Quote Originally Posted by Rydin View Post
Surprised more people haven't speculated about a Quistis Trepe....
You know, Whip class unlocking Blue Mage job later
Theres lots of weapons that have been used for different types of jobs over the years.

Blue Mage Alone has had the following weapon choices: Sword, Daggers, Axes, Spears, Whips, Books, Paintbrushes, Bells, Guns and many others.

FFXI decided on its own it wanted Scimitars to be Blue Mages storyline Weapon, but generally they had various and multiple weapons depending on the game.

Every Final Fantasy does tend to treat Jobs Differently, but its generally a part of the storyline.

Tifa Lockheart is a Monk because she was trained by one, "Zanghan" I believe his name was, Not specifically because she uses Hand to Hand Weapons and grappling limit breaks. This was a storyline limitation, the same as Khimari being a Blue Mage that used Spears, the majority of Rhonso's use spears as weapons.

In these single player games the basic character is designed for you. Their weapon is their favorite weapon, is part of the story as their weapon, or is characterized by their character themselves.

These story line lock outs make sense in the single player games because of one thing, Ease of Development and "CHARACTER" diversity. Each character is different because they use different weapons and have special backgrounds that define them as a Job from past FF's even if that job never used the weapon the character itself used. FFIX was the first FF to have Swallows (swords or Daggers attached both sides of a short polearm). FFXIII had a return of the Swallow as a Mix of a Polearm/staff and a Nun-tacku. Fang's weapon was unique to her, It wasn't really a Spear, or Polearm, but a collapsible Swallow, her unique Skills and Summon lead people to believe she is the personification of Dragoon in FFXIII. So one user of the Swallow weapon is a Thief and the other is a Dragoon, that is a huge Job Discrepancy. Even when weapons are defined and strict per character. Thief and Dragoon are completely different jobs at that point but in two different games use the same weapon.

But, when you move to a MMO and it is up to the PLAYER to define their "Character" limiting them to one weapon class choice per job is counter to the whole idea of MMO's, Players Define their Characters. Just because multiple people use similar load outs doesn't mean the choice is not unique. Because you can't say Squall and Seifer are not Unique from each other even though Both use Gunblades and aggressive tactics. It Just means multiple users have similar beliefs.

Restricting Choice in the illusion of helping give Classes, Weapons, or Jobs gain Uniqueness in a MMO actually REDUCES Uniqueness at this point. Why?

Because all Paladins use swords, every paladin will use swords. What is Unique about that in terms of "The Player Defines the Character" which is the core of the MMO scape?

I guess what I'm trying to say in my rambling is this.

There are multiple types of Uniqueness.

1. Uniqueness of Character - The Uniqueness and lack of intentional copies among various characters versus Each Other.

2. Uniqueness of Weapons - The Uniqueness of Weapons in Appearance and Functionality between each other. A Sword uses Slashing, a Club uses Blunt, etc.

3. Uniqueness of Class - The Uniqueness of a class versus other classes. Classes in most MMO's are a collection of similar Roles put under one name allowing the user to pick which role they want, in these games generally you can't change class once you create the character.

4. Uniqueness of Jobs - Simply Put Jobs have their own Roles in a Fight. A White Mage is a Healer. this will never change and never needs to be fixed.


What does this mean in FFXIV?

The Game Was advertised as allowing CHARACTER Uniqueness to the players. The Player is given the Choice of Class and Weapon which are fused to be one entity in the game, though I argue that Weapons should have never been called classes or given unique Names, and now in the future the Choice of Jobs.

But When you limit a Job, which is a Role, to a Weapon, which is a personal choice. You are not Instilling Character or Class Uniqueness but stifling it.

Currently A Paladin will always use Swords. Every Paladin in game uses swords, there is no Character Uniqueness, Everyone uses the same thing.

A Sword user will always be a Paladin, There again is no Character Uniqueness, Everyone who uses a sword uses Paladin as their job.

So the choices for Uniqueness in FFXIV are Character and Class(Weapon)/Job. The Game was Advertised as allowing for Character Uniqueness but this Job System denies it.

The Job System attempts to instill Class(Weapon) Uniqueness but Sacrifices Character Uniqueness to do so.

I propose this isn't Necessary, Because as has been said before Weapons are already Unique, this uniqueness needs to be better expanded outside of the "Class Structure." Again I'd propose to Remove the AOE variations and Toggles for each skill and instead give each Weapon a different system of how it distributes damage when using ANY skill in game.

When a character is in place in combat they receive a "Focused" Status (takes approximately 1-2 seconds to activate on its own) Once this status goes into effect all attacks change from Single Hit to the following Variables and changes. The AOE hits only targets who are engaged by the party to prevent unintentional Adds. This would mean that in a party when fighting a monster party, all members of the monster party need to be "engaged" when even only one is.

Axe Users (Marauder) - Turn all Skills into a 1 unit Arching AOE attack forward so if surrounded by 3 monsters they will hit all 3 but wont hit any monsters behind those monsters even if they are technically in range because the first monster blocks the attack. The More Monsters hit by a single skill will grant a bonus to the Damage to all of them.

Sword Users (Gladiator) - Turn all skills into Spike Damage single target attacks that deal Significantly more damage to a Single target depending on the number of monsters in the Fight, A Sword User fighting 3 monsters will do more damage per hit to one at a Time, the bonus going down as each one is killed.

Polearm Users (Lancer) - Turn all skills into a Line of Sight Attack that can push a skill through multiple targets in a straight line, allowing the user to hit a monster hiding behind another monster and hit up to 3 easily as well as piercing through armor and defense more easily on successive targets. So the 3rd Target in a line of 3 will take more damage the the one closest to the Polearm User.

Bow Users (Archer) - Use Skills at Range. Range increases as Focus lasts, so should the monster move out of range because the party shifts positions slightly the archer can still effectively hit from range. The farther an archer can stand out of range the higher a bonus to damage is granted. Inversely skills like "Blind Side" work even if attacking the monster from the front if attacking from range.

Fist User (Pugilist) - Can not AOE instead when they focus the entirety of the skill used into a single attack or punch which deals significant damage, but the effects and damage bonuses are delayed and turned into a DOT lasting over time instead of happening all at once.

Cone Magic Users (Thaumaturge) - Cast all magic in a Forward Facing Cone DOT Magics are more powerful and Single Hits are less So. No AOE if casted while Moving, AOE if standing still.

Circle Magic users (Conjurers) - Cast all magic as a Circle based Burst AOE, Single hit Magics are more powerful and DOT magics are less so. No AOE if casted while Moving, AOE if standing still.

There each weapon(Class) is now unique from the others and each one has a different way of operating. But a Weapon isn't a Job at this point. A Sword is simply a weapon that becomes stronger when more targets are part of the Fray but can only attack one of them at a time.

With this amount of Uniqueness per weapon there is no reason to limit a Job to one weapon, no I'd declare there is actually a necessity to allow each job to have access to all of them, or atleast ones that best fit. What would that mean?

If the Job can use weapon skills, focuses on physical damage they can use any DOW.
If the Job can use magic and meta magic they can use an DOM.
If the job is a hybrid they can use either DOW or DOM

What does that mean?

A Warrior (Physical Damage Specialist) can use any DOW.
A White Mage (Healing Magic Specialist) can use any DOM.
A Paladin (Tank Healing Hybrid) can use Either a DOW or a DOM.

With this system a Paladin's role is a Tank that uses healing Magics to assist in defense.

A Paladin can use a Sword to increase their damage against a single target when fighting more then one monster at a time increases the speed at which the primary target can be taken down while the other party members concentrate on downing the links and adds.

A Paladin can use a Axe to maintain hate on all the monsters around them in a fight easily.

A Paladin can use Cone Magic Casting weapon to deal Cone Holy and Healing magics to help maintain hate.

The Same Job does the Same Role, its unique to that Role no matter what weapon it uses, but the weapon allows the Character to become unique by defining HOW they perform that Role.