Bowharp and the Death of RNG

[Anonymoose]

I see a lot of confusion when it comes to speculating about the bowharp, and I'd like to draw that speculation here so we may discuss it in isolation from the rest of the awesome artifact armor - because I think I know what's going on here: WORDPLAY.

Correct me if I'm wrong, SE, but...

The class names in FFXIV have been based on combat type, for instance - Gladiator fancifully translates Agent of the Gladius, or "Sword-wielder" from Latin. Why is this important? Because Ranger never meant "fights at a range," the same way "Archer" doesn't only mean "fights with a bow." Allow me to elaborate and it will no longer be strange why you're seeing a Bow-Harp.

The True Meaning of Archer
Archer, from the Latin arcus, is traditionally associated with bowmen, however that is the second definition - the first being, of course, an arc. Fighting with an arc means only fighting from a distance, and Bard absolutely has that covered just as well as archery itself. Combining these into one job, whatever the name ends up being, just makes sense. I rather like it.

What about Ranger?
Well, frankly, Ranger never really meant "fights at a range," anyway. A ranger ranges over an area, as in travels and guards it. In FFXI, sure, they were known for their bows, but their primary weapon was a dagger.

Forget FFXI Ranger. He's dead. A new age has come.

If I may speculate, if a class is someday built on "ranging" over and guarding the terrain and what's on it, I'm willing to bet it will evolve into the job Beastmaster. If this hasn't been planned yet - take it as a suggestion. Everyone stacked their widescans when they were solo, anyway.

So the bards in Eorzea prefer bows - get over it. We never questioned why they preferred daggers in the past - and, correct me if I'm wrong, but if your contribution to battle is standing in the background singing about it and strumming a lute, chances are you're not all that big on face-to-face confrontation. Technically the dagger made even less sense.

Let the job evolve a bit. I'm sure after we play a few story quests and get the feel for archers who love to sing play them some bowharp, it'll feel like home, again.

EDIT: And it's not a freakin' Red Mage hat, it's pot-hat 2.0. You can bet my little lalafell ass that the Red Mage hat will contain an exponential level of pimpliness over this hat - a feather twice as long, if not longer. A feather you'd be proud to quill.

Bonus: Here's a picture I made of the bow-harp, both collapsed and in bow form, compared to the DAT image of the harp the bard in-game holds. Looks pretty close, to me.

[Betelgeuzah]

Forget FFXI Ranger. He's dead. A new age has come.

Primarily DD ranged attacker simply doesn't sit well with the game mechanics. We've seen it with the instances so far.

This is the only logical choice to make. The era of ranged DD's has ended.

QQing about the fact that Archer is being made into "the BRD" class.

Your idea of QQing is quite interesting and unique.

But that never happened now did it!?

[Anonymoose]

Primarily DD ranged attacker simply doesn't sit well with the game mechanics. We've seen it with the instances so far.

This is the only logical choice to make. The era of ranged DD's has ended.



Your idea of QQing is quite interesting and unique.

But that never happened now did it!?

I agree wholeheartedly with the second part, though I imagine that THM and... Barcher(?) will work out in the long run.

What are you saying with the second part, though? I thought QQ was like "UMAD?" and I'm not. I rather like their idea; it's innovative. BRD and COR were a bizarre experience in XI - fun, but bizarre. Adding BRD and COR to MSK and ARC seems awesome.

EDIT: Ohhh, you weren't talking to me. This was before the mod stepped in and nerfed whatever it was he said... lol

[User201109011315]

Oh gee, are you still harping on about this?

[Betelgeuzah]

That was Keftenk. And he deleted that one pretty fast- not fast enough though!

[Deceptistar]

I wanna be the BEST Barcher with Bowhard+3

[carraway]

ARC is probably going to remain viable insofar as pure damage output is concerned. Jobs aren't meant to wholly replace classes, but supplement them with a new set of skills and specializations. A BRD's damage ceiling will, by nature of the job, likely be lower than a pure ARC's due to the necessity of balancing support skills and damage skills.

Nothing is dying, and ARC will likely receive a pure damage job (ranger or sniper) when the second round of jobs is released.

[Rinsui]

The class names in FFXIV have been based on combat type, for instance - Gladiator fancifully translates Agent of the Gladius, or "Sword-wielder" from Latin. Why is this important? Because Ranger never meant "fights at a range," the same way "Archer" doesn't only mean "fights with a bow."

Stunning logic, which unfortunately only works for the English version. In the Japanese version, the archer class is called simply "Bow-Warrior" (with the character for bow 弓　clearly indicating the weapon, and no abstract concept of bowing, bending or circling whatsoever ^.^/).

[Zantetsuken]

The Bow-Harp concept reminds me a lot of THIS.

I'd say it worked out pretty damn well in that game.

It really makes me want to lvl archer now.

[Betelgeuzah]

ARC is probably going to remain viable insofar as pure damage output is concerned.

ARC won't be better at dealing damage than Monk, RoegadynWithAnAxe and Darkgon Knight. It won't be nerfed either, sure, but the encounters aren't going to be balanced for it's DD potential either when the three DD Jobs are around.