Quote Originally Posted by TomsYoungerBro View Post
The question shouldn't be "Is bard getting neglected because of homogenization?", but rather "why are classes still getting neglected regardless of homogenization?" which was the point I was trying to make. If homogenization was done to stop classes getting neglected, then why are classes still getting neglected? In 6.2 savage Machinists were getting kicked out of parties as another instance. Look at Summoner clears compared to red mage or black mage...Homogenization has done nothing except make the game less enjoyable lmao.
If there was an inherent issue in the PRanged role due to homogenisation, do you not think the jobs would be MORE evenly played? If they all have the same issues, then it doesn't matter what you play. However, this is not the case. There is an intrinsic difference between BRD, DNC and MCH to the point where people just do not bring BRD as much, which means, they are not homogenised. The obvious factors here are the playstyle of Bard, aka, do people actually enjoy playing it and unique rotation they bring to the table and how it interacts with the fight.

To start, Bard playstyle as a whole. Whilst I do not frequent Bard threads, I do know that one of the major complaints about Bard is the disconnect between DoTs and the rest of the kit, they just do not feel impactful anymore. This is despite the fact, functionally speaking, having the songs proc every 3 seconds is essentially the same (minus the chance of a double proc). I'm sure there are other factors that can be said but as I said, I do not know them, but the feel of a job is an important thing to consider.

As for the other point, how the kit interacts with the fight. You have already stated that, due to the buff limit in P3 and the fact Bard gains nothing from downtime, that really limits what the job is capable of. ie. it does not suit the encounter at all. if you want to solve this issue, you have to either give Bard some way to gain resources in downtime and/or make the buff limit not an issue.

Now, how has homogenisation caused the above issues when the issues themselves have nothing to do with homogenisation? Infact, the claim that Bards kit does NOT fit with TOP is a clear indication that the jobs are not homogenised and instead is an example of what would happen if they were all unique.

You also have the opposite case for casters, as you have touched upon, however, how is Summoner absolutely dominating in terms of usage compared to BLM and RDM? Is it because SMN just has the tools to deal with the fight better than BLM and RDM? However, if there is this massive discrepancy, how is that a case for homogenisation when SMN has clearly gone down a different path compared to BLM and RDM.

Even going to tanks, DRK dominates the usage and tanks are more homogenised than DPS are. But, between DRKs kit, the high damage and ease of use, it makes it a top pick. It is worth noting however that tanks are much closer in usage when you look at savage (which does apply to every role mentioned in this post). TOP, being an ultimate fight, people are more likely to bring what they want in order to give them the best chance of beating the fight. This again highlights the fact that, despite the differences being small, it is still enough that people will pick one job over another just because it suits the fight better.