What happend to variety and options.

[Kaizlu]

Variety is cool, but it dies as soon as someone discovers that something works best. Then players that dont have the "best" build / job will have VERY hard time finding a party. See warriors and dragoons.

At the moment if someone wants build variety, then path of exile is the game they want to play. It even has TRUE materia system and sphere grid.

In Ragnarok Online (a 2002 MMO) you had to select what skills you wanted plus had to allocate stats every level. And sure enough, there were some optimal builds for PvP/PvE but still variations between them. You could be a healer Priest, a DD Priest or even a tank Priest. Same with other classes, heck you could be a crafter Alchemist or a PvP Alchemist. You had the option, not like in this game.

I'm somewhat ok with what XIV has right now, even if it's subpar but I just don't like it when people say it can't be done or that it wouldn't work.

[SchalaZeal]

They do, 10 to all stats, and 20 to the primary. Paladin for Example, the 20 is to vit.

Arcanist -> Scholar gets +10 STR +11 DEX +11 VIT +0 INT +81 MND +41 PIE, for lv 50.

Then players that dont have the "best" build / job will have VERY hard time finding a party.

Maybe in Mor Dhona, but not from FC or DF, provided they play with people who have a brain, and their build is actually viable.

[Tupsi]

Arcanist -> Scholar gets +10 STR +11 DEX +11 VIT +0 INT +81 MND +41 PIE, for lv 50.



Maybe in Mor Dhona, but not from FC or DF, provided they play with people who have a brain, and their build is actually viable.

Well...that also depends on the FC and we know what happens in the DF when there's even so much as one mistake (most cases) - So they'll find parties, but you'll honestly see people much more inclined to take someone more suitable for content or utilize the vote to kick feature on people they simply see trying to "go against the man" lol.

[Arriverderci]

I get the feeling that you want to tank as a bard.

Why not?
Woulda been cool if we had like a DPS WHM.
Then again, we're going by Final Fantasy skills....So
a million classes is all you get with no variety of changing class one.
But it is kinda boring for us to all be the exact same...

[Gilthas]

I agree that we have no individuality. Allagan armor and Myth stone armor is all the same. All you need to do is log in once a week and you're on-par with the best players in the game and have gear no crafter can make anything nearly as good as. We're about to get housing but it's one house per FC. We're punished for playing well, having money and crafting. People that spam FATEs to 50 and have no idea how to play their jobs have everything you have.

This kind of argumentation is just stupid. You're being "punished" because other players you deem inferior can get the same stuff as you?

As for the topic in question:

I hope that in the future they might introduce a merit system in the game like the one we had in FFXI. But if what you're asking for is "tanking Bards", "DPS White Mages" or "healer Black Mages" I'd have to say that I wouldn't want something that. I'm fine with a Bard being a passable tank, but having "builds" where these jobs can go completely outside their role? If you want to tank then equip a sword or a great axe, FFXIV's builds are each individual job that you can choose.

[Myleus]

Happens that devs don't have balls to change modern mmos and communities are less dedicated, that's why exists 2 types of mmojumpers( the one usually the left after first payment beacause the want to back wow/cod,etcc..)and the second that deserve after some months because game is taking a simple/wrong the direction,not the content because there are so many randoms posts (and no only by hardcores) that demand a non "one way" path and more content won't fix that.

I still believe that after 2.5 they could change that direction but hard to see from the actual SE.

[Tupsi]

Why not?
Woulda been cool if we had like a DPS WHM.
Then again, we're going by Final Fantasy skills....So
a million classes is all you get with no variety of changing class one.
But it is kinda boring for us to all be the exact same...

FF is the wrong series to get into if you don't like your class/job being the same. As proven even if you are the same some people are still better than others, that's when player skill comes into play. Do you know how to even use cure on WHM/SCH? Congratulations! You're already better than most healers that play WHM and SCH.

Do you know how to move and manually control your pet? Congratulations, you're way better than most ACN/SCH/SMN. Thing is, even if we're "all the same" that's kind of the point of wanting to play a FF MMORPG, you wanted to play an MMO of an offline series and should have some knowledge of the series - If you chose ARR because it's an MMO, you'd definitely be disappointed if you figured the class system would be like any other. SE knows full well not to slap FF onto something clearly not FF, hence 1.0's original class system being despised because it had zero image to the FF series outside of shared skills from XI.

Also classes with no variety? In ARR maybe if they try to keep it "standard", but a lot of the FF classes may share similar skills but they have very different utilization. For example Blue Mage? Sure, it'll have a cure ability but which other mage, in FF, uses monster skills and gains benefit from even equipping their skills (XI)? There's two types of Summoner in FF - The one we all know and the one that had White and Black Magic attached specifically to the summon, even that's two different types of the same class. You can't escape a White Mage and Red Mage knowing how to use "Cure" because that's basic magic, what sets them apart is their role specific abilities/magic, not because you can tank as a WHM or nuke as a Bard instead of curing and using songs.

[Arriverderci]

Which is why I said, well get a million different classes instead of having 1 class with different paths.

Edit: Unless they branch it like they did ACN.
Shoulda made a Ranger class, then branch it to bard, or something.
Meh...I just want more skills lol. But yeah, this isn't the MMO for that.
I haven't played every FF under the sun but eh...:c Combat is stale...
It's more fun in single player games were I can tolerate it.
I wish we had the Dressphere system too. XD

[Lemon8or]

The reason I like this game is everyone has access to the same ability and the same equipments. How you play it depends on your player skill. Sure for trivial contents, an average player will clear it just fine. For the one that matters, you do need people that play their classes well instead of having a specific build.

[Moontide]

I agree with most of the things OP says even in the broader sense than on the message. There's simply no customization gameplay- or activity-wise. Everything feels very linear even in current-day MMO standards. ARR is taking the "theme park" mentality to the extreme by catering almost exclusively to achievers.

The gameplay has been really fun and challenging in dungeons and such so far, but I can't really see myself continuing to subscribe when I've seen the story. (Hence I've been taking my sweet time in leveling up.) Gear grind and just leveling things up isn't my thing.