After E8S, I promised myself I would play another role instead

[AC9Breaker]

By the time I cleared E8S I was so dreadfully bored of Scholar I disbanded my static and promised myself I would play another role. In every other expansion I would stick around for the community for a bit, so that wouldn't have been too hard. I even had a tank already at level 80.

It turns out that instead of tanking I simply ended up playing other games and doing other hobbies. I haven't really learned another role as much as the job I got years of practice with, so it looks like this is just going to repeat for Eden's Promise.

I'm glad to see you're listening to Yoshi P.'s advice when he said its okay to play other games.

[Absurdity]

I'm glad to see you're listening to Yoshi P.'s advice when he said its okay to play other games.

And if everyone who mains tank or healer and is frustrated with the boring design does that we're going to have issues.

[AC9Breaker]

Its okay, the sky isn't falling though. I'm confident the team will make what ever changes need to make the game feel fresh come next expansion.

[Kyeria]

I honestly think a lot of people are feeling this frustration here...around healers in general. Square Enix's mindset of "Pure Healers" is causing a ton of issues with healer balance and enjoyment.

I originally was a big advocate for "Pure Healer" roles, because I came from FFXI and other games where healers were...well healers and it was how I enjoyed playing my healer jobs. However, I've come to understand that FFXIV's battle systems and concepts aren't designed around pure healers and they never will be unless they rework the entire game. Which, sorry for people wishing on stars, that's never going to happen.

Square needs to stop trying to cater to this mindset and just admit that they designed themselves into a corner with what is possible for healers in FFXIV. They need to embrace the design decisions they've made and move forward with them to make healers more enjoyable for the way the game is designed, not for the nostalgia of how people want healers to play. I feel like they teeter this line with healers, as to not upset the community at large who want healers to play very traditionally and it creates a tug of war with what abilities/concepts make it into the game...and they're always half-baked because FFXIV isn't designed to support it.

Bring back class identity, give us meaningful DPS rotations, and give us more than 2 buttons to press during downtime.

[Liam_Harper]

Its okay, the sky isn't falling though. I'm confident the team will make what ever changes need to make the game feel fresh come next expansion.

Based on their great SCH and AST changes so far, or all the dev feedback and insight they've been giving us, or the dedicated healer designers they have on the team working hard at this very moment?

...Oh wait.

[EaMett]

Its okay, the sky isn't falling though. I'm confident the team will make what ever changes need to make the game feel fresh come next expansion.

I've been listening to people say this for 5 years now. I want nothing more than for you and them to be right, but I'm still waiting.

[AC9Breaker]

I've been listening to people say this for 5 years now. I want nothing more than for you and them to be right, but I'm still waiting.

If the game has never felt fresh or different for you in those 5 years then maybe the problem isn't the game.

Based on their great SCH and AST changes so far, or all the dev feedback and insight they've been giving us, or the dedicated healer designers they have on the team working hard at this very moment?

...Oh wait.

Based on them turning a terrible game(1.0) into a game that is year after year still winning awards. Base on the fact that I quit the game a few months after 2010 launch, and came back during 2.2 and still continue to play. Based on the fact that they're always working on making 14 a better product. Is it perfect? No. Have there been missteps, yes? Will they be addressed? If history and past trends is anything to go by, yes.

[Liam_Harper]

Based on them turning a terrible game(1.0) into a game that is year after year still winning awards. Base on the fact that I quit the game a few months after 2010 launch, and came back during 2.2 and still continue to play. Based on the fact that they're always working on making 14 a better product. Is it perfect? No. Have there been missteps, yes? Will they be addressed? If history and past trends is anything to go by, yes.

We're not denying it's a great game overall. The devs do a good job and that's why I'm still a happily paying customer.

But they don't get everything right. Look at concepts like Verminion, which remains dead content to this day. Or the Diadem, which had to be reworked and still failed, followed by Eureka which again was met with heavy dislike and needed reworks. Or DRK which was in a poor state in Stormblood and only got reworked to bad WAR clone. WhM has spent several expansions unwanted at endgame and while it's viable now, still is the only class in the game which has clipping as part of gameplay.

Based on history, there's a good chance they might not have it fixed in 6.0. Also based on history, they don't rework entire roles once an expansion has launched. You also have to remember we've had no feedback from the devs on healers. None. Not even a "we hear you and we'll do our best in 6.0. Just more Piety on everything and SCH tweaks that display they're out of touch. Also keep in mind they literally do not have a heal designer right now and 6.0 is being worked on at this very moment.
So for all these reasons, as much as we love the devs, it's vital we keep giving our feedback and making ourselves heard so they realize this is something to prioritize.

[AC9Breaker]

We're not denying it's a great game overall. The devs do a good job and that's why I'm still a happily paying customer.

But they don't get everything right. Look at concepts like Verminion, which remains dead content to this day. Or the Diadem, which had to be reworked and still failed, followed by Eureka which again was met with heavy dislike and needed reworks. Or DRK which was in a poor state in Stormblood and only got reworked to bad WAR clone. WhM has spent several expansions unwanted at endgame and while it's viable now, still is the only class in the game which has clipping as part of gameplay.

Based on history, there's a good chance they might not have it fixed in 6.0. Also based on history, they don't rework entire roles once an expansion has launched. You also have to remember we've had no feedback from the devs on healers. None. Not even a "we hear you and we'll do our best in 6.0. Just more Piety on everything and SCH tweaks that display they're out of touch. Also keep in mind they literally do not have a heal designer right now and 6.0 is being worked on at this very moment.
So for all these reasons, as much as we love the devs, it's vital we keep giving our feedback and making ourselves heard so they realize this is something to prioritize.

I think some of what you said is subjective. Like Diadem rework. The gathering instance that is diadem now is actually pretty chill and fun. But we wen't through 2 iterations if count the original before we got what we have now. Although its very focused content which is either leveling your gathering classes or getting materials for Ishgard crafting. Drk also being terrible is hyperbole as the tanks have all been very close in performance and playstyle. Pretty sure world first for Ultimate content was with a DRK for Ultima and Bahamut. Also the way you talk about WHM as if it was never viable class is silly. All classes are and have always been viable in this game, but you are correct to say that some classes are more desirable then others.

A part of the problem is that message boards and chatroom tend to be echo chambers for people of specific kinds of opinions so it can be hard to gauge actual reality and perception when people are being extreme and irrational with their critique of gameplay elements. However they do seem to notice when certain issues reach a fever pitch if you will. Look at monk. The stagnation of it finally made it to their ears and they've stated there will be big changes in the future. I do think you make a salient point though that they haven't even made a statement as to possible changes for healers. I'm not saying feedback is wrong, but I don't think hysteria on message boards is an efficient way of conveying the message.