Yoshi-P confirms Ninja/Thief and gun-using class?

[Kirinichibon]

I agree that it can make playing classes feel somewhat bland, but I much prefer the design philosophy of FFXIV over FFXI. FFXI was great for its time, but everyone has said that it was horribly imbalanced with some classes being able to totally overpower some content while others were practically useless. And when the class you really love is the useless one, it makes the game a lot less fun.

This is just my take on it...but I think XI devs were more concerned with the art of game design than creating something playable. XI had a beautiful meta-game and horrible mechanics.

[Kitru]

And in how many other final fantasy games had paladin as a tank? Warrior? How many other final fantasy games had any concept of a main tank? Are any of these in ffxivarr now?

Single player games have always used different definitions of the trinity roles because you're explicitly allowed to have useless or near useless characters specifically because you're controlling an entire team rather than a single entity while simultaneously not having characters that only exist for a single purpose (e.g. healers have to do something useful when someone doesn't require healing).

What defines a class/job that translates into a tank is a character/class that is designed to soak a lot of hits. PLD, DRK, WAR, etc. are all designed around having the gear with the best defense and having the most hp. *That* is what makes them tank material. There's only a single "healer" anywhere in the FF series (WHM), but you don't see people getting their panties in a knot because SCH is a healer. In fact, if you wanted to look at what class/jobs do in the FF games based upon the trinity definition, basically everything except for WHM would be DPS because no one is allowed to not put out appreciable damage. Hell, even WHM could throw out useful amounts of damage because they need something to contribute when the party doesn't need heals.

NIN has *never* been a durable class with the exception of FFXI. Not even when you factor in evasion because it was ever high enough to offset their low defense and hp. In no way does NIN meet the qualifications that could cause someone to interpret NIN as a tank rather than a DPS.

[Kirinichibon]

basically everything except for WHM would be DPS

And this is why these discussions always come up. A lot of folks still think of SCH as a lesser WHM is FFXIV. And a lot also post that DRK shouldn't be a tank.

I'm less concerned about which role NIN will fill and more about getting more fun party play in XIV. Thief class and ninja job would fit the series' history (hello FF1), but more popular tank would really help the game - and additional DPS jobs would not make the game especially more fun. My knickers will stay un-bunched either way.

[Exstal]

And this is why these discussions always come up. A lot of folks still think of SCH as a lesser WHM is FFXIV. And a lot also post that DRK shouldn't be a tank.

It's because in every other game except for FFXI, there was no TANK/DPS/HEALER. It was DPS and WHM.

[Kirinichibon]

It's because in every other game except for FFXI, there was no TANK/DPS/HEALER. It was DPS and WHM.

So, why are you arguing what role jobs should fill?

[Exstal]

So, why are you arguing what role jobs should fill?

It's about what makes sense.