Multiple Job Roles Idea

[Jwrigh7784]

Just floating this idea but I think it would be cool to have multiple roles for the different jobs. Want to be a DPS paladin? Just change to a DPS spec (complete with DPS abilities). Some things wouldn't make sense like a white mage tank but warrior, paladin and dark knight DPS roles would be a cool idea. It would also give the game a little more diversity and a bit more freedom of choice. What does everyone else think?

[SilkaN]

They have enough trouble balancing SMN / SCH. Having to balance every other job around multiple specs would crush their souls.

They are giving us several jobs per expansion. I think there's enough freedom since we can already play all jobs on a single character.

edit

Also, WAR might as well be a DPS at this point.

[Atlas-04]

Many of the classes would seem weird in a different role. Also we can play everything on a single character so that is a nice feature compared to the other games.

[Cabalabob]

The game simply is not designed for this. "Just change to a dps spec" just? That would require a completely new set of armour designed for PLD that uses STR, a new set of skills, you can't be a dps using rage of halone and rampart. A new set of traits, again can't dps with enhanced VIT.

It's basically the same as designing a completely new job with the same weapon. And while I'm certainly not against reusing old weapons on new jobs, I do not want to see them tied to the old classes or jobs in any way.

E.G. Maybe they make Templar later down the line as a tank, it could use lancer's arms. But it wouldn't be connected to lancer in any way, it would be designed from the ground up with its own skills and traits and you'd only become Templar by equipping the Templar job stone.

And even this has a glaring issue of the fact that this only really works for tank > melee dps and vice Versa. If a healer tried to use a thaumaturges arm they'd get stuck with some useless INT on their main weapon.

[LineageRazor]

The SE devs are not keen on freedom of choice. They've, as time has gone by, steadily removed every trace of choice we have in the game. Want to play as a class instead of a job? Sorry, no, here's some big ol' stat buffs on the job crystal to ensure that classes are not viable. Want to stack a bit of DEX to improve your PLD's shield block rate? Sorry, no, can't have that - block rate is no longer affected by DEX, so stack VIT and STR instead. Wait - VIT AND STR??? Tanks have to balance survival against damage? That's too much choice! VIT now provides attack, just like STR does, so please stack as much VIT as possible, okay? Just like all the other jobs have exactly one main stat that they stack!

I don't see a turnaround happening anytime soon - especially one as drastic as this. In fact, recent interviews have suggested that they plan on making character building even MORE simple than it already is. No, in FFXIV, you don't spec your character - there is one choice and one choice only.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

The SE devs are not keen on freedom of choice. They've, as time has gone by, steadily removed every trace of choice we have in the game. Want to play as a class instead of a job? Sorry, no, here's some big ol' stat buffs on the job crystal to ensure that classes are not viable. Want to stack a bit of DEX to improve your PLD's shield block rate? Sorry, no, can't have that - block rate is no longer affected by DEX, so stack VIT and STR instead. Wait - VIT AND STR??? Tanks have to balance survival against damage? That's too much choice! VIT now provides attack, just like STR does, so please stack as much VIT as possible, okay? Just like all the other jobs have exactly one main stat that they stack!

I don't see a turnaround happening anytime soon - especially one as drastic as this. In fact, recent interviews have suggested that they plan on making character building even MORE simple than it already is. No, in FFXIV, you don't spec your character - there is one choice and one choice only.

Yes, because that's why they changed it. It had nothing to do with the community forcing STR accessories as the new meta and fending gear near universally being ignored outside leveling. You have to balance choice between what players will actually bother choosing, if it's worth the development time and resources and what potential sacrifices needs be made to accommodate these changes. Acting like the devs simply dislike allotting player choice grossly oversimplifies game design. You cannot just add crap for no rhyme or reason.

[Bacent]

The game simply is not designed for this. "Just change to a dps spec" just? That would require a completely new set of armour designed for PLD that uses STR, a new set of skills, you can't be a dps using rage of halone and rampart. A new set of traits, again can't dps with enhanced VIT.

Str/Vit have the same weight when it comes to a tank's DPS/attack power right now (Extra Str on accessories just gives a bit more damage from everything overall). They would have to change how that works for a 'tank as a DPS' in this set up.

Not to mention this kind of 'split' for classes would have had to have been worked on from the get go. It's way too late for something like this to be implemented.

[Emstidor]

Aside from the balance issues mentioned above, specs work in other games because without them you're committed to playing as a tank/healer/dps/support for 100% of your character' life. I think part of the intent behind the "level all jobs" aspect found in this game and FFXI is that if you want to play a role different from your current job, you can always switch to a different one without having to make a new character. I believe this has been reiterated by the devs at Q&As as the intended alternative to multiple specs.

[Blackcanary]

You do know there is an actual thread made for new Job ideas. There's even a thread for new ideas for 4.0. People Really need to start using the search bar more.

[loreleidiangelo]

They have enough trouble balancing SMN / SCH. Having to balance every other job around multiple specs would crush their souls.

They are giving us several jobs per expansion. I think there's enough freedom since we can already play all jobs on a single character.

This is pretty much my thought too. They gave it a whirl with SMN and SCH, both are/were objectively plagued with balance issues that in some cases (SCH) still haven't been corrected, and I'd rather they not try to brute-force a concept that it's clear they haven't been able to master yet. Meanwhile, new jobs may not be perfect (AST, MCH...), but they've at least had a good amount of attention given to them and their problems can be corrected in a relative vacuum, making it easier to work on them (AST is harder because of how baldly it mimics SCH/WHM, IMO).