New Missaphenchair video makes great point about the direction of job design

[Amh_Wilzuun]

Here is the link: https://youtu.be/1d_fMH9Lwvs

I think he makes a lot of compelling points that the devs and certain players should hear. Here are some abbreviated highlights from the video I want to emphasize here.

- “FFXIV is in a good state currently and I love the game, but these job design decisions make it harder for me to love it. The current direction of recent changes should not be continued before it hurts the game later”

The people criticizing job changes don’t hate the game and want it to fail. They are the most dedicated players and it’s important not to leave them in the dust. I agree that the game is in a good place now which we why we want the game we love to continue to be good and will call out bad decisions when they occur.

“Who are these changes for?”

Here he hits on things like the tenka goken change. That question is something us SAM players have been asking. Like who asked for kaiten to be removed? As he points out, people who just don’t learn the jobs are gonna push the buttons they want anyway and normal content is easy enough for them to do that. And hardcore players obviously don’t want nuance taken out of a job. The tenka change specifically is puzzling. Why does reaper, who was added this expansion, get to retain the flow of circle aoes in a pack and then moving out of the pack for powerful conal AOES? Why was samurai singled out? This also transitions us into another point.

It’s okay that some jobs aren’t for everyone

He questions why warrior had to lose its conal AOE, that a lot of warrior players enjoyed, even though there are three other tanks to choose from without cones. If jobs have nuance and different designs then some mechanics on jobs might be harder to perform than on other jobs. Taking out nuance like this leads to homogenization. He also talks about people who complain about gunbreaker being too busy: “why are you playing gunbreaker then? Just play warrior or paladin. Being busy is the job’s identity”. Basically changes that take away from a job’s identity should be discouraged. EW GNB is a good example of a job that retained its identity and got new tools like new cartridge spenders that expanded what people liked about the job even though it’s not a perfect job (I do think that continuation being ranged makes sense for moving the boss). He also says that they should add to job mechanics rather than subtracting. 6.1 Sam is an example of the latter.

Lower the skill floor shouldn’t come with lowering the skill ceiling too.

You can have both a low skill floor and a high ceiling but not if you make changes than remove nuance from jobs. He makes a point that I’m sure resonates with long time players about learning a job’s mechanics and then feeling like the time is wasted when the nuance is taken away in a patch or expac. Sometimes things do have to removed for future additions but don’t punish dedicated players needlessly.

[Xenon_S]

A well designed job benefits players of all skill levels, while poorly thought-out changes only alienate the dedicated players.

Case and point, when have you heard a BLM player complain about their job design?

[DPZ2]

Constantly. Mostly about the required switch of rotations that is required at levels 50 and 60.

[CelestiCer]

A well designed job benefits players of all skill levels, while poorly thought-out changes only alienate the dedicated players.

Case and point, when have you heard a BLM player complain about their job design?

Ya I made a comment about that in another thread as well... while I havent' really been around much, are there any complaining Blackmage posts? as for the Video I gave it a like. It's really spot on

[CKNovel]

A well designed job benefits players of all skill levels, while poorly thought-out changes only alienate the dedicated players.

Case and point, when have you heard a BLM player complain about their job design?

I'm still trying to find who asked for DRG QoL since ShB.
I also remember very clearly SAM feedback about Drifting the double midare, which was fixed with the charge system. But I can't remember anyone asking for kaiten removal.

In fact, who asks for free space on their hotbar? As far as I know there's 1 controller player out of 20 who's complaining about not having enough space.

[Quor]

Great video. Definitely add it to your compilation thread Celest. I'm gonna add to my "lazy job design" thread too.

[SpiralMask]

while i disagree on some points with the video, there's a lot in it that rings true regarding the apparently lack of an intended playerbase for the changes made, and different areas of content already present to allow for the skill cieling and floor, so trying to muddy them will only alienate both.

it's a real shame that the EN content and forums have zero mod or dev presence, so no one of any import will ever see, hear, or care about anything spoken of here.

[einschwartz]

"Some jobs are not going to be popular with every single player. But that's ok. You have 18 (+1) jobs in this game."
I've had the same discussion with a friend before.

If you can't do hard content or play a job on a optimal level because it's too hard, you can just play something else that's easier for you to play. It's that's simple. I personally enjoy playing melee jobs. But I am not so great at keeping uptime and positional hence why I stick to being a ranged/caster.

If leveling that said job stresses you out in group content, well, this won't be a problem in the future. SE is working on adding duty support / trust in MSQ dungeons. So if you're scared of being a burden playing a job that's difficult, you have this option.

Complex and engaging gameplay is beneficial in the long-term as the only long-term players are hardcore ones, or veteran ones. The super casual players will always move on to the new and better thing.

[Kabooa]

A well designed job benefits players of all skill levels, while poorly thought-out changes only alienate the dedicated players.

Case and point, when have you heard a BLM player complain about their job design?

If Summoner had gotten its customary super buff in the x.1 patch, there would have been plenty.

[xAFROx]

Here is the link: https://youtu.be/1d_fMH9Lwvs

He makes some really good videos. I hope more people take notice of this sort of thing so it can reach the devs to make an impact.