Ranged DPS role is about to be excluded from all content

[Cetonis]

Does anyone else think a test server would have made this ShB transition smoother?

They've had 8+ weeks of live servers, and still haven't been able to realize that ranged dps are heading for the dumpster. A test server would not have made them any less blind.

SE needs to solve some fundamental problems with their perception of job balance vs. the public perception of job balance.

They can think what they like about the accuracy of fflogs, or the justified-ness of the playerbase primarily valuing damage contribution at the high end of play. But they have to respect that these things impact player behavior way more than their calculations or wishful thinking ever will.

That doesn't mean they need to completely cave on their design philosophy and balance solely around fflogs, but they can't just wholly disregard it as they seem to be doing.