Summoner Summons

[Stridentzephon]

I personally like the way FFXIV went with smns. I could not stand going out and see all the same smns out at the same time in FFXI. It killed the feel of the game. Their is no way there is more then on Ifrit from a storyline standpoint. The egis make more sense then the full smns. But they did state they are "trying" to make it so that only one player per server per smns could get the avatar.

[Malamasala]

FF10 Summoner was perfection. You had correct size and graphics, and you had the ability to use its elemental properties, and in addition to all that you could customize skills. Pretty much 200% Summoner awesomeness and I could buy new FFs that only re-used Yuna and the summons for decades without getting bored.

FF11 Summoner had a good attempt at redoing FF10, but failed hard at global (or 2) timer to do anything interesting at all, and had a cap of -15 reduction while melee could lower their attack delay by ~80% (kind of like -45 BP timer). Complete and utter lack of gear was also a nail in the coffin. (Took 8 years before we saw any increase avatar damage gear, while other classes had their weapons and MAB boost them since launch). Naturally perpetuation was the dumbest idea ever, since it is like making a PLD lose MP as long as he has a shield equipped "because reasons".

FF14 Summoner is like SE learned from all their mistakes in FF11 and fixed all problems, but didn't understand what was already good and ruined the graphics and enjoyment from using the avatars. The current fix to all of this would be to just give us a new set of avatars in an expansion, which replace the egi-form that majority of Summoners dislike.

It is not rocket science dear Staff. We want models that remind us of past FFs, not something new and unique. Don't change a winning concept unless people are actually complaining.

[Tupsi]

FF14 Summoner is like SE learned from all their mistakes in FF11 and fixed all problems

That's kind of interesting, considering I recall my summons in XI being a lot more useful to not only myself but my party as well as doing a ton of damage, with Garuda, Diabolos and Fenrir topping the charts end-game. So if doing damage was an issue that they corrected by making them largely (but not completely) useless in XIV..that would be...interesting.

[Shougun]

I personally like the way FFXIV went with smns. I could not stand going out and see all the same smns out at the same time in FFXI. It killed the feel of the game. Their is no way there is more then on Ifrit from a storyline standpoint. The egis make more sense then the full smns. But they did state they are "trying" to make it so that only one player per server per smns could get the avatar.

You mean Garuda, Garuda everywhere?

Because of elemental and special abilities later levels did have less then desired variance but im 100% sure I saw more variance in summoning in FFXI then I have seen in FFXIV. Easy to say since FFXI has way more summons, so a bit unfair to compare buuuut.. still have seen more variance. Also SMN looked like a SMN in XI, since the summons were the focus- they are a side focus in XIV, which makes it feel less SMNery. I like the dot mechanic (ffxiv) so I haven't really called for a redo, but in terms of classic FF I'd say FFXI won the summoner award of being "a summoner".

[Enkidoh]

The other main reason why so-called 'traditional' summons simply cannot work in FFXIV is because of the game's lore - the Primals are extremely dangerous, and require so much aether to summon, one solitary summoner alone simply cannot cut the mustard. Each time the beastmen summon their Primal, they require numerous SMNs all evoking the Primal at once, consuming a huge supply of crystals in order to do so. And that says nothing about the malevolent, negative influence a Primal has on those who summon them (although that is excused for player characters, seeing as they have the Echo and all).

Hence why the player SMN Job only summons an egi and not the full Primal. You're only summoning a sliver of a Primal's power which manifests as the 'egi' form and not the full Primal itself, because it's the only possible way. Not to mention the very secret of summoning was taught to the beatmen in the first place by the Ascians anyway so they kind of have the monopoly on summoning (the player SMN Job was a short-cut technique developed by the ancient Allagan Empire). So yeah, egis will be staying I'm afraid.

[Mature]

SMN LB should be a random pick of an actual summon. Rather than bringing the meteor get the actual summon as a LB. That would be cool. I don't think is impossible I think is question of complexity that's all.

[Tupsi]

The other main reason why so-called 'traditional' summons simply cannot work in FFXIV is because of the game's lore

Same lore in FFXI, actually as they're pretty much the "creators" along side gods like Altana, Promathia, Zahak and the elemental beasts of Adoulin - hence why in XI you also only gain a 'fragment' of their power as if they fully awaken, let's just say that fan will be covered in brown matter.

[kidvideo]

I love playing Summoner, but the -egis depress me.

To paraphrase a popular saying: "Please look forward to" Shiva-egi.

[myahele]

I would love them to atleast show briefly to do their aoe when there 3 bars for the lb.

[Malamasala]

That's kind of interesting, considering I recall my summons in XI being a lot more useful to not only myself but my party as well as doing a ton of damage, with Garuda, Diabolos and Fenrir topping the charts end-game. So if doing damage was an issue that they corrected by making them largely (but not completely) useless in XIV..that would be...interesting.

It depends on how awesome the people you compare to are. I was in a great LS and because of that saw how Summoner paled in comparison for almost the entire game when it came to endgame geared jobs. We did have a Summoner DD party on VRTRA and we did have one on Odin for examples. But majority of endgame content you just threw well equipped WAR/SAM/BLM at and you'd win faster than using SMNs.

In short, SMN was the slow and safe way to try out content, and then it was "go away SMNs, we are used to the fight and need it to be fast".