What if any class could perform any role?

[LloydShade]

Hello folks,

What if any class could perform any role?

What if you could just take the proper gear (assuming the gear no longer has a class/job restriction), the cross-class skills you need and be able to do any role (tanking/healing/damage dealing)?

You could be a pugilist as an evasive tank... Gladiator as a melee healer... Thaumaturge as a ranged tank... Archer as a ranged healer... Marauder as a melee damage dealer...

Wouldn't it be fun to feel like you can be whatever you want to be while keeping the visual style and mechanics of your favoured class? Of course, not everything would be optimal and there is no problem with that. It's not like the game is so hard it's impossible.

Any thoughts on the matter?

[Xatsh]

You just described XIV 1.0 at launch. You could literally mix and match everything and it was effective.

It was universally raged that almost every class was the exact same.

Sounds good on paper, worked horribly in practice.

[Sumii]

I think some of the combinations and ideas could be fun. That being said however, I personally do not want that system in FFXIV ARR. I feel it's too much like the GW2 'no holy trinity' / set class roles. And that is something that FF series have most certainly always had.

That's not to say that Bard and Thief tanking in the old FFXI days wasn't fun. Nor was Monk counter-tanking, but it wasn't really viable. I wouldn't want them to change the game just to make that stuff viable, but that's just me.

[Darkhaund]

No.. thank you!

[BazzaBrute]

Guild Wars 2 has a similar system to this, and although I do like GW2, I don't like that any class can play any role. I think it defeats the object of having different classes if any class can play any role. You may as well have a generic class where you follow different skill trees to get the role you want.

[APilgrim]

Guild Wars 2 - everyone is everything. And the result is everyone zergs everything. It gets old fast. PvP, dungeon bosses, PvE, etc... it's a very bland approach (IMO) and it destroyed the sense of having anything at all be unique about your character. At least with a trinity system (tank, healer, DPS) - people have roles their characters can stand out being good, or bad, in doing.

[Alexander_Dragonfang]

GW2 has this and has failed miserably on it.
The only thing that comes out of this kind of "trinityless" is duality. Having that wide arrange of choices, you -or most people arround you- will turn full DPS or full Tank. And that pretty much kills the whole idea of building a character and gettin proper gear.

Now, in FFXIV you dont have any choice, is already decided which is best and doing otherwise is so unproductive that is not even fun.

Anyone remember old school build systems like the one from Ragnarok Online? I would love to have more viable options for my DRG than just getting Weapon Power and Determination. I want an attack speed DRG! or a Critbased DRG! or maybe an off-tank evade DRG? i want to build a DRG... Not just being the exact copypaste from every other.

Damn, i would love to be able to make several characters and build them diferent...

I mean, there is only one kind of build, rotations is the only thing that varies and not that much, im not feeling that our classes are our own and that sucks.

... I miss my autocast swordsman from RO.

I mean it! i want a attackspeed status effect dragoon. That does shit DPS, shit DoT, shit everything, but at least, it is fun and it is diferent. And i can test myself with it. Here, i can`t even choose.

What can i do? use BRD gear and put 30 stat points into DEX instead of STR? even that way the gameplay for the class would be the same.

[Ralemont]

It sounds great in theory. While GW2 was a lot of fun, it felt more like a group of people soloing together than truly working as a cohesive unit. I missed being a WHM or BRD or whatever with a specific role I was expected to fulfill.

[Arriverderci]

Guild Wars 2 has a similar system to this, and although I do like GW2, I don't like that any class can play any role. I think it defeats the object of having different classes if any class can play any role. You may as well have a generic class where you follow different skill trees to get the role you want.

What we have now is called: Trinity.
You play a role and you do what is best for it.
GW2 was extremely boring because of no Trinity. I was a suppose tank [Guardian I think it was] and there was no reason for me to tank. It just..didn't work well, then again I only did 1 dungeon and it was the most boring dungeon experience I ever had in an MMO.
I like Trinity. GW did something different and ended up being extremely boring because of it.

[rtpsoulx]

it was cool in 1.0.. i loved being a PUG that could cure myself effectively and give myself stoneskin/protect (all casting while running XD) but then again i played solo alot <.<; Would be nice if you could atleast get enough gear to make a job perform somewhat effectively taking on a different role... in FFXI i used to DD/solo heal on WHM/NIN on bird PTs, solo'd the avatar trials (except Fenrir) and i used to kite Kirin for my LS XD