A question for the BLU peeps

[Reynhart]

They can just choose to play with you or kick you.

And that's one of the reason why BLU is excluded from matchmaking.

As long as one could change skills out of combat a good player could shine by making good skill choices in place of a perfectly executed rotation.

Problem is that, for now, nothing points out to skills having a required level to use. So, basically, a synced lvl 40 BLU could use a skill that required lvl50 to learn. So, there could be a huge difference between two BLU of the same synced lvl depending on their real level.

If it were a requirement to unlock some mandatory skills, consider it a consequence of it being a Limited Job.

Again, what is mandatory for the game is not what other players consider mandatory. Exactly like the game allows you to enter a duty as soon as you're above min ilvl but a leader could ask for you to have the maximum ilvl available. BLU add more opportunities for drama.

[jon041065]

And that's one of the reason why BLU is excluded from matchmaking.

Again, what is mandatory for the game is not what other players consider mandatory. Exactly like the game allows you to enter a duty as soon as you're above min ilvl but a leader could ask for you to have the maximum ilvl available. BLU add more opportunities for drama.

So either people should be forced to play with each other or just take away the option entirely? It's not SE's place to solve this. I think they should have just said to use the party finder if you're worried about being matched with people that might want you to play a certain way but they could have added more DF settings to let us have more control over the situation. Like how FCs can mark themselves as casual and/or hardcore, there could have been settings for "relaxed, intermediate, and serious" and you could check the players with a similar mindset of how you want to play. Add choices or letting us have more control over our choice instead of taking choices away.

[Reynhart]

So either people should be forced to play with each other or just take away the option entirely? It's not SE's place to solve this.

That's what they did since the very beginning of ARR. They removed the elemental resistance, they removed special bonuses, they narrowed the effect of all main stats to a single thing, they removed cross-class skills in case people would be too lazy to gather them, they reduced the skill ceiling of every job, they streamlined everything so that there would be less reason for dramas. All of that point toward them not trust the playerbase to be mature enough to manage different point of vienws in random matchmaking.

[Fyce]

By requiring that you unlock every skill before entering the instance or queuing for a roulette, and by letting you swap skills when out of combat like you could swap role skills.

Your solution doesn't solve a lot of issues regarding matchmaking with Blue Mages (skill balance, absence of a rotation, BLU not using the "optimal" skills, number of skills depending on the level sync, etc.). All of that development time and ressources invested into "making it work" for what purpose in the end? Being able to do your roulettes to farm Poetics, or do Sastasha with randoms "for fun".
Great.

[Istaro]

And you are literally the only person saying it has to be a 'reskin' of other casters. Does it not occur to you that BLM, SMN and RDM all play differently?

They do? All caster jobs have 3 phases of management: The build phase where you begin to ramp up your damage to prepare for phase 2: the burst phase when you unleash your nukes in a small window untill durations are up and you enter Phase 3: Cooldown phase, the point where your CDs are used and your hard hitting spells will be weaker while you wait to repeat the process. Visually the jobs all seem different but mechanically they are all the same in the name of "balance" and since you literally have only two types of damage there's really nothing special about each job other than aesthetics.

[BubblyBoar]

If you boil everything down, then everything is the same anyway. All jobs just do damage and nothing else matters. The entire game is just about pressing buttons to make the HP go to 0 before your HP goes to 0. It's all the same, even BLU.

[Istaro]

That's what they did since the very beginning of ARR. They removed the elemental resistance, they removed special bonuses, they narrowed the effect of all main stats to a single thing, they removed cross-class skills in case people would be too lazy to gather them, they reduced the skill ceiling of every job, they streamlined everything so that there would be less reason for dramas. All of that point toward them not trust the playerbase to be mature enough to manage different point of vienws in random matchmaking.

Well they're right, seeing as the playerbase isn't mature enough to handle this news and just search for reasons to complain, even about content that hasn't been released.

People are more willing to take feedback when it's constructive and civil and not literally doomsaying and telling them how to do their job.

A great example of SEs willingness to listen was regarding the glamour plates, Yoshida gave 3 options and let the crowd sound off on which one should have top priority.

[Dualgunner]

They do? All caster jobs have 3 phases of management: The build phase where you begin to ramp up your damage to prepare for phase 2: the burst phase when you unleash your nukes in a small window untill durations are up and you enter Phase 3: Cooldown phase, the point where your CDs are used and your hard hitting spells will be weaker while you wait to repeat the process. Visually the jobs all seem different but mechanically they are all the same in the name of "balance" and since you literally have only two types of damage there's really nothing special about each job other than aesthetics.

The "build" phases are all completely different. I don't think BLM even has a "build phase" and SMN has two "Burst" phases in DWT and Bahamut summon. Sounds like you just described RDM and are trying to justify that the other two casters fit that mold.

[Istaro]

The "build" phases are all completely different. I don't think BLM even has a "build phase" and SMN has two "Burst" phases in DWT and Bahamut summon. Sounds like you just described RDM and are trying to justify that the other two casters fit that mold.

But there is still a build time between those phases, you need to go through 2 DWT phases in order to reach Bahamut. There's always a period of time in between each (such as Aetherflow CD)

[Dyvid]

I honestly thought BLU was going to FFXIV first Hybrid job; Tank or Caster depending on what skills you have assigned. It would have been possible but different then other jobs. Rather than learning a spell as you level, the Blue Mage job quest would require you to go into the field and learn unique skills from monster. You couldn't select the role unless you had the required enemy skills. While it does limit play style and guarantees the job has the right abilities.