We cannot achieve balance while DPS jobs have utilities

[Connor]

At most, because --given how much of the healer kit is a waste already-- if the "Support" can then meet healing requirements more precisely (i.e., with less excess) while having higher damage, it will be harder to even find a party as a healer.

Isn’t the main reason people give for healer kits to actually be anything other than a waste usually, “that’s too hard for casuals!!!”. Surely that argument can’t be made if there are more jobs that can support the healers in emergencies in whatever way? Therefore giving the developers more leeway to make healing itself more interesting and engaging, more involved healing mechanics or whatever.

I mean, obviously giving any job more heals in the current design would be stupid because as you say most things can be solo healed by like, a Warrior lol. But if they done so with the intention of making healing/damage output actually threatening then I think it could work. Obviously that would require like, a rework of the combat system in its entirety, but idk maybe Yoshi-P will do it just for me (He’s gotta listen to someone eventually lol)

And frankly, I think making healing cost more dps is pretty much going to condemn any player that ever makes a mistake to certain death lol. I mean, we already have Scholars who refuse to use Aetherflow heals in any way because its 1 less energy drain. FFXIV really isn’t designed for a ‘heal/dps sacrifice’ style healing any more than it is for pure support jobs. Because ultimately (and sadly) players will work out the optimised dps rotation / timeline and just expect everyone to conform to that. I.E ‘you used [heal] when you could’ve used your resources on [powerful attack]! How dare you! Take them away GMs!’. Either you make the sacrifice and adjust, or you just suck lol. There can’t really be any nuance to it unfortunately. Though really that applies to the majority of the game design, including support. And based on previous evidence I’d say they very much do seem to balance around ‘is this going to make players aggro each other’, at least in theory (not that they wouldn’t cause it entirely by accident lol)

If anything they’re more likely to just slap a dps potency on literally every heal then act like they somehow fixed the problem. ‘Now every healer can dps when they heal! This is totally what you guys wanted , right?’. It’s like a sacrosanct law that feedback on ffxiv will be interpreted in a bizarre and misguided fashion at this point lol

[Shurrikhan]

Isn’t main reason people give for healer kits to actually be anything other than a waste usually, “that’s too hard for casuals!!!”.

I'm not sure it's worth thinking about those complaints. The moment they're addressed, given reasonable context, etc., they vault to another distant goalpost.

One need only look at when relative healing requirements were higher ATOP more involved DPS kits, see that healers' portion of active population was HIGHER, and... No, that's it, actually. That's really about the end of it.