Quote Originally Posted by ForsakenRoe View Post
As for the post I'm responding to, I'd recommend looking into Dancer[...]
I actually have levelled every job to somewhere between 70 and 81 (except RPR, haven't unlocked that yet) so I have tried dancer a bit. Personally I have found it very dull compared to BRD, but maybe it becomes a little more interesting later on (much how early DRG is extremely rote but actually fun from around 72). Since you choose three jobs in the character selection screen on the forum, I just picked the jobs I play most in each role (RDM, SCH, PLD(/DRK)), and assumed all three would show up. Silly me!

I imagine I'm not super representative, as I love learning complex systems (enough that I've been getting into FFXI retail -- in no small part a result of my disappointment with job diversity in XIV). But I can't say I think you're wrong or anything ... maybe the "toxic casuals" ("you don't pay for my sub" types) would disagree, but I'm not sure anyone could in the long run. Healer is a fun way to experience new content, but once you know it (and more importantly, once others know it too) it quickly goes downhill.

The sad reality is, as a Healer main I've ended up subconsciously assuming other Healers struggle with the mechanics if they're playing those jobs by choice, because contrary to all the commends you get, it's far too easy. I mained Healer because I like the concept, but a big part of it was that it's often the only way to reliably cause the previous endgame raids and alliances to fire as you're progressing their questlines. But that just reinforces the sad truth that almost no one seems to want to play Healer at the moment. I can't imagine how many more hours I'd have wasted waiting on those queues to fire as a DPS...

Sage feels like a step in the right direction, but also highlights how bad the situation is; that the "DPS-focused Healer" still spends most of the time mashing the same button.

The lack of hard job roles in FFXI has been such a breath of fresh air from this system where 3/4 Healers are almost exactly the same during 99% of playtime, and 3/4 Tanks are the same builder-spender playstyle. The perceived need for everything to be perfectly balanced so you can take your "class fantasy" to any content is backfiring when the expression of that class fantasy is only skin-deep aesthetics, and the actual gameplay is exactly the same 99% of the time.

I've refrained from trying to buy a house despite having the crafting skills to furnish one, because I can't imagine myself continuing my sub enough to keep it in the long term. Maybe that's a different issue, but the collective experience of such startling highs and depressing lows is really starting to upset me.