Which Job, in your opinion, has the biggest identity issue?

[Raikai]

Bard

Agree on this. Plus doesn't help that the playerbase is really divided between wanting the archer versus the music themes.

I'm on the music team, and I wish that BRD could get a rework and the bow and arrow were more used just for the spammable rotational actions while songs and their magicks were used for everything else, but also more interactive songs.

My second candidate is probably a hot take, but ever since forever I personally felt that AST had some sort of thematic identity crisis when they chose to explore 2 different esoteric themes (celestial power and card divination) in the same job. I know both themes are kind of related withtin the lore, but it just feels kind of awkward to me in practice: a mage that uses cards for divination suddenly calls a starshower or a gravity well to damage.

[Renathras]

How?

Easy.

SE: <Makes change>
YoshiP: We thought we'd try this. Please give us feedback if you like it or not.

Complete change, no "admitting they were wrong". You can argue about implied or tacit admission of being wrong, but they do this all the time. They completely changed SMN and didn't say "We were wrong with this Job". They said something like "We didn't really have anywhere to go with it, so we're trying this instead". Humans all the time change tack without saying anything about whether their prior course was wrong or not, and often not saying anything at all.

[Connor]

Easy.

SE: <Makes change>
YoshiP: We thought we'd try this. Please give us feedback if you like it or not.

Complete change, no "admitting they were wrong". You can argue about implied or tacit admission of being wrong, but they do this all the time. They completely changed SMN and didn't say "We were wrong with this Job". They said something like "We didn't really have anywhere to go with it, so we're trying this instead". Humans all the time change tack without saying anything about whether their prior course was wrong or not, and often not saying anything at all.

I more meant, ‘how’ as in ‘how do they make Bard better without going back to the foundations of the job itself? I don’t really mind how they word it as long as they’re willing to accept that the current iteration of Bard isn’t working and work on changing it. I don’t mean ‘admit they were wrong’ as in literally prostrating themselves in front of a camera; I mean accepting that they need to look at the job as a whole and working to made something more cohesive.

I mean, with Summoner, at some point they must have decided ‘this just isn’t working out’ when they ended up changing it to the current version. I just want them to do the same with Bard.

[Renathras]

As to that, you'd have to ask people that play and like BRD. I try not to make suggestions about Jobs I don't like and don't play, since my firm belief is that they appeal to people who don't like the things I like, meaning my suggestions would probably make it worse for them. It's why my strong opinions for (or against) changes are mainly for Jobs I play, or more rarely, roles in general. I almost never talk about Melee changes or Jobs since I don't play them and don't like any of them, for example.

BUT, if I was going to make a wild stab in the dark:

Make toggleable songs again.

The ability to actively react to situations with a buff suited to the current situation's demands seems like a far more interesting gameplay style, and was what BRDs did a lot of in ARR between their songs working that way (draining MP while active) and their Cross-Class action options. For example, a song you can activate to regenerate MP could be useful if your healers and RDM/SMN are having to use a lot to raise. Once that crisis is averted, toggling over to your flat damage increase song until the burst window comes up, where you swap over to your crit enhancing song. Oh, but there's a major mechanic coming out at the party and a healer's down, so you're going to activate your party mitigation song. That seems SO MUCH better to me than the three songs now you just cycle through as "the good ones" come off CD and try to minimize time in "the bad one", but it's effectively an upkeep background buff/CD you use and then ignore for 40 seconds or so.

So I'd start with that, personally.

After that, I don't know BRD's total history, but I think it's always had some proc gameplay and priority system, that used to be based on its DoTs. If they're worried about too many debuffs on bosses, they could just give it one DoT, but now it...DOES THINGS like proc Bloodletter and stuff, but do so all the time. I guess they can tack on some gauge to build, but honestly, I think "every Job must have a gauge and builder/spender gameplay" is stupid.

But, again, I'm mindful people who like things I do not like may want different things than I would out of them. So I don't recommend anything, just that's what I, personally, would start with.

EDIT:

Oh, and combat Peloton. Could be one of the toggle songs.

[Araxes]

In PvP? Every single Tank and Healer.

In PvE? Every single Tank and Healer.

We are all just DPS with a few skills DPS jobs dont have but in the end the entirety of the hardcore content is based on how big your D*PS is. The sad truth.

[Connor]

In PvP? Every single Tank and Healer.

In PvE? Every single Tank and Healer.

We are all just DPS with a few skills DPS jobs dont have but in the end the entirety of the hardcore content is based on how big your D*PS is. The sad truth.

Can’t speak for tanks but I’d say PvP healers are probably the one of the best versions of healers we’ve had. They’re actual supports and not just sub-par dps. Healing is extremely valuable and needs serious management because you’re limited to like, one heal spell on 2 charges, they all have valuable support (Adlo damage boost, ultimate troll ability Miracle of Nature, Cards, Toxicon), dps’ing actually feels meaningful when you’re getting kills. My biggest problem with it is I don’t personally like that PvP has so few skills for each job.

In PvE though I agree that they’re undeniably one of the worst roles to play. You don’t get to heal, you don’t get to support the party, you don’t even really get to dps since it’s just the one button. Nobody wins lol

[TaleraRistain]

[*]Inspired by a FFVIII hero, in an expansion with a raid that has FFVIII elements. I don't believe anyone thinks "tank" when Squall comes to mind.

That's exactly what I think when Squall comes to mind. He's the main character wielding the melee weapon. Also don't forget there are elements of Seifer in GNB, too.

I mean if it's not Squall who is the tank? Angelo?

[TheDustyOne]

In PvP? Every single Tank and Healer.

While I can agree with your PvE assessment, I strongly disagree on PvP.

PvP Paladin is one of the few times where I actually want to cover for an ally to redirect damage to me. Sheltron acts as a semi-counter mechanic that can force enemies to either disengage, or get heavy status. DRK actually has an HP sacrifice mechanic that is incredibly risky. And for the healers, please for the love of all that is good, bring something closer to PvP SCH to PvE. I love being able to spread DoTs and statuses, spreading shields is always fun and in PvP, I get to do it more often than PvE. PvP SGE actually has Pneuma be a core part of its damage kit rather than another free heal, but just happens to replace 1 Dosis cast. PvP Tanks and Healers all have differing mechanics and identities to them, and before when PvP kits for tanks and healers were more "tanky" and "heal-y", it just led to stupid stalements from healers not being able to die and tanks slowing everything to a crawl.

PvP Tanks and Healers actually want me to do some level of tanking and healing with the damage. Meanwhile PvE has homogenized our kits to the point where most of them play too similarly to each other, and despite having heals make up 80% of our kit, we spend only 20% of the time actually healing.

[TaleraRistain]

So what does it mean to be a Gunbreaker? I feel like the game has never told me. It's given me the history of Gunbreaker origin, how they fought in a war for a specific purpose, and that's neat, but that's a history, not an identity. If I pick up a Gunblade and put on Dante's coat, I'm not fighting for Bozja. So what does it mean for me to be a Gunbreaker now? As far as I can tell, it just means being a person with a gun that can shoot bullets, and trying to do a protect, but without any substance. And that's disappointing. It's an aesthetic with no soul.

Gunbreaker is a protector that isn't afraid to get their hands a little dirty and be a bit of a vigilante. Their story also seems less fighting for ideals and more about fighting for something specific. Which goes along well with how Squall and Seifer started as the protectors of their respective sorceresses and Thancred protects Ryne. Gunbreakers are there to fight for the ones that might slip through the cracks. Kind of like Eorzea's version of The Equalizer.

[GoatOfWar]

All the tanks are becoming the same.
Can't have the tankier tanks with better utility do less damage than the others apparently.
So once they all do the same damage, there's no reason to justify some tanks being tankier or having more utility than others either.
War and Pal doing less damage was fine. Just look at how bad the homogenisation has become for tanks in EW..

But alas, people want to have that which they can't. And the balance team is too affraid of upsetting players, so the homogenisation will continue until there is nothing left.