What exactly IS a White Mage?

[tinythinker]

I like whm the way it is.

I like it as-is as well but I only run dungeons and non-ex primals. I gather that a lot of the dissatisfaction involves harder content like savage raids.

[Exiled_Tonberry]

I like whm the way it is.

Slowly dying?

[Mansion]

Slowly dying?

It's been dying since early Heavensward. Let's just put an end to it.
Make it a Disciple of Land, and use elemental magic to make plants grow faster or whatever and take it off the raid-scene.

[tinythinker]

Slowly dying?

It's been dying since early Heavensward. Let's just put an end to it.
Make it a Disciple of Land, and use elemental magic to make plants grow faster or whatever and take it off the raid-scene.

Not everyone is into the raid scene, and WHM is fine for other areas of the game. For those who are into progression raiding I understand where some of the frustration comes from, yet there are those without the time or interest for the peak of end-game content. For those who want a really simple to get-into healer that can manage random people tossed together into a roulette, WHM is great. Its simplicity is not a drawback in such situations, it's a bonus. Players who get bored with that can move on to managing a pet or a deck of cards. The lily system is fertile ground for trying to make up for WHM's blandness as players reach higher levels as well as its shortcomings in prog if SE handles it right in 5.0.

[Dualgunner]

Not everyone is into the raid scene, and WHM is fine for other areas of the game. For those who are into progression raiding I understand where some of the frustration comes from, yet there are those without the time or interest for the peak of end-game content. For those who want a really simple to get-into healer that can manage random people tossed together into a roulette, WHM is great. Its simplicity is not a drawback in such situations, it's a bonus. Players who get bored with that can move on to managing a pet or a deck of cards. The lily system is fertile ground for trying to make up for WHM's blandness as players reach higher levels as well as its shortcomings in prog if SE handles it right in 5.0.

People who do not do raid tier content are generally not affected by balance changes either way, so "It only hurts raiders, nobody cares" doesn't seem like an especially strong argument.

[tinythinker]

People who do not do raid tier content are generally not affected by balance changes either way, so "It only hurts raiders, nobody cares" doesn't seem like an especially strong argument.

Please indicate where I made such an argument.

[Dualgunner]

Please indicate where I made such an argument.

Not everyone is into the raid scene, and WHM is fine for other areas of the game.

10character

[tinythinker]

10character

LOL...

[Dualgunner]

LOL...

You'll have to forgive me if that wasn't the intent of your post, but that is the argument I gleaned from it, and it's not a new argument that's been presented on the forums.

[Mansion]

Not everyone is into the raid scene, and WHM is fine for other areas of the game. [...]For those who want a really simple to get-into healer that can manage random people tossed together into a roulette, WHM is great.

I was only joking, but your message brings another topic in actually.
Basically, White Mage is the first healer in the game (the only one that starts at level 1). Its design is straightforward. This button heals one guy, this button heals several people, this button throws a stone at a foe. We get it.
So yes, it is a good job to learn healing, it is a good job to do roulettes with, it does not require a mastering of the game's overall gameplay and system to keep your party alive (I'm exagerating on this one but you get my point, SCH needs a bit more optimization by design).
By this logic, every job is more or less fine. Some are more complicated than others, but they all make sense in a ground level (which is normal mode / dungeons etc.) comparison.

But

Some of the "easier" jobs also do a great job outside of that ground level. RDM is arguably the easiest caster, if not the easiest DPS. But it has a strong identity, a simple but fun dual rotation between casting and rapier poking, high numbers, support tools.
PLD is in my opinion the "easiest" tank, in the way that you see which tools build agro, which tools hit harder, and which tools allow you to survive great damage. But in the raid scene, it does extraordinarily well with another tank. It gives room for optimizing DPS output. I see people coming with the DRK argument so I'm telling in advance I don't play tank that much, and not at all in Savage content so I won't go further on that topic. My point is that each tanking job is enjoyable in casual content and high end raid.
All these jobs have a nice progression through their own leveling (even if it is clunky for some of them, namely MCH).

But WHM has nothing to offer at its lvl 70 peak, compared to ALL other jobs (and not tjust the lillies). It remains simply "push here to heal and push here to DPS if you feel like it". I think the argument actually starts here, because WHM does not get anything significantly interesting the higher it goes in level, and in endgame -while still enjoyable, it's up to everyone's taste- it feels really poor compared to the other healers, and to other jobs in general. It's not even about clipping, weaving options and potencies; it's the overall job design. And yet it is the most popular healer outside of Extreme / Savage.
I understand the devs' position, because you can assume WHM is ok based on the figures of how many people play it anyway, outside of the raiding arena. It's still unfair that the job is awkward in extreme/savage content because they won't touch it for some reason.