The Blue Mage Argument at a glance

[Darkpaw]

And in that role.. blue mage does to the other casters what bard has done to machinist. I do appreciate your response and your point of view. My point wasn't to say that the casters are all the exact same, just that they boil down to the same basic formula. Adding another job into that formula no matter how you add variety to the play style does nothing to innovate and branch forward. I'm not looking to start yet another thread about what blue mage could be what it should be.. It is what it is and we don't exactly know what that is until we play it. This is just my quick opinion of the blue mage argument at a glance as an intro to it.

[Dualgunner]

just that they boil down to the same basic formula.

Not in any way that doesn't reduce the entirety of the DPS cast to the same basic formula--that being push buttons in a pattern to deal the most damage. To cast as a Black Mage is immensely different than to cast as a Red Mage, and to cast as a Summoner is a very different thing as well. They all have different goals, and their casts mean different things to them and the choices they need to make. Like I said elsewhere, superficially, yes they all cast, but none of them are some basic mage that casts basic spell. I can't think of any spells between the three that are basically interchangeable in their use. Scathe and Ruin 2 possibly but the problem is Scathe is such a damage loss that BLM would rather clip than use it.

Actually, the healers come close to that, with Stone IV/Malefic/Broil 2 and Aero/Combust/Bio-Miasma-whathaveyou being basically interchangeable, but they obviously don't focus on their damage rotations so much as their own healing kits.

As far as what BLU could add that isn't already there? That's a good question. I personally don't know what or how they could integrate BLU as a caster DPS that would differ from our current trio. Dipping back into RDM specifically, nobody knew how they could have possibly integrated it, and yet they found a niche for RDM to fill with reasonable success, as well as cementing its XIV identity as a balance between its light and dark natures.

Therefore, I don't think it's all that feasible to say they couldn't have found a way to put it in as a caster DPS that would have basically amounted to "basic mage.exe".

Personally, I will always stand behind the idea it should have been a vengeance tank. That idea too has its detractions, but it would be great to have a Learn mechanic based on cooldowns used and turning damage taken into damage given through the fight.

I'll also drop another hot-take. It'd be cool if every job could have a crack at the Masked Carnivale, or content like it.