Blue Mage is a masterpiece of game design.

[Reynhart]

It's fun to me, accelerating strategies, plotting builds, and obtaining an edge.

I can understand that. But if you take your PLD70 to OS mobs and exploit the job changing system, you're not really "optimizing BLU", you're simply not playing it.

It would be basically the same as searching how to obtain an HQ 100% on a really difficult item...by simply buying it on the market board.

I wouldnt be surprised if they decided to create only limited jobs after they notice "you have (soon) 17 jobs to pick, we are done with them, here take a limited job instead".

Considering balance is more and more difficult the more job you add, I wouldn't be surprised by that. And I wouldn't personally mind as long as each limited job bring a new mechanic to the game.

[Floortank]

Now let us see how many replies we get from those that were against "limited job" and say how much they are enjoying themselves

I was definitely disappointed that it would be a limited job, but I was wrong. I love what they've done, and they were right to do it this way.

[Blueyes]

This is something I don't get. Why was it necessary that Blu's weapon has no stats?

It was anything but necessary. The only explanation provided was that they didn't want Blue Mage worrying about collecting dungeon weapons on top of collecting spells, but that explanation falls flat when buying weapons off the market is an option for any standard job.

By calling Blue Mage a limited job, it has given them free reign to cut corners wherever they see fit.

[Reynhart]

that explanation falls flat when buying weapons off the market is an option for any standard job.

But other jobs don't require spending gils on their weapons. If crafted weapons were the only way to gain a new weapon and BLU weapons had the same impact on their DPS output, the prices would simply skyrocket.

[Shurrikhan]

Considering balance is more and more difficult the more job you add, I wouldn't be surprised by that.

Balance differs based on value of synergies, not job count. When a new job is added but neither grants or exploits a given advantage by a noticeably increased margin, it doesn't change balance. And difficulty does not excuse a complete refusal to try.

[Reynhart]

When a new job is added but neither grants or exploits a given advantage by a noticeably increased margin, it doesn't change balance.

Sure, but it's not like there are 10 different ways of tanking, healing, casting, range-ing or melee-ing. If the new jobs are simply copy-paste of old ones, they don't bring much to the game.

And difficulty does not excuse a complete refusal to try.

You can't really say they "refuse to try" when we already have 15 (Soon 17) jobs and when any setup is at least viable.

[Shurrikhan]

You can't really say they "refuse to try" when we already have 15 (Soon 17) jobs and when any setup is at least viable.

I wrote that in reply to the question of simply whether there would be any more than those 17, be it as few as 18 or as many as 25, etc -- i.e. literally giving up on full-fledged jobs after ShB.

Sure, but it's not like there are 10 different ways of tanking, healing, casting, range-ing or melee-ing. If the new jobs are simply copy-paste of old ones, they don't bring much to the game.

Aye, that is true. And I suspect it will continue painfully limit design so long as we continue only to think of content and each role in as incredibly narrow and fixed a manner as we have thus far.

[Blueyes]

But other jobs don't require spending gils on their weapons. If crafted weapons were the only way to gain a new weapon and BLU weapons had the same impact on their DPS output, the prices would simply skyrocket.

And it wouldn't be required for Blue Mage either. If Blue Mage were a proper job, dungeon weapons would be available alongside crafted weapons. If you would rather not go after dungeon weapons, that's entirely your choice. SE's solution was the cut weapons out entirely rather than give them the same choice that every other job has.

[Reynhart]

If Blue Mage were a proper job, dungeon weapons would be available alongside crafted weapons.

Blue Mage is not a proper job, it's time people accept it. If BLU was a proper job, it wouldn't "learn" its spell, so there would be no point of even calling it a Blue Mage.

If you would rather not go after dungeon weapons, that's entirely your choice.

Sorry, but no...you can't claim that something "falls flat" because there is another solution and when shown that this solution is too harsh on BLU, go back to the first solution that was already rejected because it would also require BLU more work than any other job...

I wrote that in reply to the question of simply whether there would be any more than those 17, be it as few as 18 or as many as 25, etc -- i.e. literally giving up on full-fledged jobs after ShB.

The balance topic is not only a Shadowbringers concern. It was there from the very beginning, and they eventually managed to to something fairly good. That's why I'd say they already tried their take on balancing the game and it worked.

Also, "no new full job" says nothing about how the established jobs might get expanded. Maybe we could have new features to give them more customization, deeper itemization, etc...Like I said, the "limited" concept potentially opened the door for lots of things at the cost of "no matchmaking". I'd love to have traits to specialize my PLD as a "turtle MT" or a "backup healer OT", and find people with that same mindset to raid, even if it's not the most efficient way.

[Burningskull]

Blue Mage is not a proper job, it's time people accept it. If BLU was a proper job, it wouldn't "learn" its spell, so there would be no point of even calling it a Blue Mage.

Ummm... why could you not learn spells and still be a proper job? They could have easily given you a quest every 5 levels where your job trainer says "hey I've descovered a new mob for you to try and learn it's move. Go kill a couple of hundred and return when you've mastered it." You go kill the mob, the spell works into w/e rotation / combo system SE decided to give it and all would be right with the world.