I'm curious about something. Who else doesn't like the "Weapon = class" idea? I thought it was neat at first, as it would get rid of poor judgement calls. (Anyone remember Warriors with no subjob using a spear because they wanted to be Dragoons?) I thought it would be cool to know that each class had a weapon it was good with. Unfortunately, I forgot that one of the really neat parts about FFXI was mixing weapons. Joyuse was good for Paladin and Red Mages, (and Warriors who also had Ridill). Clubs tended to be the ideal event item, as all classes could equip them. So it got me to thinking. If each class is based on what weapon they use, then it should be easy to identify what classes are coming in the future. Great Sword, single-handed Axes, etc.... This is until I realized that Gladiator uses daggers. I can't understand that, really. I get that Marauder is Warrior / Dark Knight, because of their health stealing abilities. And Gladiator is a Warrior / Paladin, but without magic abilities. But if one class can use swords and daggers, (which in the game are only categorized as "Gladiator Arms," so I understand how they could easily change it), I can't help but feel like there is something missing here. I'm not sure I can put my finger on it, but if I had to guess, I'd say it has something to do with certain classes being able to equip multiple types of weapons. For example, I miss that Red Mages could use club/wand, staff, dagger, sword, and buckler style shields, and this would change the way they played. (Also, I have a cudgel. Can I use a melee attack? I have a huge hammer, and I wanna hit someone with it)!

Obviously, the list goes on. I'm sure that eventually, things will get ironed out, and we'll see what the game is like in the coming months and years. I just wanted to post a few of the issues I have, and make some constructive comments about them. I think if SE sees too many posts that aren't articulate in thought, then they might not feel inclined to see our side of things.

Again, I'd like to say that I don't want the game to be FFXI-2. But I think it is important for us to understand some of the game-play mechanics that it had, why they worked, and why our current ones don't work. We need a firm base to build off of, and most of the game obviously takes concepts from FFXI, but they warped them into things that don't work. So hopefully, if we get a base that is similar, (or at least sturdy enough to work with), then we can get the game back on track.

Thanks for reading, (I know it's a long one. I just have a lot to say, and I thought I'd knock it out in one post rather than a bunch of them).

So give me your thoughts. I wanna hear some constructive feed-back, so we can give SE an idea of what we want to see.