/r/ffxivdiscussion: Would you be excited for a top-to-bottom rework of all jobs?

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I can only describe my feelings as mixed. I'm not arguing for or against anything here, just rambling out some thoughts and feelings.

Flavor is cool and often has interesting consequences. If a community is ready to collectively accept those consequences, then it's fine. I am however not convinced that the 14 community in its current shape is ready or able to deal with those consequences in a healthy way.

When my main job had more 'flavor', I was repeatedly told I was "griefing" just by choosing to play it in certain content. I loved that iteration of my job, and am still endlessly bitter about its removal, but the community tended to make the consequences of its uniqueness frustrating. Why did it matter if my job was ever-so-slightly hampered by its design in content where the outgoing damage is non-existent and the boss was 'dying' a full trio before it enraged? it didn't matter, but I certainly ran into plenty of people who were convinced it did.

The truth is, many 14 players only pretend to like friction performatively because it's a buzzword. They'll post essays on twitter/reddit about job design and this and that, but turn around and immediately automate all of the friction out of the game using QoL plugins or outright cheating programs. I think people would be shocked to learn just how few of the people supporting 'flavor' and 'friction' in the game actually played the game during times where it had those things. A massive portion of the games player-base started playing the game in SHB, and are simply band wagoning onto streamer takes and parroting things they don't really understand. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying those streamers are wrong, just that a large portion of the player-base genuinely isn't equipped to know where they're coming from.

I think if I am trying to make a point, it's that the community in 'solved' games like 14 tends to kind of suck, and it makes having nice things hard.

All you have to do to see this is what a certain ultimate raider had to say when they thought the game was getting optional pvp like combos in pve. Went off the rails on how bad a decision that was and how it was too much simplification. That same raiders team used plug-ins to make the game easier.


QoL for me, not for thee.