Thank you for making Blue Mage unique!

[Seraphor]

Yes, that is what people want. To be able to play the game like all the other jobs. This is not difficult concept to comprehend.

Thats what the other jobs are for. We're still getting two new jobs in the expansion. This is something extra.
Do you hate crafter/gatherers for taking part in "useless side content"?

[Skyskip]

Thats what the other jobs are for. We're still getting two new jobs in the expansion. This is something extra.
Do you hate crafter/gatherers for taking part in "useless side content"?

But we aren't getting BLU like the other jobs, so I don't care about the two new jobs.

As I already answered you in another thread, the crafters/gatherers are not jobs and they DO directly interact with the social aspect of the game through the economy. And even still many people do see crafting and gathering as useless side content. BLU is even worse than that.

[Gemina]

My own thoughts on BLU are I think it's great. For the longest time we thought it would never make it into the game based on earlier statements from Yoshi. Yet, it's on the way and before the expansion?! Freakin' awesome!

I feel that if we got a version of BLU that could participate in dungeons and raids, it would be severely watered down and a huge disappointment to BLU fans. I foresee tons upon tons threads to fix it. The devs can't rework the game to fit the lore around one job, and we already have so many DPS jobs filling the queues. I actually enjoy that they're breaking the mold a bit, and giving us something new. I had no interest in playing BLU when I first heard the rumors, and now with this I am totally on board.

I do sympathize for those who are disappointed though, but this is why I always say you have to be really careful in how much you invest into content that has yet to be implemented into the game.

[Acidblood]

Yes, that is what people want. To be able to play the game like all the other jobs. This is not difficult concept to comprehend.

The key part there is 'like all the other jobs'... shoved into a DPS / Tank / Healer box 'like all the other jobs'... gaining abilities by leveling up (and a handful of class quests) 'like all the other jobs'... leveling up via Duty Roulette / PotD 'like all the other jobs'... having a different rotation but ultimately just being a DPS with a few extras 'like all the other jobs'... having a fixed set of abilities 'like all the other jobs'... end-game progression that relies solely on gear 'like all the other jobs'... being included / excluded from 'meta' based on 1-2 'unique' abilities but otherwise only on how much DPS they are capable of 'like all the other jobs'...

I can understand that you may just want to do the regular old duty / raid grind as a job called 'Blue Mage', but do you really understand what it is you are asking for when you say you want Blue Mage to be 'like all the other jobs' in FFXIV?

[WellFooled]

The key part there is 'like all the other jobs'... shoved into a DPS / Tank / Healer box 'like all the other jobs'... gaining abilities by leveling up (and a handful of class quests) 'like all the other jobs'... leveling up via Duty Roulette / PotD 'like all the other jobs'... having a different rotation but ultimately just being a DPS with a few extras 'like all the other jobs'... having a fixed set of abilities 'like all the other jobs'... end-game progression that relies solely on gear 'like all the other jobs'... being included / excluded from 'meta' based on 1-2 'unique' abilities but otherwise only on how much DPS they are capable of 'like all the other jobs'...

I can understand that you may just want to do the regular old duty / raid grind as a job called 'Blue Mage', but do you really understand what it is you are asking for when you say you want Blue Mage to be 'like all the other jobs' in FFXIV?

What you're arguing is that it is impossible to create a job in FFXIV without locking it into those restrictions, which isn't true. Those restrictions are self imposed by the developers and they can be lifted any time they please. You can have a job that is both unique in its execution, while still having a place in end game and group content "like all the other jobs".

[Haxaan]

I am so excited for Blue Mage. I am over the moon that they are trying something new and trying to stay true to the original theme of Blue Mage instead of trying to make it fit into the play style of the other jobs thereby weakening the original concept of the Job. I am totally being selfish and am wishing they would do the same thing for Summoner now XD. Have a solo play scenario where you fight the Primals and after beating them obtain them as actual summons. Because the sheer power of true primal summoning would be game breaking , you could do it in PvE and solo content. But that is just me being silly and wishing for something that will never happen. Anyway, super excited for Blue Mage and I hope that they stay true to the concept they have designed for it and don't cave in to people crying because it doesn't play well with others lol.

[Lynthin]

I completely agree with the spirit of the thread, I also am so over the moon excited about this.

I understand the frustration from raiders and I feel for them, but for myself I am beyond excited for the inclusion of solo classes.

I remember back in ffxi, beastmasters and puppet masters were “solo jobs”, they weren’t necessarily made solo, but rather parties were very against having them, and it was always a lot of fun running around a zone and running into a random beastmaster or puppetmaster mucking about slowly leveling and just enjoying themselves. Additionally, it created such a strong attachment to my puppet and I loved that little bugger.

If they can’t make these classes fit the ffxiv mold without ruining them, I fully accept limited classes for the sheer fun of playing them as they should be.

My main fun in mmos is always leveling, learning the job, and in final fantasies, the story.
Raiding just isn’t for me.

And while I know this isn’t ffxi, and a lot of the complaints are valid, I’m personally excited for a unique class experience.

I’m truly sorry for the disappointment raiders feel, and maybe one day it can change, but I am going to play the heck out of this and cross my fingers for beast and puppet master!

My only complaint is the level cap, but I do understand why it exists.

[Skyskip]

The key part there is 'like all the other jobs'... shoved into a DPS / Tank / Healer box 'like all the other jobs'... gaining abilities by leveling up (and a handful of class quests) 'like all the other jobs'... leveling up via Duty Roulette / PotD 'like all the other jobs'... having a different rotation but ultimately just being a DPS with a few extras 'like all the other jobs'... having a fixed set of abilities 'like all the other jobs'... end-game progression that relies solely on gear 'like all the other jobs'... being included / excluded from 'meta' based on 1-2 'unique' abilities but otherwise only on how much DPS they are capable of 'like all the other jobs'...

I can understand that you may just want to do the regular old duty / raid grind as a job called 'Blue Mage', but do you really understand what it is you are asking for when you say you want Blue Mage to be 'like all the other jobs' in FFXIV?

Yes. I very clearly understand what I'm asking for; a playable class that isn't a waste of time. Just like all the others. A giant fluff system for BLU doesn't mean jack if it's unusable in the rest of the game. Full stop.

[Acidblood]

What you're arguing is that it is impossible to create a job in FFXIV without locking it into those restrictions, which isn't true. Those restrictions are self imposed by the developers and they can be lifted any time they please. You can have a job that is both unique in its execution, while still having a place in end game and group content "like all the other jobs".

Yes, they are self-imposed, and I'm all for those restrictions being broken down, but at the same time I recognise that they can't just upend the entire game overnight. Which is why they have chosen to implement Blue Mage in the way that they have.

Honestly it's a good compromise, and although doubtful perfect (I'll give my feedback once I've actually played it), it does have a lot of potential going forward, and if it proves successful enough (and the community is mature and responsible enough to handle it), who knows, maybe someday they do allow 'non-standard' jobs in to Duty Roulette / current tier Raids*.

That's not what the 'delete Limited Jobs' crowd wants though, they want their 'Blue Mage' (and all future jobs) Raid ready on day 1 'like all the other jobs', and in the current structure of FFXIV that does mean designing it 'like all the other jobs'. This is not XI (where players are used to un-balanced, niche, or outright 'useless' jobs), they can't just throw a non-standard job out there and expect anything but chaos.

Take RDM for example, a job that should be roughly 50/50 damage / healing and support, but instead it's 93% damage (due to the strict structure of XIV), and even at that ratio is considered 'mandatory' (by some) for raid progression based on 1-2 (less than 8%) of its abilities, but gets thrown out on its ear as soon as progression is over due to 'not enough DPS' (for some)... do you really expect Blue Mage (by which I mean a true jack-of-all-trades Blue Mage) to fare any better?

And yes, there are also duties, but Blue Mage isn’t excluded from duties, only auto matched duties, which you could argue is too limiting, but this is an entirely new type of job for FFXIV, and when you consider that a disturbing number of players can’t even handle the likes of low-level BLM properly can you really blame them for being cautious?

*We don't actually know if Blue Mage will forever be excluded from current tier content (which is an understandable concern), only that Blue Mage starts limited to level 50 and will have its level cap increased independent of the normal level cap, the rest is speculation based on (an admittedly bad) example of balance concerns from Yoshi P.

Yes. I very clearly understand what I'm asking for; a playable class that isn't a waste of time. Just like all the others. A giant fluff system for BLU doesn't mean jack if it's unusable in the rest of the game. Full stop.

Good news then, there are already 15 jobs in the game for you, and more coming in 5.0, please look forward to it.

NB. That is partially sarcastic by the way, but I do feel that complaining that Blue Mage (and its content) is a waste of time because you don’t like it (and don’t see the potential) is like complaining that Savage / Ultimate is a waste of time, or that crafting and gathering is a waste of time, or that Gold Saucer is a waste of time, or even that Eureka, as bad as I personally think it is, is a total waste of time (as opposed to something that could be improved).

[omgitslos]

Why does the "gotta catch them all" aspect and "viable endgame job" have to be mutually exclusive? They 100% could've made a normal BLU job, according to the XIV job parameters. Then ADDED more content to the job. Do you want your spells to look different? Apply Blue Magic glamours! Go out in the world and "learn" new skills to change how your spells look. If that wouldn't work, why not just have the 49 extra skills available to learn and use in synced/irrelevant content/open world and in the BLU carnival???? The fact that we have to get this half-baked "job" is ridiculous.

This could open up possibilities for other jobs! BLU would have this system, BRD already has performance, expand on Egi glamours, change NIN jutsus, etc..