I don't think I have seen anyone really discuss something that I have recently been thinking about and that is the weird way in which casters are viewed in terms of progression.

Why is it that casters are the only role that has a sort of progression when...progressing? You start as RDM then swap to SMN/BLM to clear. Now, don't take this as RDM has mass res etc. I am saying, why do casters have this when no other role does? Why is there not a progression melee, or a progression healer etc?

However, we also have to consider, was the caster role even designed to be like this, or is this just the playerbase making it (I suspect the latter)? I suspect it is more of a player made hierarchy than an intentionally designed one, so how would players feel if RDM's res capabilities were diminished (and DPS adjusted) so that it fit more in line with SMN? Would this mean more people play the job that want for the clear? Would people be upset that, because of the more limited res options, it will make progression harder? Would that even be an issue?

I would make a bold claim that limiting RDM's res potential would see an uptick in the number of players clearing fights with it and it would better reflect (though not perfectly) the number of people using RDM as a favourite job as you don't lose anything from using it.