Quote Originally Posted by EdwinLi View Post
Like I said Red Mage original design was not towards Swords gameplay. It was a Job that focused more on using Black and White Magic while the sword was just there for cosmetic look for their Iconic appearance.
What you describe was predicated by a limitation inherent to turn-based RPGs. There's only so much you can do with it when already buffs and such are not a "smooth" part of gameplay. Not to mention that sword enchants and Red Mage weren't really synonymous until FFXI came along. Before that it was just a hybrid that had access to magic and heavier equipment than WHM and BLM.