How could you do this to AST?

[ForteNightshade]

This is why I don't like some of the kinds of complaints people make, people who don't play certain jobs disliking how at its core plays complaining about it so that SE addresses it. I feel like the advantage of multiple jobs was to suit multiple playstyles and preferences. Like with DRK, I loved DRK when it was technical and had MP management, it was a part of the appeal, before HW I used to tank with WAR, if I wanted to stay with WAR, I'd have stayed playing WAR but I didn't because I liked the technical aspect of DRK and that interested me more. If people didn't like DRK from conception, then you had WAR instead.
If you didn't like SCH's DPS management or its shield focus, you had WHM instead. And I'm seeing another thread with a non-MNK player complaining that MNK has too many positionals, when it's one of the things that's appealing about MNK, when you have SAM, NIN or DRG who have fewer of them, it's better to play those. Why appeal to people who don't like the job from conception at the cost of those who love it at conception? If people are finding no job meets their needs and are complaining, then try to make something that appeals to them or to accommodate it in an existing design if it fits.

It definitely feels like Shadowbringers' philosophy geared more towards trying to entice players who otherwise disliked/haven't tried job x before instead of enhancing aspects of that job for those who already enjoyed it. Which is a fool's errand because now those same players who once enjoyed the job are the ones complaining. I can appreciate wanting to expend each jobs' appeal, but it should never come at the expense of those who already enjoyed it unless the feedback is widely one-sided. Bowmage comes to mind where nearly everyone seemed to despise it, though there were some who actually liked having cast bars.

What it comes down to, and it may be something the dev team dislikes hearing, is you neither can nor should please everyone. Some players simply won't like job x. So... let them play something else. Yes, they'll complain because they want "Ranger". I'm sorry, but... too bad. That isn't how Bard operates, or at least how it didn't. You mention DRK, which has always been a sore spot for me since I adored HW Dark Knight. Instead of telling people who insisted it was "too hard" to simply play PLD or WAR, they've continued to dumb it down into the uninspired husk it is now.

I really hope the sheer amount of vitriol they've received over healers, how poorly received Monk was and how Bard has all but crashed and burn will make them rethink this design philosophy going forward.

[Saefinn]

It definitely feels like Shadowbringers' philosophy geared more towards trying to entice players who otherwise disliked/haven't tried job x before instead of enhancing aspects of that job for those who already enjoyed it. Which is a fool's errand because now those same players who once enjoyed the job are the ones complaining. I can appreciate wanting to expend each jobs' appeal, but it should never come at the expense of those who already enjoyed it unless the feedback is widely one-sided. Bowmage comes to mind where nearly everyone seemed to despise it, though there were some who actually liked having cast bars.

What it comes down to, and it may be something the dev team dislikes hearing, is you neither can nor should please everyone. Some players simply won't like job x. So... let them play something else. Yes, they'll complain because they want "Ranger". I'm sorry, but... too bad. That isn't how Bard operates, or at least how it didn't. You mention DRK, which has always been a sore spot for me since I adored HW Dark Knight. Instead of telling people who insisted it was "too hard" to simply play PLD or WAR, they've continued to dumb it down into the uninspired husk it is now.

I really hope the sheer amount of vitriol they've received over healers, how poorly received Monk was and how Bard has all but crashed and burn will make them rethink this design philosophy going forward.

I know one person who preferred bowmage, but all other BRD's I know hated it, but then one of those Bards still hates BRD and misses 2.0 BRD. I'm somebody who always hated BRD design but it's the SB and ShB version I enjoy playing. Buuuut my ranged DPS choice is DNC but I totally get why old school BRD's don't like it, heck, I've never asked or expected any BRD design to accommodate what I like, so if they rework BRD again and I hate it, c'est la vie, but I hope people who main it like it, as long as they don't step on MCH's toes of course, I play with 2 MCH's and they're finally happy, don't make them sad again. But mess with my DNC, then I'll write my strongly worded forum posts. :P

With MNK and healers, I hope they do something about it. I play with a MNK and have been using mine lately but, yeah, it needs addressing. And obviously healers I've talked about ad infinitum here. They fix MNK and healers and not break anything else for Endwalker, I think nobody I run content with will complain about their preferred jobs, it'd be a first since ARR. Fortunately, we know both are on their radar...well, I say fortunately...I've not forgotten what YoshiP said at the ShB media tour about MNK...

[Marxam]

It definitely feels like Shadowbringers' philosophy geared more towards trying to entice players who otherwise disliked/haven't tried job x before instead of enhancing aspects of that job for those who already enjoyed it. Which is a fool's errand because now those same players who once enjoyed the job are the ones complaining. I can appreciate wanting to expend each jobs' appeal, but it should never come at the expense of those who already enjoyed it unless the feedback is widely one-sided. Bowmage comes to mind where nearly everyone seemed to despise it, though there were some who actually liked having cast bars.

It was sadly predictable the path would lead to this. I knew everything would get simplified once they removed "niche" utility skills rather than improve its benefits and designing content to utilize said skills more frequently. Its the old adage of "lets make our unique concept appeal to others by copying someone else" but failing to see the irony. Bowmage could have worked if Gauss Barrel wasn't so ugly and didn't fit on the gun models (should have just been a silencer imo). It was also not rewarding to play. If you are going to give up mobility you need to increase a jobs damage to necessitate it, i.e. BLM, but even in ShB BLM is pretty mobile so maybe its a design philosophy that's dying.

I hope that they shift back towards the idea of a job's "lacking" features can be compensated by another. However, they seem pretty adamant on that old adage I stated earlier. I just hope AST cards don't get nerfed even farther but I wouldn't even be surprised if they removed the damage dealt and replaced it with critical hit rate all for the sake of "balance". They did it with WAR so why not AST.