People who are mad about the "limited job" didn't actually want Blue Mage.

[Alien_Gamer]

Okay, but what did they do it instead of?

This is the most useless question ever. We got BLU instead of any of the dozens of other jobs they initially started discussing years ago. We got BLU instead of all the hundreds of other ideas they had about things to include that we never heard about. We got BLU instead of so many other things that could have been and will never know about that its pointless to even bother with. But you know, pick your favorite thing that you feel got shafted and go with that instead.

I see no placation here, I see Yoshi giving us a well developed job thats true to its historic identity and giving the players many things they've been asking for since 2.0.
-Players wanted a reason to go back into the open world, now you have it.
-Players wanted something different from what we've had for the last 4 years, now you have it.
-Players wanted a unique job that didn't feel like what we already have, now you have it.
-Players wanted new content thats not copy pasta from previous stuff, we got Masked Carnival.
-Players posted fears that BLU would be a watered down caster with very little identity, they made it so its not.
-Players posted fears that BLU would be OP and break group content with monster abilities, they agreed and took steps to stop that. They even let premades bypass that restriction for those that really want to do group content with their friends.

Players literally got everything they wanted with BLU and they're still complaining about it.

This is not a minigame. This is a new job with new job mechanics. If this is a minigame for you then you might as well call all of the job specific mechanics minigames. If you want other jobs to have such unique identity, request it on the forums and push for it but nowhere did Yoshi ever imply that other classes don't have identity or other new classes won't have identity.

[Valdegarde]

giving us a well developed job

It fails to meet basic requirements of any other job in the game. It is not a job.

[Tyla_Esmeraude]

-Players wanted a reason to go back into the open world, now you have it.
-Players wanted something different from what we've had for the last 4 years, now you have it.
-Players wanted a unique job that didn't feel like what we already have, now you have it.
-Players wanted new content thats not copy pasta from previous stuff, we got Masked Carnival.
-Players posted fears that BLU would be a watered down caster with very little identity, they made it so its not.
-Players posted fears that BLU would be OP and break group content with monster abilities, they agreed and took steps to stop that. They even let premades bypass that restriction for those that really want to do group content with their friends.

1. Going back into the open world just for what, few weeks in until all BLUs have their spells. Then it's dead again. It's not about going back into the open world for one job, it's to make content in the open world that's actually worth a salt in terms of endgame.
2. It's nice to have something different, but what is even the point of it if it's gonna be always lagging behind and not be able to do normal endgame content. Are you going to have to farm for armor on another job just to equip it on BLU? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Lots of people wanted to *main* BLU, not have to main another job just to gear up BLU to use it non relevant content.
3.Again, serves no purpose other than side content if they can't do current endgame. It's nice that they are experimenting, but they could've gone a more creative way to implement it so that it can be a normal full job.
4. Masked Carnival is nice and all, but that could've been something on top of point 3.
5 and 6. If their only solution to create hard to implement jobs is to relegate them to side content only, what's gonna be the fate of the future jobs? I feel the dev team is restricting themselves in that matter and aren't being creative enough to tackle this design task. The only way to make them relevant if they are gonna keep this system is if they make "limited jobs" have their own end game raid, where BLUs, BSTs, PUPs and such jobs get to battle together against foes. In that case, Masked Carnival shouldn't just be specific to BLUs and it should give rewards like armor to gear themselves up and stuff. Otherwise you are going to have to farm for armor on another job just for BLU and people won't even be able to make BLU their main.

It is side content though if it cannot access current endgame, (nor can it queue up for matchmaking), because believe it or not, it's what matters to most people. And I'm not even talking about Savage, I'm talking about normal dungeons, alliance raids and normal Alphascape that's considered casual. It's a new *limited* job in that regard, it's not a full job, a proper job per se.

[Shurrikhan]

This is the most useless question ever.

Read more than a single sentence and you'll be aware of how badly you're misconstruing this. The only options I measured BLU against were specifically those BLU's implementation as such circumvents.

For instance, broadly speaking...

Option 1: Improve upon the current core gameplay such that it allows a job like a true BLU to be introduced as a full-fledged job.
Option 2: Establish precedent for anything outside of core gameplay to be sidelined. Continue homogenizing jobs and gameplay.

We got option 2 instead of option 1. Some people are pissed about that. They did not get "literally everything they wanted". They more nearly got nothing they wanted. Rather than the core game taking steps for what they saw as the better, the things they wanted a BLU for, it is now systematically precedented against any such change. If it's not template, it's segregated off.

You are cherry-picking disparate conflicts and concerns into a strawman of a shared voice while assuming at every step a false ultimatum, that a true BLU could not work in real content. That comes from the assumption that the current design is unimprovable, or at least that the devs will never allow for significant changes to it. The last, at least, may have some merit as an assumption, but that's the first issue that ought to be addressed, then. Praising something for taking the easiest route out the gate, so they can continue to ignore the feedback BLU represented more broadly, is backwards.

This is not a minigame. This is a new job with new job mechanics. If this is a minigame for you then you might as well call all of the job specific mechanics minigames.

Let's say we actually got a decent version of Chocobo Racing, whereby the different colors of Chocobos, as per Mario Kart or the like, each had unique abilities that could be unlocked while you progress up the competitive ladder, chocobo by chocobo, with further caps given each season tier for further abilities. Casual players therefore would tend to pick a couple favorite to progress and compete with in the season while those with more time on their hands could potentially level them all to exploit every unique advantage they might have, map to map, for the various strategies of counterplay Each color chocobo has its own mechanics, and a separate general progression system for each of the six colors or so.

Does that make it any less a mini-game?

It has progression. It has unique mechanics. But it does not interact with the larger game. It is a smaller game within the larger game, limited unto itself. It is a minigame. Would such a version of Chocobo Racing be damn fun? Yes. Ought it be mocked for not being part of the core game? No. But it remains a minigame.

BLU likewise is scarcely permitted to interact with the actual game. It will give nothing unto the assets or experience of the core game, and receive from it only its discarded bits. It is essentially cut off, a gameform limited unto itself. Even if you were then to add a full roster of "limited jobs" those jobs would scarcely be part of the overall game; such an insular, purposely segregated experience is much more akin to a minigame than to an addition to the actual game, or at best a limited mod offshoot of the original game. I meant full well what I said; it was not hyperbole.