Thread: A plea for 3.0 and beyond: Job Customization

People seem to want this, but some feel it would "unbalance" jobs as they are. Currently there are cries for buffing dps classes such as a post stating that BRD is lowest and needs help, then I see another post stating SMN is lowest, even lower than BRD's. And of course the DRG post that got a official reply from someone at SE prompting all of these "buff my job now" posts. The point is that whatever changes made there will always be people complaining that their favorite job needs to be buffed. Things will never be perfectly balanced so how about we add some job playstyle choices?

Originally Posted by LandricFrey

People seem to want this, but some feel it would "unbalance" jobs as they are. Currently there are cries for buffing dps classes such as a post stating that BRD is lowest and needs help, then I see another post stating SMN is lowest, even lower than BRD's. And of course the DRG post that got a official reply from someone at SE prompting all of these "buff my job now" posts. The point is that whatever changes made there will always be people complaining that their favorite job needs to be buffed. Things will never be perfectly balanced so how about we add some job playstyle choices?

The idea of choice is an illusion, at least as far as the general populous goes with how you play a game. Yes, there will be the rogue playstyle here and there, but generally speaking, any given player will simply opt to the best cookie cutter "choice" (whether because they're doing it intentionally or "forced" into it). There will always be the optimal ability that every DPS, heals, or tanks need to get to perform at their best. Is it mandatory? Probably not. Will it help them perform significantly better? Most likely. In fact, one likely "mandatory" class ability that everyone will want to take is Summon and Summon II, as those are ACN abilities, not SMN/SCH, and has zero negative impact to having out... plus it's a Carbuncle pet!

How often did you choose to have a revive while you were a class and were given the freedom to select practically any class ability? Probably not often as a physical DPS, given the low amount of MP you have to work with. Within the limitations of 5 sub-abilities, people will almost always go for the cookie cutter that helps their role, because they'd severely gimp themselves not to. If, however, they gave us 10+ actions to use (like how it is when we're a class), the likelihood is a lot higher as to the idea of customization. But then comes the fear of balance. It seems like the FFXIV dev team does not like the idea of people breaking from the trinity roles and their proper jobs. Some players are very clever about how they can optimize their freedoms, and likely will find a way to do things more efficiently than sticking to the trinity. Remember the Titan-Egi tanking for Ramuh EX? SE clearly liked that idea... /nerf.

I'm not saying the idea of options and "choice" is bad, but rather that the notion of it actually providing diversity is a fairy tale. The only way that we'd see such fantastical situations as a norm is if they were to allow us to use 10+ (if not all) class abilities without having to be selective about it. That'd be fun, but as I pointed out... it'll come with its own problems that could technically break the game.