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

[Aegis]

FFXIV's progression is strictly vertical where as FFXI's progression (at least when I last played, which was the launch of the first Abyssea expansion) was mostly horizontal.

Perhaps moving to horizontal progression would be good for the game? Certainly adds longevity for content. When the expansion releases do you believe anyone will do coil anymore? Already no-one does Coil 1 except to access Coil 2. Sky gear was valid for a solid decade. Even though XI had much, much more endgame.

While classes were "unique" it also meant that only certain classes were brought to the table. Going meriting? SAM SAM SAM BRD WHM. Wanna play a BST, BLM, or SMN? Better love to solo from 1-75. Classism is BAD for a game. The more you ostracise your player base, the less likely they will keep playing. Even during the FFXI era players always took the path to least resistance. Every zerg encounter was: BRD rotations for super buffs, throw as many SAM as you can, unless you had a reliced DRK, perhaps a MNK or two for hundred fists, couple of healers outside the party and a THF to tag the mob with a Thief Knife just in case Treasure Hunter actually worked. Every other job could just sit and watch until that one or two instances they might be useful. Everything you suggest would make the game worse than it currently is.

Black Mage was, for a long time one of the most popular levelling jobs because of its ability to Magic Burst. It was one of the most popular endgame jobs for sleep/nukes. I levelled my BLM after Aht Urgahn and never solo'd. Used to form up in parties of 3 or 4 and get excellent XP in pet camps. This being another example of how having different classes actually playing differently is a good thing. I saw more camps than people who did not play BLM. I learnt new mechanics of the game.

No, this is what makes you feel like your job is useless and makes you feel like "that dumbass n00b who doesn't even know how to play this game rite". We have already seen this on at least two separate occasions in the history just of 2.xx. We know from empirical evidence that the XIV fanbase WILL act this way and WILL ostracize gamers who want to play an "unpopular" class. If this is what you want then you are in the wrong game.

But you can have all the jobs. This game is not designed for someone to get one class to 50 and forget about levelling. Such a player would be ostracized even if they picked the 'right' job.

PS: Mechanics are the best place for variety between jobs and classes. The fact that MNK has greased lightning while DRG has relatively unforgiving positional requirements does make those two play and feel differently

They don't really play differently, though, do they? Get in position, weapon skill. Move into next position, weapon skill. Weave in buffs and off-GCDs when you can. They both have one best rotation, if you're not doing it you're sub-optimal DPS. Yawn.