A plea for 3.0 and beyond: Job Customization

[Kaizuko_Hakupac]

OP, no i dont want allot of what you mention

although i'm by no means a beginner, i have played FFXI for 6years+ , and ive been in FFXIV since 1.0 Beta, ive seen allot of things come and go

now while i do agree that the class system is WTF, the fact that for tanking jobs (for example) you got 4 total options (GLA,MRD,PLD,WAR) which all 4 are essentially 2 Roles, is and unneeded.

granted they have realized this already with the announcement that DRK has NO Class (bunch of jerks!)

but what you're talking about is essentially the class system, just labeled JOB system.

Custom characters can be a good thing, but unless they increase the % rate of where stats matter, like Parry,Det,Crit,skill-speed,spell-speed etc, because as it stands roughly 100 Parry = 1% additional chance of parry, THATS where i want to customize if they tweak it , not Action abilities.

just my 2 cents.. now give em back, i'm not made of money !

[Wolfandre]

Didn't feel like reading 5 pages of this, so I apologize if this was said.

But let's get real. This is one major reason that people didn't like 1.0's class system, because that's what you just described.

[Mortechai]

This would do nothing. The best layout would be found to best suit each jobs strengths and everone(read: alot of people) would just copy and use it. Nothing changed, most monks you see running around would be the same cookie cutter monk etc. SE foresaw this and decided to put a system in the game with no customizability to this degree and why shouldnt they? Why waste develeopment resources on a system they know players will break down into a few builds and trivialise.

[nugglets]

As has probably been said time and time again, in almost all practical applications "class customization" only brings the illusion of customization.

In the end, there end up being 1-2 viable builds at the very most for each "class" because they are just far and away better than the rest. At it's best, this just adds to the tedium of leveling by forcing you to look up this information somewhere and do all the added things necessary to execute it. At it's worst, this forces you to re-roll your character because you made a shitty build your first time through because a) you didn't now better; b) the "best" builds hadn't been discovered yet; or, worst of all, c) a patch changed something that completely negates or gimps your build.

When I first saw that XIV didn't have skill trees, I was a little taken aback. I have come to expect them in all RPG's and I typically enjoy the creativity they bring. But the more I played the more I realized this was a brilliant decision due mostly to the points I made above, among others.

[Pylfer]

I honestly feel like a skill tree system would work a little bit better, so you would get all your skills and then have like 15 points over 60 levels to distribute to a tree of skills. Some would give you flat bonuses like "+xSTR, VIT, whatever" while others may be like "Inner Beast will now increase healing by an additional 5%".

In the case of MNK for instance, make it so that you can maybe augment 1 of the three Fist moves (only one) in such a way that you get different benefits. So like, Fists of Fire will also randomly apply a 30-60 potency dot for 12-20 seconds, or you can choose Fist of Winds upgrade that gives you the 10% speed buff but also increases TP regen in and out of combat, or the Fist of Earth trait that will allow youto Take 10% less damage from all sources but also give you a chance, when taking damage and a smaller chance when dealing damage, to give yourself the effects of stoneskin.

I feel like a system like this would vary builds more... That and giving gear properties that have procs and stuff on them. It will be nice when 3.0 comes out to see gear progression when there's more than 1 raid

[CodingSession]

Ragnarok Online has the best stat and job customization of all MMORPGs. Every MMORPG should base their stat and job system on it.
Just saying.

[nugglets]

Ragnarok Online has the best stat and job customization of all MMORPGs. Every MMORPG should base their stat and job system on it.
Just saying.

As someone who absolutely LOVES RO, this is both a great and terrible thing. Every single point I made above you has applied to every great RO build at some point in time. RIP North Wind Stalker in WoE, I will remember you always.

[Morningstar1337]

Insead of opening up 90% of class abilities to all classes. We instead fill Sentinel's now unfilled niche of a generic subclass. With a class that is commonly requested but currently impossible to work in and still reasonably please the fans as a class: Blue Mage.

Simply put: All players (Disciplines of War and Magic) will have access to "Blue magic" which will take the form of skills that either need MP, HP or TP to cast (as well as the usually free buff skills), as well as traits for those skills. Players can get the skills for a variety of monsters or other sources and place them on the Cross-Class skill list.

The abilities themselves will have a variety of applications to fill multiple roles for different classes, but will either have a long cool-down, require more points to cast or deal a debuff to either the caster, the entire group or everyone with a radius around the caster

Arguments I'd expect against this idea:

• But I wanted it as a CLASS: I think Blue Mage is inherently imbalanced as a class in a MMO that is more like WoW then XI. The method of learning abilities and the resulting high skill counts means that people will either be gimped or will be OP depending on their devotion to the class, especially considering that it can fill all three roles.
• But that will be OP: There is potential for abuse, yes. But as is, Blue Magic is uncharted territory for XIV, SE would have to code in new abilities to mobs and bosses. Basically the onus will be on SE to make sure the skills are balanced and that the mechanic will be implemented without any kinks.

[fireslash]

would like to see a bluemage

[M0xie]

I would prefer a kind of Alternate Advancement system much like Everquest has. That way, once you hit the level cap, you can still level up and get stronger with more than just a gear grind.

I've been saying this since I hit 50. I really miss AA. I think too much cross-classing of abilities is a bad idea, but the option to improve things like extending your dot a few seconds or up your heals by 1% etc. are nice touches. EQ's AA (for those that don't know) also allowed improvement of innate attributes such as STR, INT and others that aren't so clearly defined such as durability (increased defense) or improved evasion/dodge. Other AA abilities I'd like to have are things like Target/Mass Group Buff or amazing 24-hour recast (job-specific) actions.

The best part is that generally speaking, they were optional and didn't necessarily make players hugely "OP" over others; but once invested, they could make a difference. I left EQ in 2008 with 2500 AA, was still not maxed, and wanted more.