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

[Lemuria]

Except that's not how it works. The moment one class becomes superior to others for specific content, people will stack that class and give everyone else the middle finger. FFXI saw this. WoW saw this. I'm pretty sure Lineage II saw this, too.

See, that's the problem. Not that a job has an advantage against X or Y, but that the advantage is perceived as being some kind of exclusive one-way door to content. It's people's perceptions that need to change first.

People like to conveniently forget about many of the mechanics FFXIV swept under the rug in the name of evening the playing field, and the selfsame mechanics which FFXI used to make each class shine in their own right. The real savior would be to bring back weaknesses and resistances. Have mobs which are highly resilient to damage aside from blunt, piercing or slashing damage, for example. This would encourage players to bring along dragoons and bards for piercing, or Monks for blunt damage. Mobs which are resilient to melee, but weak to magic encourages you to bring along summoners and black mages.

Is it really so hard a concept for people to grasp that having an advantage over a target need not exclude anyone? Most of the game revolves around instanced dungeons, which means players have a variety of jobs working towards the same goal. This isn't FFXI where the open world is your battlefield. Having a reason to create a balanced party may be just what this game needs going forwards.

PLD and WAR actually are very different because of the approach to tanking each take.

Yes... one is basically a HP sink, while the other actually defends.

[Duelle]

See, that's the problem. Not that a job has an advantage against X or Y, but that the advantage is perceived as being some kind of exclusive one-way door to content. It's people's perceptions that need to change first.

Expecting people to change their perceptions is wasted time and effort. People as a rule go for the path of least resistance, and that becomes the norm. Regardless of the game in question, trends do form and the community follows them. This is why I've argued that the developers should do their best to influence and keep the trends under control instead of doing whatever and then letting things fall where they may.

Is it really so hard a concept for people to grasp that having an advantage over a target need not exclude anyone?

Regardless of what your intention is, exclusion is pretty much imminent because what you're describing invites that sort of behavior from players. Gameplay and mechanics (and imbalances if left unfixed) have always had a very strong influence on player behavior.

Having a reason to create a balanced party may be just what this game needs going forwards.

As I've said, variety is currently encouraged. What the game doesn't do is force variety on the player, and that is a good thing. Otherwise you have issues like Instructor Razuvious, an encounter that could not be cleared unless you had two shadow priests in the raid.

Balanced party comps already exist, but they are determined by the roles of the trinity. This is also fine. Loot distribution also has a hand in wanting to form a balanced comp (especially since unlike WoW and SWTOR you cannot break down gear into enchanting mats/mods for the raid to roll on if no one needs/wants it). it just happens naturally over the game forcing you into it 100% of the time.

[PArcher]

Yes... one is basically a HP sink, while the other actually defends.

Lol

When played properly, WAR are better tanks than Pld in almost everything. The "problem" with WAR is that they require a really good player to be better than the ones spamming 1-2-3 and occasionally pressing something else. They also are MUCH better OTs than Pld due to their utility (esp their non-aggressive combos).

Find a really good WAR and then see what you think. However...it's like finding a really good DRG, so you'll just keep favoring the job that's much easier to play...