Discussion for Letter from the Producer LIVE Part XX

[Wildsprite]

Was there any word about when the Benchmark was coming?

pretty sure they said April 27th

[MageBlack]

pretty sure they said April 27th

Blarg... ok, thanks! I was really hoping it would be this weekend.

[Wildsprite]

Blarg... ok, thanks! I was really hoping it would be this weekend.

this weekend would have been really nice ~sighs~

[graudon]

I was wondering If new dx11 or Heavensward going to have a pre download time like 1 week before in other case I need to download the game again after its relesead and It kinda feels bad o.o

[LlenCoram]

Just throwing in that I'm totally fine with them starting at 30. Just want my guns.

[Korbash]

I'm happy about the new infos about the expansion, but what happened to the Q&A for ARR?

[Windklinge]

new raid loot system. THANK GOD YOSCHI. hopefully they get rid of the rng factor or atleast reduce it. normal mode raid has no weekly lockout either. good to know. hardmode coming 4 weeks later than launch. and weekly caps aswell. good. more time to gear that DRK up.

he said he will show more details of new raidloot on a later letter. looking forward to that. current system needs to go. its just wrong to reward people 100% based on luck than effort.

unlimited playable content can stay random loot. idc. but weekly locked needs a change.

[Spawnie]

was there any new videos on the new classes gameplay?? i wanna see exactly how machinists turrets work P

[rwyan]

They don't ned job stones.
The moment you equip a star globe you change to Astrologian.

I kind of hope that it is more than Astrologian/Machinist/Dark Knight are both job and class at the same time. At a minimum, I hope...
1. Turn "classes" into "jobs"
2. Conceptually, you now level the weapon/magic skill that each job relies on (ex: Gladiator and Paladin have levels associated with Sword/Shield)
3. A job is now defined by its weapon/magic skill, its cross-classing rules and any additional job abilities
4. Job stones are no longer necessary, job selection via a simple gui mechanic or armory
5. stats are per Job, not per "skill" or "class" as we've been calling them.

This would solve some of the awkward conceptual/mechanical problems with the current system. It would also solve the problem of having multiple jobs use the same weapon/magic skill (ACN/SCH/SMN).

The current "classes" would regain some relevance. For example, a player whose primary Job has been Paladin could allocate stats differently for Gladiator to better suit soloing efforts. Her Paladin stats would remain as is. What makes the Gladiator Job special is its flexibility via cross-class skills and options. Likewise, the Paladin Job is special because it gives up flexibility for a stronger tanking role.

From a design standpoint, this would free them from the pattern of having a class and then a job. They simply add a job either tied to a weapon/magic skill already in the game or a new one all together. It would also help them explain how some Jobs automatically start at level 30. After we reach Ishgard, some how we get crash courses in new magic/weapon skills (guns/turrets, great sword, tarot globe). Because of that, when we choose to play as any of the new Jobs, we are already level 30.

Basically, if they don't use the expansion as an opportunity to polish up the Job/armory system nuances - it will just be awkward in general. That is why we keep seeing players wanting the new Jobs to start at level 1. The game established that first there is a "class" and at some point you unlock a "job" somewhat related to the class. They are both different yet and one and the same. Some classes actually have 2 jobs and yadda yadda yadda... 3 new jobs? No new classes? Start at level 30? With the current status quo, it just doesn't make sense.

[Blueyes]

Basically, if they don't use the expansion as an opportunity to polish up the Job/armory system nuances - it will just be awkward in general. That is why we keep seeing players wanting the new Jobs to start at level 1. The game established that first there is a "class" and at some point you unlock a "job" somewhat related to the class. They are both different yet and one and the same. Some classes actually have 2 jobs and yadda yadda yadda... 3 new jobs? No new classes? Start at level 30? With the current status quo, it just doesn't make sense.

Honestly that is one of my main complaints about the game right now. The whole class/job system just feels messy with little coherent pattern. Though I think it wouldn't actually be that hard to fix by shifting around a couple "oddballs" like making Rogue a starting class and pulling Scholar away from Arcanist. The result would be nine starting classes, each of which transitions into a job at level 30 while having four "extra jobs" that start at level 30. Clean and simple.

However, I think it's pretty unlikely that SE will want to take the time to rework the split job situation with Arcanist. Based on what's been said, combat classes will no longer gain new abilities beyond level 50 and what you gain from that point on will be strictly job abilities. I believe that approach was decided so that Scholar and Summoner could develop independently thus removing the need to split them apart. We're still left with a system that has only one class that splits into two jobs which is awkward, but oh well.