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

[tearagion]

That's the thing. BLM has gotten easier but it still maintains a high skill ceiling. They lowered the skill floor by adding more instant casts, easier maintenance of Thunder/Sharpcast, and dropping the potentially crippling punishment of Enochian being an oGCD with a cooldown. But the gameplay loop is the same, and there's still a lot of skill and planning involved in managing instant cast weave windows, keeping Thunder up without hardcasts or clipping, utilizing the charges of Triplecast for movement, etc. Also the opener feels great now with Amplifier and 2 Triplecasts. It's a perfect example of how you can make a job more accessible without changing what makes advanced players like it.

And yet, what did they get that's "new"? They got visual and potency upgrades to their aoe spells, an oGCD that gives them a Polyglot, charges of Sharpcast, and a visual and potency upgrade to their fire phase filler spell. There's practically no change to the rotation apart from an extra cast in ice phase. And people are happy with that. It's also a perfect example of how to "grow" a job without fundamentally altering it or introducing bloat.

If other jobs got half that much love every expansion, we'd all be happy.

To be fair, not everyone was pleased with the no-umbral-heart standard rotation being removed, and there was the Paradox rotation oversight on release. BLM is definitely where every job should be in terms of foundational quality, and purposeful, high quality new skill additions.

[SilverSkyway]

I think jobs should be easier but that my opinion.

[Jirah]

I think jobs should be easier but that my opinion.

Bad opinion

[Mortex]

To be fair, not everyone was pleased with the no-umbral-heart standard rotation being removed, and there was the Paradox rotation oversight on release. BLM is definitely where every job should be in terms of foundational quality, and purposeful, high quality new skill additions.

I mean could be because it’s yoshidas main job so of course it’s fun too play. I mean they kick healer play tester for dungeons when they get too good but not a high end dps player. Like lord in heaven some job changes are so mind boggling it’s insane. Doesn’t matter if it is healer or Sam or the strange changes for dragoon

[SilverSkyway]

Bad opinion

Might be but how the jobs are (ie button bloat) is one my biggest criticize of the game.

[Jirah]

Might be but how the jobs are (ie button bloat) is one my biggest criticize of the game.

Button boat universally doesn’t exist, not all jobs suffer from this only very few. And the compromise isn’t worth the day every job can only use 1/2 buttons which is ultimately the end result

[YukiB]

Might be but how the jobs are (ie button bloat) is one my biggest criticize of the game.

It's one thing to dislike "button bloat" and another to want jobs to be "easier". It helps to clarify why and how you want them to be easier.

If you want them to be easier by having fewer separate buttons to press while maintaining the same number of actions per minute, in many cases I might agree with you. Reducing the mechanical complexity of a job while still keeping the gameplay fast and engaging could be a good way to lower the skill floor without affecting the skill ceiling. Consolidating certain cooldowns into a single button, like Ikishoten turning into Ogi Namikiri and enabling Senei/Guren on Samurai, doesn't actually affect the job's rotation but has a lower skill floor when it comes to total number of hotkeys to press and memorize.

If you want things to be easier by reducing the number of actions taken, by simply removing skills or reducing the number of oGCDs, like what happened to MNK and SMN and SAM and will likely happen to DRG next major patch, then I'd have to disagree. This doesn't help anyone. If you're not capable of executing a full rotation, then practice. If it's not a matter of practice and more a matter of capability, then play a different job. There's plenty of them available, all with varying degrees of difficulty, and you can play any of them on one character.

[SilverSkyway]

Both to a degree but I was look at the second option more. I have more to say but don't want rant more then needed. lol

Play a different job part. I have. I have all three rdps max and rdm. I can't stand mdps at all despite loving to play melee in game. I've look and research them all and even test play a little of sam at 80. I just can't get into them. I don't want the stress or leadership of tank and healer. That leave rdps and caster but I don't want play mage. While I like rdps.. they all need some sort of work be it buff to redesign.

[AsiTsurugi]

Both to a degree but I was look at the second option more. I have more to say but don't want rant more then needed. lol

Play a different job part. I have. I have all three rdps max and rdm. I can't stand mdps at all despite loving to play melee in game. I've look and research them all and even test play a little of sam at 80. I just can't get into them. I don't want the stress or leadership of tank and healer. That leave rdps and caster but I don't want play mage. While I like rdps.. they all need some sort of work be it buff to redesign.

I mean, that might just be a matter of not adapting to game's design. If every job was designed for the absolute bottom 1% that cannot read tooltips or attempt to learn, then there will be no jobs that are fun for the rest of the 99%. Then again, Yoshida's main focus does seem to be appeasing the flaky bottom 1% who sub for 1 month during an expansion launch and then leave, as opposed to the other 99% who make him money, so I suppose you are in luck.

I mean could be because it’s yoshidas main job so of course it’s fun too play. I mean they kick healer play tester for dungeons when they get too good but not a high end dps player. Like lord in heaven some job changes are so mind boggling it’s insane. Doesn’t matter if it is healer or Sam or the strange changes for dragoon

Let's also not forget that AST is slated to get "changes" in 6.2 along with DRG. Given the merciless butchering of SAM and NIN to strip them of their core identity and fun, one can only shudder when they think about how these "changes" are going to ruin AST and DRG forever.

[SilverSkyway]

I read my tooltips... sometimes. lol
idk. I find a easy job/class more fun then a complex on. Again. Just me. I play a BM hunter and Ret pally in WoW, two easy spec by the playerbase.

Before the thought cross your or any one mind. I'm not a child wanting candy. I've play mmos since Dark age of Camelot. DAoC have melee positionals like ff14. I hated it then and hate it now. And hated how bloat hot bars were too. Macro to a different key was harder then it is now.

I'm also causal. I barely dip my toes in anything outside of msq/leveing, in any mmo really. I call it soft cap. Bit dungeon and pvp. Maybe a raid if I feel like it and can. So 2cent.