Please do not take away BLM's timers.

[Rioreia]

I don't really participate in these forums but I just wanted to say that I am unhappy with the changes shown on-stream so that my voice is somewhere.

[KoyuDazan]

I made a forum account just to post this.
I will be unsubbing if these changes go through. All of the excitement I had for the next raid tier is gone. I have played this game for years and fallen in love with BLM, I love the unique challenge it presents. I don't know if this will reach the ears of those it needs to, but I'm sorely disappointed in the direction that led them here, and I can only hope they take this feedback seriously.

[Doopliss]

I'm so tired of this, man... BLM is the only caster I've enjoyed playing. Why do all 21 battle jobs have to play at the exact same level of play?...

Taking the timers out of MNK is what killed it for me, so I'm only imagining BLM's upcoming changes will have the exact same effect for me. Ugh.

[Niervel]

I think it's pretty obvious - the DT jobs team has someone different assigned to BLM who's insecure about how much people enjoyed nonstandard EW.

After having had to bear the ignominy of public displeasure about removing that and having to add back in Paradox-Ice, then to be drubbed for how atrocious Flare Star feels as an addition, and further having to be humiliated about clearly not having taken into account how Despair's timing was extremely tight due to Paradox-Fire refreshing the timer immediately but locking you in to the GCD, a mistake that could only be made by someone who clearly did not play the job at even a basic level...

The redesign is just spite. Which, I mean, whatever. There's no other lack of games to play, and my life isn't harmed by refusing to return to a product petulantly produced.

[St0rmy]

Sorry but currently BLM player sentiment is making PCT players feel bad. Making BLM as bland and as easy as PCT/SMN is the only solution. They really just do not want to make PCT players feel bad.

Genuinely though, BLM is the only caster I enjoy. SMN feels boring, PCT is boring, RDM feels clunky. BLM Felt just right. I enjoy the job when I play casters. Maybe we're overracting but I doubt it. It just feels like they keep dumbing down jobs.

[imhae]

This game is also played by people who love BLM for its identity and uniqueness, hear us out.

Making Despair instant has been the beginning of the end. It's not an overreacting, stop simplifying the game!

[Daralii]

Maybe this is what Yoshida talked about in the mobile game's announcement, about how they'd been designing the main game to be easily translatable to mobile.

[LilimoLimomo]

FF14 Devs, please don't remove the timers from BLM.

Right now, BLM is the only job I still care about. With the other jobs, it mostly feels like my rotation is this static, unchanging series of buttons to press, entirely detached from what the enemies, boss, or my teammates are doing. Personally, I don't find that engaging. That's why I play BLM, because it's the only job where when I play it, I feel like I still need to dynamically make strategic choices, and that's where I find my engagement in FF14's combat.

That's in large part due to the timers, which add an additional layer of complexity to deciding what spell to cast at what time. The fact that I don't know for certain which spell I'll be casting next until I've taken the timer into account is what keeps BLM feeling dynamic and interesting to me.

And that's the same reason I like the long cast times: committing to a long cast is a risk, and if the situation changes before that cast finishes, that presents a situation where I'm encouraged to re-evaluate my strategy. Perhaps I should cut my losses and cancel the cast, losing the time I spent casting but gaining the ability to do whatever else needs to be done. Or perhaps I should finish the cast and accept whatever new consequences await me. That's an interesting decision to make that keeps combat feeling engaging, and the shorter the cast time, the less this is possible.

Part of what's cool about a class-based game like FF14 is that different players will gravitate towards different play styles. By providing a diverse array of experiences, all manner of players can find something that's suited to their tastes, all while still playing the same game together. Unfortunately, many classes seem to be becoming more similar and losing the differences that make playing them unique. Right now, BLM is the only class that I enjoy. For players who don't enjoy the experience that BLM is offering right now, they have access to every other class. By making BLM more like these other classes, the game will lose the distinct experience that only BLM is currently offering, and what it will get in return is more of what it already has. And that's going to leave players like me, players who have loved the way BLM kept them on their toes for a decade, with nothing to engage them.

Please reconsider these changes.

[ShaliaK]

I want to add my voice to this. Moreso than just the timers, the fun of Black Mage was the long, powerful cast times and skillful Astral and Umbral timer management, which was easy enough to work around once you got familiar with the class. BLM felt just fine in 7.1 and doesn't need to be changed. Please, reconsider the changes you made to BLM in 7.2 and keep BLM the way it is.

[OliviaLugria]

I only hope that no one plays blm with these changes and more people realize the development team is full of BS for the future of this game