Quote Originally Posted by Shippuu View Post
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By that loot pool logic, we shouldn't have DRG. Or NIN. Or any melee in Heavensward since each one of them had exclusive gear, so that's not really an excuse. As for an option to use DPS gear, have a starting trait put in that increases Vitality and defenses while increasing Tenacity by an amount equal to Direct Hit gained from gear and adjust potencies to compensate for the increased damage caused by dealing magic damage. Other features can be balanced passively, so it's not really that much of a nightmare for balancing.

As for a tank dealing magic damage, we now already have two of those, which tells me that not only would mechanics revolving around opposing magic damage not be as big of a thing, but devs would probably know how to implement them in such a way that that sort of mechanic would not apply to any job in a tank role and could potentially retroactively adjust what fights have these mechanics accordingly should there be enough demand for it. Of course if devs happen to be as inept as you seem to imply them to be (which I definitely don't), that's why I included the third option of Striking gear, have a trait that readjusts stats accordingly, and even have them deal physical damage if necessary.

With the whole "being different" thing, look at SAM. Everyone was expecting it to be just like the armored tank of FFXI, but Yoshi decided to have SAM as something different, and despite the whining and moaning at first, people enjoy it now. Yoshi has even reinforced this by bringing up wanting to add jobs unique to the Final Fantasy series because he wants the game to be different. Sure, there might be more tanks that use Fending gear like all the others, but there could just as easily be a tank that breaks that rule, much like a DPS that can heal.

Lastly, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you speak on behalf of all tanks (which I still can't stop laughing at the thought of it). If what you say is true and more caster players would favor it than tank players, then guess what? MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! What better way to make tanking more inclusive than to bring in a tank that more DPS players would prefer than tank players? Keep your Warriors. Keep your other tin cans. I'll stick to being different.