Red Mage won't be full time frontline. Just won't happen. At this point, people who are stubbornly holding onto that are asking for a full class re-write. And, given where the majority opinion is now? It's not likely to gain enough momentum. Some adjustments maybe, but we're not talking Ranged Physical rework levels.

Put your bets on Blue Mage or Mystic Knight for that sort of idea. There's no basis in fact that promotes RDM being full-time Melee. None of its mechanics, single player or otherwise have promoted this. Even FFXI's Red Mage, even when you pushed it melee, front-loads a large period of time casting to enhance their melee ability - which isn't much different than what Red Mage does here, baring in mind that FFXIV is a global cooldown centrist game, (which is not much different than turn-based, Duelle) where as FFXI is auto-attack centered.