First of all, I love this game... and if im posting this is because I do care, and somehow I wanted to use the forum as a way of expression and hopefully one of the devs sees this and maybe they can take this as a suggestion to improve the game


Well, before I continue, I have to admit I never played FFXI although I read about the game. I have been an avid mmorpg player for about 10 years, one of my favorite MMO's has been Mabinogi and Ragnarok Online. I never played WoW (well maybe for like 15 and I hated it), but I did played some other mmos, like Tera, GW2, Secret World, etc.


I have noticed something about the game, that for me its starting to be an issue, and my fear is that these mechanics are being one of the core elements in the game design. I am talking about the current skillset for the Jobs/clases.

Since v1 I have noticed that even though each class/job has a unique skill or gameplay, the difference betwen them is not really that substantial. I mean of course theres a difference betwen playing a DPS or a Tank, whoever, theres almost no difference between playing a Scholar or a Whitemage.

I mean, if we look at a scholar and a whitemage, they have some differences, which makes them more suitable to certain situations, however as a player, its almost the same identical way to play those clases. Its like having Adloquim VS Cure, one heals for more, and one heals with a shield.... they are different, but in the end, as a player I ended up pressing the same key over and over again to heal the tank.

Each dungeon, and each part of the game, is being designed into three mayor roles (tank, DPS and healer), with some subcategories for DPS (melee DPS , ranged DPS and magic DPS). In my opinión that leaves little to no freedom for new classes.

I would love to see into the game exciting classes like "fecas shield", "time magi" or a "Gambler" like in Wakfu, or even a real battle alchemist like in Mabinogi, or even a Mesmer (with illusions) like in GW2, or even something like a real Bard (lets face its a regular archer with mana for mages). Heck, I even read about "moggle" or "frog" status as a suggestion in one post.

The current gameplay is more focused on dodging and avoiding stuff than having a strategy or even having "fun". The whole game is focused on "Dodge" which brings issues about players (blaming, lag, and little opportunity for ppl to learn), instead of being focused on having variety in the skills, and even having a unique sense to each class.

I think the best example of this was the summoner class, in which we all expected a "summon" and instead we got an "egi". I think that the look of the "egi" is just one of the main issue, but theres another... playing a BLM and a summoner, isnt really a huge difference... As a BLM you rotate from fire to ice spells over and over... as a summoner you summon garuda, and then you press the same keys over and over, while you apply ur DoTs... It may sound different, but in the end, you are just doing the same thing... You even have tri-disaster for SMn for the binding status and Freeze for BLM... I kinda wish there could be more variety.

My concern is that even though I wish for more variety, I dont expect it, since the game is being developed focused in the three big pillars "DPS, Tank, Healer". A class like a "Time Mage" wouldnt even fit those roles, and even if does, the only thing they would make him, is to have a skill similar of Shadow Flare or Lethargy .....


TL;DR: The game is being developed, so that all the classes/Jobs fit one roll (dps, tanks, healer) this brings little to zero chance of having unique classes like time mage, gambler, illusionist, or a real summoner.

PD: Sorry for my english its not my first language.