Can Red Mage start at level 30?

[Bourne_Endeavor]

How is playing red mage from 1-whatever or 30-whatever locking someone out of their preferred job? They would literally be playing the job they wanted. The system as it is, however, DOES lock people out of their preferred job - you cannot start a character and play as DRK, AST, MCH, or (in the future) red mage and presumably whatever other new job we get.

They've already acknowledged in the past that they thought the barrier for DRK, AST, and MCH was ill-thought out. I do not understand why they are repeating the issue with jobs in Stormblood.

It's not locking in the traditional sense, but in lieu of experiencing all the new content, you're grinding through old dungeons for hours. You have to keep in mind, they want to cater towards current subs with the jobs not people leveling alts or brand new characters. The issue with DRK, AST and MCH wasn't their level but the fact you had to complete the entirety of ARR and all its patches before you could unlock them. Red Mage can be accessed the moment you reach 50. A lot of veteran players don't want to grind what may be their 5th, 6th, 14th job. If you do, old dungeons and PotD recreate that option. Perhaps not to the extent you may prefer, but they were never going to please us all.

[Naunet]

It's not locking in the traditional sense, but in lieu of experiencing all the new content, you're grinding through old dungeons for hours. You have to keep in mind, they want to cater towards current subs with the jobs now people leveling alts or brand new characters.

You can experience it when you get to 60+... No different than leveling 50-60 in that respect. If you're going to use this argument, then you may as well advocate for red mage starting at 60 - or for there to be no leveling at all.

My fundamental criticism is that we should not be locked away from playing the job we want when we start a character. If a new player is drawn in by Stormblood and the allure of red mage, they are going to be awfully disappointed when they find out they have to go through 50 levels before they can even play the job they want. (This was the frustration I had when purchasing HW, drawn back to the game largely due to AST.)