all of the WoL's MCH abilities, is they're either given gadgets by the MCH guild leader, or taught by a drunk ex-pirate. That's significantly less badass than any other Job.

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So machinists are Terry McGinnis? I can deal with that.

The idea was "Homeland defense for the everyman". The idea that an Ishgardian didn't have to be a Temple Knight or a Dragoon to defend their home, and they were turning to modern technology to lend support and bolster defenses.

In an interesting 4th wall relation to how the job was received by many, I rather liked being the underdog :)

For my part i did find the MCH's lore way better than what i have seen so far in the other class/jobs storyline, which is one of the main reason i did level it to 60 first.

At the beginning you quickly get the hang of it : you are not gonna be part of a worldwide well known organisation, with a huge history of hundreds of years of heroic battles won by such hero and this one who are still remembered and revered to this day. These guys you just met looks like very disorganized people, and they definitely could use a bit of help.

Along the quests and all the battles you and your new allies are struggling so that your job can be recognized, with all the odds and the other people scheming against you. Because modernity make them afraid, because they dont want to lose their privileges, because they want to continue to be all high and mighty in the front of all the commoners, because your job dont fit in their traditions.

In the end you succeed in doing so, thanks to exceptionnal people. Average nobodies would never have make it to the end, and Skysteel would have been wiped of the city and the memory of men. If it weren't for a fateful encounter and your superior battle skills, you would have failed. If it weren't for Stephanivien superior intellect when it comes to create new things and carefully planning the fight ahead, you would have failed. If it weren't for Rostnsthal properly training new motivated trainees, you would have failed. And so on.

In short you were part in the creation of what is gonna be in the future what i said in the beginning : a worldwide well known organisation, with a huge history of hundreds of years of heroic battles won by such hero and this one who are still remembered and revered to this day. Gives you quite some thoughts about what the beginning of all the other classes and jobs were like. "Wtf did you say ? Using some books to fight ? Man, listen... I dont think that's gonna work".

Seriously, this was more interesting than "go train more to gain the next power, i will be there for sure since there isn't nothing really threatening us" and "oh, look at these old artifacts/people coming from another land, i am sure you can get new skills from this".

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Originally Posted by CosmicKirby

The actual reasoning for all of the WoL's MCH abilities, is they're either given gadgets by the MCH guild leader, or taught by a drunk ex-pirate. That's significantly less badass than any other Job.

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To be fair, no less than three classes in the game are taught by drunken ex-pirates. Four if you count MCH as a class in that case.

I also don't recall Rostnstahl teaching me how to hit 10 enemies with one bullet, or shoot a grenade out of the air, or Stephanvien making me some gadget to bypass his gauss barrel's charge time entirely, or a sticky time bomb. And I'm fairly certain neither of them would condone me pelting foes with wrenches.

It's a shame though, that we can't all gain new abilities by.. what does BLM do from 50-60? Oh right. Read the skill out of a godsdamned book. Get off my lawn.

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Originally Posted by Atlaworks

To be fair, no less than three classes in the game are taught by drunken ex-pirates. Four if you count MCH as a class in that case.

I also don't recall Rostnstahl teaching me how to hit 10 enemies with one bullet, or shoot a grenade out of the air, or Stephanvien making me some gadget to bypass his gauss barrel's charge time entirely, or a sticky time bomb. And I'm fairly certain neither of them would condone me pelting foes with wrenches.

It's a shame though, that we can't all gain new abilities by.. what does BLM do from 50-60? Oh right. Read the skill out of a godsdamned book. Get off my lawn.

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At least it's not "You look at your apprentice's fighting style, and then at your own, and learn they're identical. You learned Battle Litany!"

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Originally Posted by Kleeya

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Also the MCH Job Storyline represents the "Beginnning" of a Job Organization.

Every single Job in the World of FF14 began as a small group of people trying to earn their place in the world by using the Job for that Job organization.

All the great stories and heroic legends for each Job began with underdogs founding this specific Job.

In Machinist Storyline we are one of the original members of the Machinist Organization with no "Past" Users to provide us their abilities. It is our skills that we obtain from others and discover ourselves that will be pass down in future generations through the Soulstone.

For now the Machinist Organization is the underdogs just like all Job Organizations when they start out but generations later the Machinist Organization is most likely to become prestige as other successful Job Organizations though generations of success and achievements.

Guns are relatively new to Eorzea. In historic terms. When firearms became apart of warfare, it made commoners, peasants, and conscripts dangerous. Melee combat took alot of discipline and training to make sure ranks could operate as a unit. Archery likewise took training (those bows took some physical training to get used to). Firearm you just taught them how to reload it and then tell them when to point and fire.

It wasn't until the late 1700's that the command 'Aim' was given in firearm combat. For nearly 200 years, it wasn't uncommon for units to turn their heads before firing. Relying on barrages to hit their targets. But the revolutionary wars in the late 1700s (NA) and early 1800s (EU), saw a rise in what we consider marksmanship. The 'badasses' we consider heroes like Alvin York, Audie Murphy, John Basoline, and Carlos Hathcock didn't appear until the 1900s.

And of course their exploits led to Chris Kyle and others being renowned, using tactics, strategies, and doctrines found in just the last 100 years.

The Warrior of Light in this sense is a great hero, capable of using new techniques and new weapons. They're the ones to forge ahead to pave the way for future marksmen. Whereas Warriors, Paladins, and the like have been around for ages.

Nobody tell OP about Batman.

I liked how the WoL was part of the foundation of the Machinist Guild. You might their they are average nobodies, but that is what makes Machinist so special, anybody with a little training can grab the rifle, aim and shoot. Unlike swordsmen who train for years or mages who need to study long and have the afinity to be able to cast the magick.

I like the class, sure its a "Glass Cannon" with ZERO self-sustain aside from potions but the concept is entertaining (Plus in MSQ we see gun user's shoot at ppl but hit a Protect shaped magi-wall insead of the target so Guns arn't the "End-all-be-all" it is in RL for Eorzea... thou there was that 1 saying "Guns, mankind's solution to the wizard!" but I doubt it holds much contrast in FF14 as stated)

Plus Guns in a Fantasy Midevil RPG based mostly on Magic & Melee, its to funny to pass up (just like how a Sword in a Shooter is... well its actually scary as all hell there, unless u made uber-besties with a Shotgun, but I digress)