Saying "it's for balance" as an excuse, also means you don't want jobs. What is the reason we love jobs? Because we can get a different experience trying to do the same objective. A MNK feels completely different from a BLM.

But they both DPS. The end result is the same goal. However one can outshine the other in specific situations. This is imbalance. The reason no one is upset is because they are "close enough" no one cares, as long as the jobs are done.

Why can't gear be the same way? Or skill trees?

Why is it everyone assumes skill trees and gear stats will never be balanced well enough that people can did the imbalance negligible.

Fighting games that have a top 8 balanced roster. You'll still find imbalance in small degrees but people wave it off because it's negligible. Why can't OP's proposition meet this standard if you guys are ok with it in the jobs department?