Honest question: If every player/class/job is equal,who is unique? (Gameplay topic)

[Bixby]

I'm not so sure it's all about job design. Encounter design plays a significant part in the feeling of flatness, too.

Some of each job's uniqueness gets watered down by encounters not really requiring anything in particular. Back when HM Ifrit wasn't laughably overgeared (and Eruptions hit harder), you could work out a stun rotation if you didn't have a PLD to stunbot. In T1, you got to play around with BRDs & PLDs & MNKs for silencing, depending on what you had.

I'm sure there's some of this going on in Coil 2 now (SMNs kiting? Or something?), but outside of that, almost every encounter is the same. Your role in the fight is encompassed almost entirely by your role in the party list: tanks tank, DPS DPS, healers heal. Everybody dodges. It's sort of a Catch 22 between a lack of unique utility skills and a lack of need for unique utility skills.

[Vaara]

You're once again assuming EVERYONE will have the same expectations for a certain fight. You can't read the minds of the over 10k players out there and assume each and everyone of them DEMAND a certain class. No one is forcing them. They have the choice, if they choose not to, then they choose not to. SE didn't twist their arm and say "HEY! LEVEL THIS OR YOU CAN'T GET IN HERE!"

People always take the path of least resistance. Take melee in Garuda Ex when it first came out for example. People watch a strategy on line and then everyone decides it should be done this single way, and then melee DPS get shafted. This should not be encouraged any more than it is already.

Also consider that a lot of gear requires you to single out a specific job to be your "main" (soldiery, relic, coil loot etc). If your job is no good at the new endgame fight that just came out, then there is no longer a chocie.

[Fyce]

@OP: It depends of the amount of details and precision you want.
I can ask you what sets apart a cat from a dog and debate with you by saying that they are both fluffy animals with 4 paws and a tail, therefore they are the same.
If, for you, a ranged DPS is ultimately the same thing as a melee DPS, I can say that typing on a forum is the same thing as playing a video game on PC since you press buttons on your keyboard to do both.

[Aegis]

Remember when the player poll came out and they asked what new jobs we'd like?

They even included as an example the Arithmetician. Now that could be an interesting job to play.

[Scootaloo]

People always take the path of least resistance.

They do? Oh wait...that's right, WoW players...forgot, silly me.

Take melee in Garuda Ex when it first came out for example. People watch a strategy on line and then everyone decides it should be done this single way, and then melee DPS get shafted. This should not be encouraged any more than it is already.

That's funny, I see melee DPS all the time in Garuda EX runs and they turn out fine usually. Must be on your server only that they do that or something.

Also consider that a lot of gear requires you to single out a specific job to be your "main" (soldiery, relic, coil loot etc). If your job is no good at the new endgame fight that just came out, then there is no longer a choice.

NO ONE is good at content that just comes out, its called a learning curve.

And usually, I can get my fresh level 50 every piece except the pants and body within the first week. and usually the body and pants take a week each to obtain unless I spam PVP runs. So unless the new content runs suddenly go dead zoned within the first month or so of being released, that's not a big issue to begin with.

[Causality]

[3]If the Novus weapons are so powerful, what use is there for crafters?
[4]If the end game raid armors are so powerful, what use is there for crafters?

Crafters are the only ones that can Affix materia to these items. You NEED to have a crafter to Maximize the potential and that crafter has to match the type of item as well as the Level Requirements of the materia. In addition in order to force extra materia onto a piece that has no available slots, it requires a higher level crafter as well.

The best food items in the game are made by Culinarians and as for Alchemist they also make gear. Arcanists wouldn't be able to put Materia in their tomes without Alchemists by example.

Quite simply put you cannot Maximize the potential without crafters and crafters would be Dead in the water without Gatherer's (Miner/Fisher/Botanist) supporting them.

[NorthernLadMSP]

While I agree it's good to have variety in the jobs, I really don't feel they're too similar. I actively play both WHM and SCH, and BLM and SMN. They're very different. I also play BRD, it's very different as well.

Like people have already stated, too many differences leads to people being left out. Remember back when everyone was farming Brayflox HM speed runs for Myth? The ONLY DPS jobs people wanted were BLMs and BRDs. Just last night, I saw a Party Finder for Levi EX that specifically stated "no monks." Exclusion is not a good thing in a game like this.

[Canadane]

Scootaloo, according to your profile, you have one tank, one melee dps, and acn (so 1 magic dps and 1 healer) levelled to 50.
How are you able to say everything in each category work the same if you aren't experiencing them all to their fullest?
Not to mention you have no crafts at 50, so you cannot see that benefit either, I suppose.

Like I don't mean to call you out, but you should really try things out completely before complaining about them.

[WizardShotTheFood]

Remember when the player poll came out and they asked what new jobs we'd like?

They even included as an example the Arithmetician. Now that could be an interesting job to play.

Personally, I'm holding out for Puppetmaster.

And usually, I can get my fresh level 50 every piece except the pants and body within the first week. and usually the body and pants take a week each to obtain unless I spam PVP runs. So unless the new content runs suddenly go dead zoned within the first month or so of being released, that's not a big issue to begin with.

Right. You managed to obtain 3200 Soldiery tomestones worth of gear in a single week. I believe that. Just like I believe roegadyn are short and your posts have any connection to reality.

[Scootaloo]

Right. You managed to obtain 3200 Soldiery tomestones worth of gear in a single week. I believe that. Just like I believe roegadyn are short and your posts have any connection to reality.

ilvl90 gear is more than enough to handle ex runs until you get enough soildery tomes. idk what mmo your playing but gear is hardly a foothold standpoint if you can "react" in time to everything.