Was BLM not enough?

[Voidmage]

That's the thing though. It isn't one raider complaining. Apparently, Red Mage going into melee range has been a particular vocal criticism from JP. As was Black Mage prior to its changes and Gunbreaker too.

Japan side was very vocal against the BLM changes though, even more than we were.
The job change notes back then and the comment from YoshiP also outright said that the changes were because the devs themselves thought the BLM design would clash with the new fight design.

The japanese forum is partly responsible for the current healer design but definitely not for the BLM changes.
It is widely hated there and they are as ignored regarding that as we are.

BLM also might be more popular nowadays but at the cost of very unsatisfied old BLM mains.
Part of that is also simply because of it's damage to easy playstyle. When the former falls off it might have the same fate as SMN in loosing popularity fast.
Also in my personal opinion, purely chasing popularity at the cost of driving away old veterans and job mains is a very questionable strategy because word of mouth is also important and that is that the jobs in this game are in a very bad place.

Well, sorry to say that "go play something else then" has become the default answer to anyone with any complaint ever when it comes to FF14. We've had people actively encouraging others to "shut up and quit" for over a year now (if not longer), whether they were someone getting bored over easier jobs, frustrated over harder fights, or lords knows what else was their final straw.

You're just not going to find much empathy or understanding between players anymore because everyone wants the game to be THEIR way regardless of who else gets culled in the process.

Doesn't mean I accept it though, be it against the doomers or the defenders.