Why can't we have jobs with this level of depth and customization in FFXIV?

[rwyan]

FF14's complexity is only skin deep. In its current state, it delivers beautiful graphics, an outstanding soundtrack, Final Fantasy nostalgia, somewhat entertaining storylines, and a very fun crafting system. That is about it.

I am firm believer in systems are that simple, easy to understand yet hard to master. However, the only thing that requires any significant challenge are things like telegraphs and boss mechanics. The buck stops there and that WILL be an issue for the long term health of the game.

Yes, FFXI is an older MMO with some arcane mechanics and awkward functionality. It also is bloated with content that is no longer worthwhile. However, the strength of the game is in its job and combat systems. Once again, simple, easy to understand yet hard to master. A job was abstracted via weapon skills, spell skills, stat bonuses, and abilities both active and passive. On top of that, the job system added quite a bit of complexity as it would open up abilities, spells, and stat bonuses that were not available to your main job. Combat required more than memorization. It required significant knowledge of your job and your encounters. Things like crowd control and enfeebles were vital to combat success.

Here, a job is abstracted via a single weapon and a set of abilities both active and passive. You cannot cross-class passives and the available cross-class skills provide neither flavor or interest to the system. Everyone has almost the same number of abilities. Everyone has the same number of job abilities. There is no flavor. There is no depth.

Yes, the FFXI job system had its flaws. Balance across its NUMEROUS jobs was always an issue. However, it made up for it in an amazing amount of flavor, depth, and theorycrafting.

I pity anyone who finds the current job system fulfilling. I pity anyone that finds the current state of the hunt system fulfilling. I pity anyone that finds the current state of FF14 amazingly deep.

There is a reason why these threads are becoming more and more regular. Yoshida and Co. did an amazing job hooking us, but now they got to hold our interest. Grinding tomes, grinding instances, grinding fates, grinding hunts... none of these are interesting and fulfilling outside the pixelcrack that they reward.

I will be looking very hard at the expansion. I think Yoshida and Co. are amazingly talented, especially considering they maintained the original 1.0 release while building 2.0 - that can never be understated or fully appreciated just how much work that required. However, anyone fighting these valid criticisms of the game's current state is a fool. Final Fantasy means a lot to all of us and want to be here. I think its fair that we are pointing out that while the game outshines FFXI on numerous fronts, it pales in other important areas.

The training wheels so to speak will need to come off soon, otherwise the future of FF14 will not be as bright as its present.