Branching jobs and WOW’s specialization

[AlphaFox]

They said they will never do branching jobs again after Scholar and Summoner. They can't balance it and they're even throwing away the whole classes thing. Which is why HW didn't have base classes in new jobs and neither will Stormblood.

Does make me wonder if they could possibly link soul stones though. Say have 2 soulstones that level together but also in that the skills and names are the exact same only that the effects of the skills are changed. Say a DPS/Tank linked stone so that your basic DPS rotation is switched to your hate rotation when wearing the Tank one. I don't count on it but would be a way to satisfy (in a way) people who want some classes to be both a Tank and DPS (dunno if it would work for healers).

[Insidion]

Having played both games for some time now, I've rather enjoyed the stability of the balancing in this game. Yes, some will disagree, but in WoW you could find yourself on the tail end of a very dramatic alteration of the specs on a given patch. As a death knight, for example, there was a lot of variety in how you could play a tank on any one of the trees, but then they changed it so that the most favored dps spec became a tank-only tree. It was a hard adjustment that prompted me to switch classes for a better feel.

Adding a slew of trees to the existing jobs would be akin to doubling the amount of jobs, for one, and it would create a lot more loot competition.

[Amirya]

As a death knight, for example, there was a lot of variety in how you could play a tank on any one of the trees, but then they changed it so that the most favored dps spec became a tank-only tree. It was a hard adjustment that prompted me to switch classes for a better feel.

I never did like Blood as much once it was changed to tank-only, instead of Frost. Or how the paladin was reworked from ground-up nearly every expansion.

I can kinda understand the OP, but I'm not in favor of that idea. I quit WoW for many a reason, and that was one of them.

[Chiramu]

that's not final fantasy

Actually, all the classes the OP listed ARE Final Fantasy.

[Insidion]

I never did like Blood as much once it was changed to tank-only, instead of Frost. Or how the paladin was reworked from ground-up nearly every expansion.

Exactly the point I had in mind. :P

[Claire_Pendragon]

that's not final fantasy

No thanks. WoW isn't FF.

This stuff doesn't sound like final fantasy at all.

I dont think you guys know what Final Fantasy is, if you think its not a RPG with ever changing mechanics/systems.
The changes started small due to system limitations, and grew larger with each upgrade, getting to the point of VASTELY differing game mechanics in the last few. (Including Strategy RPG, MMO, Real Time combat, real time turn based, Action, and Semi realtime/action.)

Games going from a non changing job system, changing jobs, mixing jobs, picking stats, equipping spells as consumables, etc, its not even remotely reasonable to say "its not Final Fantasy"

[Hitsuzen]

I am against simplifying the system. Complexity is part of the intrigue that keeps us playing.

[Airget]

They said they will never do branching jobs again after Scholar and Summoner. They can't balance it and they're even throwing away the whole classes thing. Which is why HW didn't have base classes in new jobs and neither will Stormblood.

I keep hoping they will actually take the time to split those two jobs into unique jobs, Arcanist/Scholar and Summoner is just a job now. A summoner because the DoT DPS that it is ,is because of the Arcanist abilities which I believe are better fit for SCH. just imagine if you removed SMN and got rid of all the Arcanist abilities and instead replaced them with abilities that actually focused on the pet not the DoTs, you could actually have a better balanced pet based job.

[Lufir]

I think special talents would be better than branching jobs. As it is now, the cross class skills system doesn't offer any unique ways to play a job. The majority of the jobs in this game are pretty much required to have the same skills as everyone else: blood for blood, inner quiet, swiftcast, etc.

[Dorander]

With the way this game is set up, the reason why jobs don't branch (besides SMN/SCH and the major "Never Again!" that the devs have screamed) or have different specs is because the job "IS" the spec.

Want to be a tank that's got a lot of defensive cooldowns? - PLD
Want to be a tank that's got a lot of dps buttons? - WAR
Want to be a tank that's somewhere in the middle? - DRK

Want to be a healer with large direct heals and damage spells? - WHM
Want to be a healer who shields and dots? - SCH
Want a healer that's somewhere in the middle? - AST

Those are just the tanks and heals. The DPS are all different flavors of dps.

Want a Melee dps that hits extremely hard and provides little support? - MNK
Want a Melee dps that hits hard and has alot of support skills? - NIN
Want a Melee dps that's somewhere in the middle? - DRG

Want a physical Ranged dps with alot of support? - BRD
Want a physical Ranged dps with little support? - MCH

Want a Magical DPS with with little support? - BLM
Want a Magical DPS with some support? - SMN

We can be everything on a single character. There is absolutely no need to dilute a single job "WoW style" because we aren't locked into a single job.