How to make tanks more fun to play (devs please read)

[therpgfanatic]

I know from experience that the names of things matter a great deal to a significant portion of players. Final Fantasy has a lot of sacred cows to it, and the most die-hard fans hold this stuff pretty close to their chest.

It may not matter to you if Riot Blade is a crappy ability, but when FF6 came out it was my favorite game for months and months. You better believe seeing Riot Blade trigger made me quite excited, and this nostalgia still burns in me even decades later. The same is true of others in my age demographics, who happen to also be the target age demographic for MMORPGs.

[Xandim]

and the most die-hard fans hold this stuff pretty close to their chest.
It may not matter to you if Riot Blade is a crappy ability,

But then again not everyone playing IS a die-hard fan of Final Fantasy. I get it's cool to see moves you know appeared in any other final fantasy, but FFXIV still has its own lore. Like for example, "Rage of Halone". Halone is a goddess of war and she is "depicted as a relentless warrioress armed with a bronze greatshield." So the name actually fits in with lore. But then again, I agree that some fights are very boring for a PLD (I hate being some stun ho for ifrit)

There ARE some aspects of the game that should change, but that isnt only to a class or another, its more to the game itself.

[therpgfanatic]

But then again not everyone playing IS a die-hard fan of Final Fantasy. I get it's cool to see moves you know appeared in any other final fantasy, but FFXIV still has its own lore. Like for example, "Rage of Halone". Halone is a goddess of war and she is "depicted as a relentless warrioress armed with a bronze greatshield." So the name actually fits in with lore. But then again, I agree that some fights are very boring for a PLD (I hate being some stun ho for ifrit)

There ARE some aspects of the game that should change, but that isnt only to a class or another, its more to the game itself.

When every other Dragoon I see is named Highwind, and an unusually large number of players I've met have never played an MMO before by their own admittance...I do not think it is wrong to assume a lot of people are trying this game because they are Final Fantasy fans.

The PS3 versions especially are enabling people who don't have gaming PCs to play. I've seen a similar thing occur in Phantasy Star Online.

As for the "lore" about the shield, it is a brand new lore made for this game. You're misunderstanding my point there in that we have no emotional attachment to The Twelve because they don't even appear in the game, unless you consider the opening cutscene having a bunch of floating orbs to be an "appearance".

Compared to, say, Odin who has been in like 30 games in the series.

[Xandim]

When every other Dragoon I see is named Highwind, and an unusually large number of players I've met have never played an MMO before by their own admittance...I do not think it is wrong to assume a lot of people are trying this game because they are Final Fantasy fans.

You are confusing fans with die-hard fans. Highwind is 'famous' because he was a main character in FF4 and the first dragoon, just like Cecil, Celes or Terra are famous. But does it mean that every highwind knows by heart EVERYTHING about ALL games in the franchise? I played FF6 but didn't know that Rio Blade was a move from there (I believe you said that, right? Can't remember right now). I consider myself a fan of the franchise, as do other people, but doesn't mean we KNOW everything bout everything. Yoshi is already doing lots of fan service (LB names, golden saucer, etc). Simply renaming a move won't make people go "OMG, IM SO GONNA PLAY THAT CLASS NOW"

[juniglee]

Simply renaming a move won't make people go "OMG, IM SO GONNA PLAY THAT CLASS NOW"

I don't think it's so much renaming a move, as giving the class a signature ability.

For example, Jump is traditionally a Dragoon skill. Similarly, Kick/Chakra are signature Monk skills across the FF games. Flare, Ultima for Black Mages, Holy for White Mages, etc.

I'm up for tanks having a signature ability, but probably not one that deals huge damage, like Omnislash/Renzokuken/what not.

[Xandim]

I don't think it's so much renaming a move, as giving the class a signature ability.

For example, Jump is traditionally a Dragoon skill. Similarly, Kick/Chakra are signature Monk skills across the FF games. Flare, Ultima for Black Mages, Holy for White Mages, etc.

I'm up for tanks having a signature ability, but probably not one that deals huge damage, like Omnislash/Renzokuken/what not.

But they do have, albeit a rather semi-useless one. Cover has been in almost all FF since FF4 I believe. I always wanted for Cover to act more like in another game (Hint: Devotion).

Well, unless you mean a DD skill, then they got none I think =P

[therpgfanatic]

I don't know about if Warriors are more fun.

What I know for a fact is I have to play Paladin in a way that it's not really designed to be played. In an eight man if I don't spam Rage of Halone I can't maintain aggro on bosses. If I try to do any other combos I end up losing threat. It's a particular problem as an off-tank, because I sometimes cannot generate enough burst threat to pull an add off DPS, like in Garuda. I know this is the case for other Paladins because I've read enough discussions about the matter.

I am pretty sure none of the other classes need to spam their finisher move and forsake the majority of their skill list in to do their jobs. Paladins are not right.

And then if I need to stun I basically cannot do anything but auto-attack and stun, since if I try to attack the boss he will nearly always start his casting when my global cooldown has just started.

If you don't play a tank and think everything is great due to philosophical beliefs like "tanks dont dps" then you really have no understanding of the things I'm talking about. And perhaps things are fantastic if you're at the top of the gear tier, but most players aren't going to invest hundreds of hours into playing in order to finally have fun.

I've been down this road a few times in other MMOs. I know the devs will eventually make improvements because they want players to enjoy the game, but it'll only happen if players speak up.

[therpgfanatic]

You are confusing fans with die-hard fans. Highwind is 'famous' because he was a main character in FF4 and the first dragoon, just like Cecil, Celes or Terra are famous. But does it mean that every highwind knows by heart EVERYTHING about ALL games in the franchise? I played FF6 but didn't know that Rio Blade was a move from there (I believe you said that, right? Can't remember right now). I consider myself a fan of the franchise, as do other people, but doesn't mean we KNOW everything bout everything. Yoshi is already doing lots of fan service (LB names, golden saucer, etc). Simply renaming a move won't make people go "OMG, IM SO GONNA PLAY THAT CLASS NOW"

Yeah it's great that Black Mages swing a Buster Sword with their limit break.

Tanks never get to use our Limit Break though.

There are issues. Denying them is not solving anything.

[juniglee]

Yeah it's great that Black Mages swing a Buster Sword with their limit break.

Tanks never get to use our Limit Break though.

There are issues. Denying them is not solving anything.

I seem to recall tanks use their LB 99.9% of the time in Ultima HM.

There's just no content in this game where we are required to use a tank limit break to make content easier outside of that.

[Xandim]

Yeah it's great that Black Mages swing a Buster Sword with their limit break.

Tanks never get to use our Limit Break though.

There are issues. Denying them is not solving anything.

Im guessing you mean DRG and MNK instead of BLM for the Buster Sword LB =P

As for tanks, they are tanks, so its only natural that their LB IS around tanking. But hey, at least on Ultima we get to use it... right? =P

Im not saying to deny it, just saying that some issues have higher prioritys than others (like the LB system should have priority over a name convention)