Quote Originally Posted by Renathras View Post
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I'm just going to summarize for time because it's getting to the point of extreme with these post lengths. Sorry.

On Optimization: If someone is slacking off on their DPS uptime, that means their optimized healing is no longer optimized. I don't care if they don't enjoy DPSing. They chose to play FFXIV, not me. I didn't drag them here. In this game, healers contribute to DPS for every GCD that isn't need for healing, which is nearly all of them. Every 2.5 seconds that they cast nothing because the idea of DPSing upsets them, they are griefing the party. Either contribute or leave. If they don't like that, then they can play something else.

On not liking DPS: Like I said before, I can sympathize with wanting healers that don't spend 80+% of their time casting offensive spells. I understand that there are players who don't like that and think there should be a heal/support oriented healer who's DPS is passive rather than active, because they still need to compete with the other healers and thus need similar DPS contributions numerically to not be dead in the water. That said, if you do not like DPS rotations in a game built on GCD combat design, then you are playing the wrong game. This is why healer design is objectively bad--why WHM should not stay as it is. This game is foundationally built on the concept of having a rotation of actions to cycle through, and that is the benchmark for effective game design regardless of opinion. If that is not the type of gameplay you enjoy, then this is not the right game for you no more than Super Smash Bros is the right game for you if you don't like platform fighters, or any more than Persona 5 is the right game for you if you don't want to engage with slice of life management. The healing role is failing utterly to utilize the core style of gameplay that FFXIV uses and it is creating an exodus of people leaving the role. Healer population is on the decline and it's only going to get worse if nothing changes.

On what it means to be a "Healer:" Both "healer" and "support" are seen as synonymous. You may not agree, but the entirety of the game design industry sees differently. Xenoblade 3, for example, labels the role as "healer" and not "support," yet every healer has offensive skills, and some combination of utility, many interesting combinations I might add. There is no LoL healbot character, nor a healbot in any other MOBA that I've seen. Even in the 'Tales of' series where older games had dedicated healers, they would still have offensive spells they'd use regularly. Cheria, the dedicated healer of Tales of Graces, for example... Wanting to have engaging gameplay outside of just ways to counter boss mechanics is absolutely something true healers can want. It doesn't make them any less of a healer, it just means they have higher standards for their gameplay.

On FFXIV's DPS Checks: All savage level content has required a significant amount of healer DPS contributions on launch regardless of how perfectly the DPS play. Eventually, this could be circumvented with gear, but it has always been the expectation that most of a healer's GCDs would gear toward offense, even in HW where savage demanded far more frequent usage of healing GCDs, moreso due to a far more limited OGCD healing library on each healer. No amount of practice would fix that until you started gearing.

On bad game design: I wasn't being rude saying that you're allowed to like the healers. But the reality is, none of them are well-built for this game objectively. This is because of how poorly they translate to the core design philosophies of the game as a whole. If you're content with that, that's your choice. It's not being rude to say that it's your choice. I like honey mustard on pasta, but that's not a good choice. It's not healthy, nor is that something most people enjoy, but that's fine. The key though is that me eating honey mustard on pasta doesn't force anyone else to eat honey mustard on pasta. You can like bad things. It's not an insult.