What job was she?

[Morningstar1337]

I'd happily see an opposing faction from Sharlayan making strides to share their knowledge with Eorzeans, especially if Levava's example is what drives them to take action rather than debate it in the forums.

I would also see something like that as well. I feel it would be a very interesting conflict and think that it would interesting to see what extremes one would go over to protect the knowledge hidden with Sharlayan

[Belhi]

To be honest, Red Mage can still be as significant as White and Black in the same way SCHs are. Technical and scholarly mastery of the mystic arts aren't the only option. Look at the Hellsguard. According to the Lore book they produce some of the strongest Mystics in Eorzea from rituals and such they do from youth to bring out latent aetheric strength.

Ala Mhigo isn't a backward country. Just look at the Monk class itself. They have developed a discipline which gives a user mastery of manipulation of the aether that naturally flows through their own bodies. There are also places like Radz-at-Han.

[Vexander]

I didn't say Ala Mhigo is a backward country, just that its a country without a strong magical background. It doesn't hold a candle to places like Amdapor, Nym, Mhach, or Sharlayan. And I know Sharlayan isn't exactly on the same level as Amdapor/Mhach either, with a stronger emphasis on knowledge over practical use of magic, but places like the Anti-Tower scream that they're the modern heirs of those ancient cities. By contrast Ala Mhigo doesn't really compare. It's not spellcraft so much as airbending ala Avatar the Last Air Bender, and I think that thematic works really well for Ala Mhigo.

[Cilia]

The fact Ala Mhigo isn't a strong magical country suggests Red Magic may be their answer to the specialized mages of other countries, given it's an "all-rounder" discipline that can be picked up by-the-by and doesn't have a high mastery curve. It just uses bits of both Black and White Magic.

What the heck is Red Magic, anyway? That's what they should put in - something specifically defined as "Red Magic."

[Vexander]

The fact Ala Mhigo isn't a strong magical country suggests Red Magic may be their answer to the specialized mages of other countries, given it's an "all-rounder" discipline that can be picked up by-the-by and doesn't have a high mastery curve. It just uses bits of both Black and White Magic.

What the heck is Red Magic, anyway? That's what they should put in - something specifically defined as "Red Magic."

That's what I'm afraid of. That its summed up lorewise as, 'Just some guy with a bit of magic and a sword.' I'd rather see it as an equal to White Mages and Black Mages, to Scholars and Summoners, to be sufficiently meaningful in the lore. I don't feel like the class could get that from Ala Mhigo.

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

That's what I'm afraid of. That its summed up lorewise as, 'Just some guy with a bit of magic and a sword.' I'd rather see it as an equal to White Mages and Black Mages, to Scholars and Summoners, to be sufficiently meaningful in the lore. I don't feel like the class could get that from Ala Mhigo.

Well, we know very little about Ala Mhigo. Give it a chance to get fleshed out a bit, I say.

But I also feel like a certain benefit of the doubt has been earned. After all, has the game ever failed to make the Jobs feel sufficiently meaningful in the lore?

[Belhi]

How do know Ala Mhigo has not strong scholarly or mystic heritage? Who does Eric from the MNK Job quests fit into Ala Mhigan society? He is obviously extremely educated. More to the point, the Lore book says that Nym was actually a nation with very few people with magical potential. Nymian Scholars grew out of necessity at the magical strength of other nations. That's why they played a tactical role rather than an offensive one. Nym didn't have the mages to spare to dedicate any to using magic offensively.

Mystic arts take a lot of forms. Sharlayan magic is a very sciency and scholarly. However you can also have mystic arts that have a more occult basis without being inferior.

Name any of the Jobs so far that have lame lore. I don't think Red Mage is going to get left out.

[Jet_Vermilion]

I know everyone's been saying she's supposed to (likely) be a RDM teaser, but, I could have sworn I saw her fighting right next to me in the first phase- and I recognize Fast Blade, Savage Blade, and Rage of Halone anywhere (I dabble in Paladin myself), which really makes me question whether or not she's actually supposed to be a new job or if they reused the PLD model, or anything. After all, Alphinaud, Estinein, and Y'sthola are all familiar classes/jobs themselves, and they had access to super attacks not usable by your average Warrior of Light- so her charge attack at the end of the battle might have just also been fluff. Pretty much every one-handed sword user in the game uses their stance, shield or no shield- everyone from Captain Madison to NPC fighters in FATES.

Is there a chance she's just becoming a paladin? I can't recall having one of those in the Scions so far, so it'd set her apart, especially since she seems oddly obsessed now with not being like her brother.

[Cilia]

What lore they intend to implement for Red Mage, if it gets added as highly suspected, is entirely up in the air. They can put whatever they want in there to justify it (they're all-rounders, or they're mage-killers who steel their bodies with one polarity while wielding the other for maximum effect, etc). Whether it's tied to Ala Mhigo remains unknown - it doesn't have to be. Like I said before, AST is based in Ishgard but has a very Sharlayan flavor and story to it, and while the DRK 50-60 line is very Ishgardian the 30-50 line is an introspective quest once you get to the big reveal and understand all it entails.

If Alisae is a big hint at Red Mage being added, her using GLA/PLD skills was likely a placeholder. Remember, Yugiri used a (heavily modified) miqo'te model until 3.0.

For my part, I don't see why people want Red Mage so badly. It starts out very useful but ends up rather lackluster, as I've said multiple times, though if they added it in here they'd at least try and balance it. They'd also have to tweak it to fit the party paradigm, which may rub some people the wrong way since it would no longer be the iconic "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" Red Mage is known for being. I'd bet the main reason so many people are clamoring for it is because it was one of the most overpowered Jobs in XI and they're expecting that to carry over here... which is just not going to happen. But that's just my two cents.

[Jet_Vermilion]

It'd be missing two of the things that made it overpowered, though. MP management isn't exactly something in high demand if your healer is doing their job right; SMN has enough already to restore their own, DRK's is just a gimmick, and BLM completely dismisses the whole notion with Umbral Ice. Then, there's the En-spells, which would have practically no use in this game without a major rework, since XIV kind of made elements entirely useless and irrelevant.

FFXI Red Mage -really- wouldn't fit in with this game. Depressingly so since Red Mage's most useful thing, aside from their versatility, has always been Dualcast and the ability to learn it and slap it on another class. Unfortunately, Jobs offer no crossclass abilities here, so poor RDM wouldn't even be able to give us that.