Hybrid classes - SAM & RD MAGE.

[Shurrikhan]

Except that you give up Tanking talents to make Gladiator Stance worthwhile DPS.
Not only can you not switch Stance in combat, you required a FULL set of pure DPS gear.

Gladiator Warriors are not Tank Warriors.
Defensive Stance alone does not a Tank make.

Except that their favorite secondary stats are identical to Protection Tank favored secondary stats... the only difference is slightly reduced Versatility weight. Bonus Armor gives Gladiator stance as much raw Attack Power per point as Strength while still giving tank benefits as well. The talents don't have to change either, as (apart from Shockwave versus Dragon Roar) no DPS-increasing and mitigation-increasing talents share the same tier; you still generally chose simply AoE or single-target.

I'm not saying that WoW's Gladiator spec stands as a proof of concept contrary to what you were saying, only that this example does not work.
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I really don't see why it should be so difficult to balance though, or why one would think that the game forbids a job from being good at two roles at once. Look at the Bard changes for Heavensward, for example; the 'support' slot being basically guaranteed anyways, they seem now to be decreasing the dps gap between support dps and main dps. Sure, the main dps will probably have to have enough burst / alternate support / whatnot to warrant not going double-support in most cases (for the unlimited AoE spam, for instance), but beyond that they're not really competing for slots. More common in recent content, even, is forgetting the Bard altogether due to its lower longterm dps when there are too many breaks in which to recover TP/MP anyways, etc.

That being said, Samurai will not be a 'support' dps so much as a dps that, like any 'main' dps has some utility, which would likely come in the form of being able to snap-tank. He would be the one who could stack with tanks more safely than anyone else (at least with preparation - probably no more safely than a non-BFBing DRG otherwise), he can hold adds, etc., doing anything from reducing necessary stack counts to easing tank grabs (and thereby burst dps checks), to even reducing the number of tanks needed for slightly outgeared content (providing a tank insofar as is necessary without sacrificing basic damage). In many ways that's not so different from any other 'main' dps now, but would certainly see use.

[Reynhart]

I really don't see why it should be so difficult to balance though, or why one would think that the game forbids a job from being good at two roles at once.

The problem here is balance. If one job can be good at two things at once, why bother bringing another job ?
By preventing changing "on the fly", it can reduce the problem, just like AST won't be able to switch stance during combat.

As for BRD, they trade mobility for damage, and, having recently done Keeper Of The Lake as a BLM instead of a DRG, mobility can be a very important loss.
They purposely didn't make BRD a top DPS and an important buffer while keeping mobility.

[Shurrikhan]

The problem here is balance. If one job can be good at two things at once, why bother bringing another job ?
By preventing changing "on the fly", it can reduce the problem, just like AST won't be able to switch stance during combat.

As for BRD, they trade mobility for damage, and, having recently done Keeper Of The Lake as a BLM instead of a DRG, mobility can be a very important loss.
They purposely didn't make BRD a top DPS and an important buffer while keeping mobility.

True, but what is being restricted by Wanderer's Minuet is not the ability to fill multiple roles, or even multiple roles simultaneously. It has simply given Bard the option to be a competitive dps OR retain its unique complete mobility which already comparatively excelled in those situations that made use of it. In other words, it made Bard more versatile, giving it no situation in terms of mobility that it is not good for (outside, ofc, of having to drop/swap Minuet frequently). Minuet's movement restrictions have nothing to do with limiting their versatility of role; it seeks only to not make their DPS (further) overpowered in niche situations. I don't see why people cite Wanderer's Minuet as an example of multi-role restriction when it has nothing but positive benefits (given that one can always turn it off and go back to run-and-gun-ing) for Bard.

I'll agree that SAM certainly shouldn't be able to take blows like a tank simultaneously to dealing them like a dps, but that's far from an issue of merely being a hybrid with full potential in both (or, more realistically and as per my example above, full potential in dps and simply decent potential in tanking). There should be something different, likely sacrificing dps in the short-term, to how SAM handles tanking as compared to dps. The only point is that when not tanking at all, they should be able to deal full dps. I personally wouldn't mind seeing Samurai able to tank at full potential either, but in that case something would have to change to require them to sacrifice dps through necessary gear-choices or other pre-combat matters as make them level with other tanks (seeing as all tanks are already dps in their off-time of not being beaten).

[Reynhart]

It's not multiple "role" for BRD, but multiple type of DPS. And I seriously doubt that BRD will be able to match BLM in all DPS situations, just because they'll still be able to switch their type.

Again, "short-term" sacrifice is too "easy". If a SAM can be a short-term full tank or a short-term full DPS, just bring 3 SAM with your healer. When things get sour, they'll just all switch to tank mode to help the party survives, then all switch to DPS mode during lesser hits. Exactly like actual tanks switch stances, but with real DPS potential. (Hello ! Paradigm Shift ! )

An acceptable hybrid should be locked for the whole instance, like Anubis said.

[Shurrikhan]

Again, "short-term" sacrifice is too "easy". If a SAM can be a short-term full tank or a short-term full DPS, just bring 3 SAM with your healer. When things get sour, they'll just all switch to tank mode to help the party survives, then all switch to DPS mode during lesser hits. Exactly like actual tanks switch stances, but with real DPS potential. (Hello ! Paradigm Shift ! )

An acceptable hybrid should be locked for the whole instance, like Anubis said.

Somehow it seems I'm not being as disturbed by this 'paradigm shift' idea as I should be...

I think SE's answer to the possibility of hybrid-stacking would largely their increase to the unique utility each job provides, with tanks as no exception. In other words, why take 3 lesser dps-tanks who have little other (simultaneous) utility when you could take 2 real tanks who have additional utility and will likely allow the healers to dps more to make up for the compositional difference gap, all while building more LB by not stacking a single job???

As long the true tank choice has even a faintly better total, optimal will be optimal and SAM-stacking would be for fun-runs only (which... I'd probably greatly enjoy participating in, but only in that capacity).

:: Also, I don't know how long your idea of short-term is, exactly. If we're talking 'long enough to build up five Wrath stacks, w/o Infuriate, to have a prayer of surviving something on swap-in', or blowing a crucial would-be DPS cooldown to prep for a hit, for example, I don't honestly think that's all that short-term, especially if DPS-loss is ramping up that whole time too. Though, at that point SAM may just be the inverse of a typical tank, its tanking about as limited as a tank's dps, unless, after swapping in, it has a way to generate dps from the tanking process itself.

[Radacci]

so Yoshi has mentioned hybrid classes , Samurai, @ Red Mage in previous interviews.

I was thinking wouldn't it be cool for Samurai & Red Mage to be the 1st hybrid classes in the game they would work sort of like AST with same moves doing different effects on what stance they are in and stance can only be changed out of combat.

Samurai- dps & tank

you mean like PLD, WAR and DRK having dps and tank stances, in heavensward? (well PLD had it before too)
Not that i think they will be anywhere near the other DD, that would be to OP. Just go SAM and DPS all the things, and survive all the machanics, cause def and hp pool.

[Khalithar]

you mean like PLD, WAR and DRK having dps and tank stances, in heavensward? (well PLD had it before too)
Not that i think they will be anywhere near the other DD, that would be to OP. Just go SAM and DPS all the things, and survive all the machanics, cause def and hp pool.

In XI Samurai had an offensive stance (Hasso) and a defensive stance (Seigan) and it was important to know when to switch in various situations. I could easily see them working it in to this game to lock sam in to a mode when in combat. Hasso increased attack speed, damage, and accuracy. Seigan allowed you to counter or evade enemy attacks while a defensive buff called Third Eye was active. Third would only allow you to evade one attack, but with Seigan you could evade several attacks in a row but the number was kind of random. It became a really good utility class at that point, Hasso to build up your resources, Seigan when you pulled aggro, then switch back to Hasso after the tank got it back. It was pretty fun gameplay imo.

It would also fit in with what I'd love to see samurai as, a tank that specializes in counter attacks.

[AzraelX]

you mean like PLD, WAR and DRK having dps and tank stances, in heavensward? (well PLD had it before too)
Not that i think they will be anywhere near the other DD, that would be to OP. Just go SAM and DPS all the things, and survive all the machanics, cause def and hp pool.

no it would like in you switch to Tank mode your VIT would switch with your STR. And when you switch to DPS- Your STR would switch with VIT

[Brightshadow]

Honestly I don't see why so many people love Red Mage, they have never been unique in the series, they have always been a blend of black mage, white mage, and warrior. In my opinion if they are going to introduce a new magic user I think Blue Mage would be the way to go because they have a unique mechanic, and a unusual magic source. They could also be a melee mage which would be the same thing that Red Mage would bring to the table.

Don't get me wrong Red Mage could work in this game with some fancy changes, but if they are going to use cross-skills from their peers as a main source of class mechanics what would be the point you could play any of the other 3 specialized classes and get more out of your abilities.

[AzraelX]

Honestly I don't see why so many people love Red Mage, they have never been unique in the series they have always been a blend of black mage, white mage, and warrior. If they are going to introduce a new magic user I think Blue Mage would be the way to go because they have a unique mechanic, and a unusual magic source.

Well i would love a blue mage over a Red mage.. Yoshi already sad Blue mage would not make it due to it would just be too messy as in what enemies moves to choose and what not. and yoshi P has mentioned Red mage so thats why i mentioned it and its a Fan favorite.