Can Red Mage start at level 30?

[Lambdafish]

Personally, story aside, I don't want 50 levels of skills dumped on my hotbar that I have no idea how to use. Also, didn't they confirm that RDM would be in an ARR area? (I don't have a source other than third party info from fan fest)

[Vexander]

Personally, story aside, I don't want 50 levels of skills dumped on my hotbar that I have no idea how to use. Also, didn't they confirm that RDM would be in an ARR area? (I don't have a source other than third party info from fan fest)

They stated RDM and other new classes will be made available in ARR areas, and I believe they specified one of the three starting areas as well (the three cities I imagine). As far as having 50 levels worth of skills dumped on your hotbar, I'm hoping (but not expecting) that the introductory quests to these new jobs will be a slow process of rapidly gaining abilities. So...

Quest 1 - Hey, this Soul Crystal I conveniently am holding just started glowing when you came near me. You must be a new Red Mage! Take it! Oh and this outfit/weapon.
Quest 2 - Looking good. Now that you look the part, lets start with some basic spells. Here is a target dummy. Use your long-ranged cast, your damage over time spell, and your melee thrust attack.
Quest 3 - I think you've got the gist of it. Now let's go over your healing abilities. There aren't too many, just enough to keep you on your feet. I'm going to poison you, and want you to keep yourself alive for a minute or so.
Quest 4 - Still looking a little green there, but you're not dead, so we're doing good. Let's focus some on avoiding getting hit. I'll teach you the Phalanx and Blink spells, and I want you to use them to avoid my strikes.
Quest 5 - For a moment I thought I'd killed you; you timed that blink very well. Let's talk about a Red Mage's true power; Chainspell. I want you to combine three offensive spellcasts with three melee attacks on this target dummy, and unleash the built up magic in your Crystal Medium at the end.
Quest 6 - WOW! That was amazing! I never get tired of seeing that. Just as I thought, you're a natural Red Mage. Now, while I've got plenty more to teach you, I'm going to need your help a bit. I'm here in Eorzea for (EXPOSITION). You help me, I help you. Sound good? Good. We're going to go check out Coerthas and Dravania. While you've been strong enough up to now to make some rapid progression, what I'm going to teach you going forward you're going to have to work and strive hard to master before I'll teach you anything else. Hope you're up to the task!

Begin Heavensward Job Quest. Go into Stormblood Job Quests.

[AlphaFox]

RDM Training

I could actually get behind this a lot more than just being instant 50 and "Go, learn!"

[basketofseals]

Is it truly such an inconvenience to be expected to play the game in order to access content within said game? I'm still tryingvto understand this mindset, TBQH.

Because in an MMO, it's VERY important for people to be able to customize their playstyle. That's also the reason we have things like glamours, different mounts, houses, and other things. Some people enjoy a specific playstyle, and having a job with that playstyle locked behind a 40 hour wall isn't good game or business sense. Players shouldn't have to work to have fun. They should be having fun all the time.

Tell that to any new players looking to start WoW that wants to play Demon Hunters requiring you to have a level 70 character on the server (well a server, doesn't matter which one as long as you make the DH on that realm). It really isn't that uncommon as you are making it out to be. TERA is another example with their Reaper class and requiring you have a level 40 character before making one. I could probably dig up more examples if you would like.

Doesn't simply purchasing Legion grant you a level boost which is more than sufficient for unlocking Demon Hunter? Also in TERA you could have a friend power level you to 40 in a couple hours if they had a warrior or a mystic.

[Vexander]

I could actually get behind this a lot more than just being instant 50 and "Go, learn!"

Its what I'm hoping for. A bit of a variation on the Novice Training halls, except you get all your gear and weapon upfront, and all your spells, and then practice using them in the quest to get your feet wet.

[Naunet]

Because in an MMO, it's VERY important for people to be able to customize their playstyle. That's also the reason we have things like glamours, different mounts, houses, and other things. Some people enjoy a specific playstyle, and having a job with that playstyle locked behind a 40 hour wall isn't good game or business sense. Players shouldn't have to work to have fun. They should be having fun all the time.

Precisely. Blizzard practically gives away levels, which makes any associated requirements completely painless. It has a negligible, almost non-existent, effect on new players and doesn't affect old players at all. FFXIV's strategy, however, affects new and old players a lot in a very noticeable way. It's not that you need ANY character leveled to 50 and through the storyline - it's that if you want to start a new character, you have to level that specific one all the way through again. That is a VERY different beast.

[SDaemon]

Doesn't simply purchasing Legion grant you a level boost which is more than sufficient for unlocking Demon Hunter? Also in TERA you could have a friend power level you to 40 in a couple hours if they had a warrior or a mystic.

In time you'll be able to purchase a level boost here or you could have a friend level with you here now. Neither of which changes the fact that other MMOs require you to have a high level character before trying out new classes/jobs. The precedent exists, it isn't something that SE just pulled out of nowhere to piss people off.

[basketofseals]

In time you'll be able to purchase a level boost here or you could have a friend level with you here now. Neither of which changes the fact that other MMOs require you to have a high level character before trying out new classes/jobs. The precedent exists, it isn't something that SE just pulled out of nowhere to piss people off.

I'm not talking about buying a level boost. I believe a level boost came for free with the expansion. One came for free with WoD too.

Also TERA's power leveling is absolutely nothing like leveling with a friend in this game. You could go from 1-20 in a single pull, probably to 30 within an hour, and 40 will probably only take a couple more. You don't even have to do anything. Just sit there while your friend murders a pack of 30+ mobs.

[Naunet]

In time you'll be able to purchase a level boost here or you could have a friend level with you here now. Neither of which changes the fact that other MMOs require you to have a high level character before trying out new classes/jobs. The precedent exists, it isn't something that SE just pulled out of nowhere to piss people off.

Again: you only have a couple examples, one of which is barely even noticeable given that you get a level boost included in the purchase of the expansion. (Is SE prepared to offer a character boost with the purchase of SB? They don't even offer ARR at a discount.) Also, neither require that you go through 1-70 every single time you want to make a Demon Hunter. If in FFXIV you simply had to go through the story once on any character, and then you could make alts of any class, then PERHAPS you would have a point. But that is not the case.

[SDaemon]

Again: you only have a couple examples

There are plenty of examples of MMOs that require you to level to unlock new classes/jobs, if you would use google. I even offered to search for more for you if you felt you needed more examples.

EDIT:
Eden Eternal
Skyforge
Tree of Saviors