Picto makes the game less fun

[Supersnow845]

I think the point more centres on the fact that nerfing PCT while leading to PCT not being overpowered anymore doesn’t actually fix the wider balance issues at all nor do a lot of the offered suggestions around things like motifs needing targets consider the fact that core job design shouldn’t change when nerfing something

A lot of BLM’s have come in here and said “I feel bad that PCT does more damage than me while being easy”. That isn’t PCT’s fault, that’s the fault of BLM being a terrible burster in a burst heavy innate design. If we nerfed PCT down to NIN level tomorrow it would be back above BLM next tier anyway because it feeds into buffs so well, we have evidence of this with how well the healers scale over the course of the expansion.

Nerfing PCT but changing nothing about the core design of the buff meta won’t fix BLM’s problems, it won’t fix phys ranged doing less damage than melee even when melee have awful uptime and it won’t fix VPR dominating the melee despite being easier than SMN

I’m not opposed to nerfing some aspects of PCT (though absolutely not changing how the motifs work) but people are way too quick to act like PCT is the entire cause of the reason why this tier is so terribly balanced when it’s only a minor contributor

[Loggos]

I’m not opposed to nerfing some aspects of PCT (though absolutely not changing how the motifs work) but people are way too quick to act like PCT is the entire cause of the reason why this tier is so terribly balanced when it’s only a minor contributor

Seconding this. I would be very disappointed if they changed how motifs currently work and/or cut their number down. Managing them, their spenders and building paint inbetween while preparing everything for your burst is what makes this job so fun to play. It's the job that makes me feel the most engaged in terms of actual thinking/planning (even if it's just a little).

I do absolutely not want the gameplay to be simplified or streamlined or any of that.

(And in terms of job fantasy it does feel a little like "prepping" all your tool and colours
meticulously for your painting which I think is a neat little bonus.)

Motifs needing a target makes no sense to me tbh. The whole point of them is preparation before you actually attack. Why should you need to target an enemy to execute a target-unrelated skill when you are not actually attacking them. What makes motifs interesting is finding the right moment to commit to their long cast time in preparation of a future attack.

I can live with nerfs to numbers but I also agree with Supersnow, picto is not the core of the problem and changing it won't really fix the underlying issues other jobs have.
You'd put a bandaid on a bullet hole so to speak.

The problem is that a rigid 2 minute meta actively counters true job variety. If you try to make jobs unique then some will inevitably not fit the strict meta mold and lose out.

I'd rather prefer a system where you can approach casting from two different angles without one style being so blatantly favoured by the meta mold. I love that BLM does not have a strict burst window but in picto's case it's the whole burst and the extensive build-up that I love and don't want to miss.

Naturally you'll never be able to balance jobs perfectly and some will always have a (small) edge but flat damage profiles and burst-reliant profiles should not be (dis)advantaged over each other in principle/across the board due to meta restrictions.