Ninja: Walk in shadow.

[NoctisUmbra]

FFXIV is not other MMO's.

kthnx. Incredibly valuable contribution here. I mean, FFXIV has taken no ideas or design concepts from any other MMO after all. You got me!

They have already defined DEX, why mess with it now? It really boils down to you just want it to be DEX for the sake of being DEX. There is no true benefit to altering the stats beyond what it is now.

Because they can if they see a reason to do so. It's not unlike them to make such simple wording changes. As for the benefits, you really seem adamant in not understanding what I'm saying.

What you are saying is, give NIN some BRD gear because it creates this so called "imbalance" right now. What happens when a gun class comes out? Then you have three competing with each other. By your logic then, we should put the gun class in a different stat line from DEX just so it creates a balance in the DF. Do you not see that you are only thinking of now and not what is best for it in the long run? I can see this game getting up to 20+ jobs in it's life cycle and if SE goes by your logic, it will be a complex mess of what job gets what stat just so you can create this fantasy land of equality in DF.

I already expressed what would happen when a gun class comes out. It would be no different from now - a difference of 1 between jobs-per-accessory. I'll explain it again, but for the last time.

Right now we have Slaying, Aiming and Casting accessories for DPS. STR, DEX and INT. We have 5 DPS jobs.

STR: MNK, DRG
DEX: BRD
INT: BLM, SMN

As you can see, the difference between any stat is no greater than 1 job-per-stat. This level of imbalance is necessary and acceptable. If they were to be strict about keeping those values equal, they would have to introduce 3 new DPS class/job at a time. That is simply unreasonable for both developers and players.

If NIN get's a STR build:

STR: MNK, DRG, NIN
DEX: BRD
INT: BLM, SMN

As you can see, there is a difference of 2 jobs per stat, leaning heavily towards STR being utilized. This is a heavy imbalance. If NIN is DEX-based however:

STR: MNK, DRG
DEX: BRD, NIN
INT: BLM, SMN

Each stat has equal competition in a randomly built group. As per your question though, what happens when the gun class comes? Let's call it MSK for simplicity and take a look:

STR: MNK, DRG
DEX: BRD, NIN, MSK
INT: BLM, SMN

We're simply back at the difference of 1 job-per-stat. As you can see, my logic does not involve putting MSK in a stat other than DEX.

You can argue that if NIN is STR-based, we'll have a similar 1 job-per-stat difference when MSK is released anyway, but that only solves the short term issue.

First of all, there will quite some time between 2.4 and the expansion. A minimum of 6 months, as we still have 2.5 confirmed as a patch. That's a significant amount of time to go with such an imbalance.

Secondly, how many ranged jobs can you name? Ranged + physical. How many melee jobs can you name? As we continue to get new jobs, how much do you think DEX will be represented as a primary stat compared to STR if SE goes by the basic convention of STR = physical melee weapons and DEX = physical ranged weapons? Did you give that any thought?

At this point, I feel I've expressed my thoughts as clear as day. Furthermore, all I'm seeing in response is a lack of comprehension or outright disagreement without any actual substantial reason beyond "this is what the tooltips for STR and DEX currently say".
So, if somebody makes a compelling argument against the points I've made, I'm happy to continue. Otherwise, I'll be here playing the game and waiting until an official announcement or 2.4 release to see what they go with.