Which healing job are they gonna gut for Sage?

[GrizzlyTank]

But instead they blamed a blatant imbalance in power on tangential elements (how each job reached its power) and thereby homogenized the two.

Sadly, that's not a mistake unique to the time, either, as we've increasingly seen.

Classes in this game is honestly way to homogenized. If DPS were to be mapped across an axis of proc vs fixed rotation, nearly every job ends up far on the fixed side.
And for healers it's this... either regen or shield...

It feels like the devs are afraid to branch out and try more niches.

[Shurrikhan]

Classes in this game is honestly way to homogenized. If DPS were to be mapped across an axis of proc vs fixed rotation, nearly every job ends up far on the fixed side.
And for healers it's this... either regen or shield...

It feels like the devs are afraid to branch out and try more niches.

I agree, but that's not going to change so long as the community overwhelmingly just murmurs briefly, nods, and goes on their way when the devs put out utterly disingenuous excuses for a given change, or is generally plenty happy for the combat playflow to be just a visuals-buoyed topping on an otherwise just storytelling/grind experience.

There is then just no incentive to put out actual quality or serious effort beyond the newest visual flair or extra button.

"Oh, but there wasn't yet a single-target option of that skill? Well, here's an extra button, otherwise exactly identical, devoted solely to whether you can count the number of enemies within the line or radius of your action as one... or more than one. Brilliant, yes?"

[Driavna]

Classes in this game is honestly way to homogenized. If DPS were to be mapped across an axis of proc vs fixed rotation, nearly every job ends up far on the fixed side.
And for healers it's this... either regen or shield...

It feels like the devs are afraid to branch out and try more niches.

I disagree with you. Classes are the way the are now because of how the game is played and probably the player base too. As long as you have duty finder all combination of classes need to work.

[Absurdity]

I disagree with you. Classes are the way the are now because of how the game is played and probably the player base too. As long as you have duty finder all combination of classes need to work.

If that were the case then we wouldn't have the current healer design.

[Driavna]

If that were the case then we wouldn't have the current healer design.

SCH do not only have shields so more or less they can work together, still it's not ideal. But you can't create a single target (or tank healer if you will) with zero AoE heals without causing problems.

[BaconBits]

Can't wait to see how many people start saying "Guys just wait until the expansion release smh" when the full healer notes release and people more knowledgeable than I am point out sketchy changes to all the healers.

Bonus points if it eventually snowballs from "wait to the next major patch" to "just wait til the next expansion".

[SpiralMask]

Can't wait to see how many people start saying "Guys just wait until the expansion release smh" when the full healer notes release and people more knowledgeable than I am point out sketchy changes to all the healers.

Bonus points if it eventually snowballs from "wait to the next major patch" to "just wait til the next expansion".

i already fell for (and shamefully perpetuated) that approach in ShB, to be met with two years of radio silence or active "stop complaining healers, we made it this bad on purpose" in liveletters and interviews, if the subject was ever brought up at all.

[Cithaerias_pyropina]

Can't wait to see how many people start saying "Guys just wait until the expansion release smh" when the full healer notes release and people more knowledgeable than I am point out sketchy changes to all the healers.

Bonus points if it eventually snowballs from "wait to the next major patch" to "just wait til the next expansion".

Moment of silence for White Mage lilies at the start of Stormblood?

[RyuDragnier]

Moment of silence for White Mage lilies at the start of Stormblood?

Moment of silence for AST cards and SCH fairies at the start of Shadowbringers?

[Nethereal]

If that were the case then we wouldn't have the current healer design.

Except that's exactly why we have the current healer design.
The reason Aoe Esuna was removed from SCH was largely due to TEA, if SCH was allowed to have such an ability to not bring a SCH would be literal griefing even if you found a group actually willing to not take one.

The healers have to give and take from each other, one can't be massively better than the other or you get situations in the past where WHM personal damage was low so you didn't play it, AST had 20% potency cards, and SCH's crit adlo could invalidate mechanics on all difficulties.

A large part of it also is probably because none of the job designers main healer.
The correct route in my mind which they haven't took yet is "If everything is special(OP) nothing is special(OP)."