Job Personalization: Can I Have It?

[Reinha]

It's a good idea. I'm a fan of complicated talent trees that can be slowly filled with points that are acquired during leveling. Kind of like our current attribute point system, but bigger and with less performance difference between choices. There is the problem of "illusion of choice" of course, but no more than with cross class skills or attribute points. I doubt anyone would want those made automatic just because it's a noob trap.

Two biggest flaws for a talent system, from the player's perspective, would be if people can ridicule you for your choices and if changing talents is expensive or impossible. Just make respeccing possible and doable anywhere, and hide your talents from others in the "Examine" option and those problems can be avoided. Savage raiders may require you to use the best build though, but hey that's the whole point of hardcore raiding. Squeezing every drop of power from your class to beat it. And even raiders can still experiment when not in a progression fight. Wouldn't it be cool to find a valid talent combination outside the norm?

[Hix]

Again, it depends on the content. If the only worthwhile content is of the "punish the whole group for the failings of a few" variety ... ya, choice is non-existence. You will have to play how others want you to play. Personal choice cease to exist.

Come on, lets be honest. You start having people running around DF Expert doing 200 DPS because they are being special snowflakes and the next thing we'd see is 500 threads about how DF has become "Toxic" and "I keep getting kicked from party even though we aren't wiping and I don't know why"

[Bishop81]

Come on, lets be honest. You start having people running around DF Expert doing 200 DPS because they are being special snowflakes and the next thing we'd see is 500 threads about how DF has become "Toxic" and "I keep getting kicked from party even though we aren't wiping and I don't know why"

I am being honest.

Just stating facts,

"punish the whole group for the failings of a few" -> players play how the group demands they play or they don't get to play at all

All current content is of the "punish the whole group for the failings of a few" variety unfortunately. You either play how the rest of the player base demands you play or you don't play at all/play by yourself.

[Hix]

I am being honest.

Just stating facts,

"punish the whole group for the failings of a few" -> players play how the group demands they play or they don't get to play at all

All current content is of the "punish the whole group for the failings of a few" variety unfortunately. You either play how the rest of the player base demands you play or you don't play at all/play by yourself.

Well I suppose if you had made the content such that it could be completed just as fast and as reliably no matter what you did, then a customization system might work.

But then you'd just have a different kind of illusion of choice.

[Bishop81]

Well I suppose if you had made the content such that it could be completed just as fast and as reliably no matter what you did, then a customization system might work.

But then you'd just have a different kind of illusion of choice.

That's one way to do it. I don't feel it's the right way though.

IMHO they should just limit the punishment to the individual that failed. We can all play together but everyone shouldn't have to pay for my mistakes - nor I those of others (of which I have no part in).

[BreathlessTao]

Come on, lets be honest. You start having people running around DF Expert doing 200 DPS because they are being special snowflakes and the next thing we'd see is 500 threads about how DF has become "Toxic" and "I keep getting kicked from party even though we aren't wiping and I don't know why"

...so what would be different from how things are now? o.O Sorry to butt in. But yeah. That's pretty much what we have been seeing since forever, low DPS this, toxic DF that. Now the scrip system is a new spice on the rack, but this still makes up most of it.

[Gooner_iBluAirJGR]

...so what would be different from how things are now?

Yeah. . . things are already "spec the way the group demands". People just want more stuff to spec the way the group demands and that's fine!
#PaladinMainHealsSpec

[Sandpark]

Giving people the choice to be mediocre is no choice at all. We'd go back to the scenario of Souleater Recast merits vs Arcane Circle Recast merits. One is actually useful, the other one is a waste of code. All you'd be doing is inviting the type of problems that are known to work with "specs" (people getting ridiculed for not going the optimal route).

In tight group based content, it would be a waste of code because SE cannot make a dungeon make every jobs skill matter.

Except the one that deals most damage will rule over the other.

In groups as they get larger. Of course if a party takes a DPS, they will want the higher DPS. In low man or solo open world content. That DPS wouldn't be as much required, especially if you couldn't heal yourself much at all or have a survivable build for things that don't die fast.

I'd go for somehow swapping particle effects and spell names around over changing BLM at the baseline. Granted, the job is built around it using all its elements.

XI tried what you're asking with elemental affinity merits, but that quickly became "spec into lightning or ice or GTFO".

In FFXI and FFXIV. You were stuck into one type of gameplay, repeating the same spells. In FFXI it was because even though you could spec into a fire build, most things were weak to lightning and ice.

In FFXIV you are still casting the same spell over and over. But here it isn't because monster identity is trended one way. It's because there is no monster identity in terms of weaknesses. At least in the former, there was some variation.

I still don't think job personalization would work with jobs and how they are designed for focused group content. But they could create open world low man content or public events filling a need for customization that could be done in classes.

[Talraen]

Has anyone brought up that in the original, job-less 1.0, you could freely cross-class literally everything and everyone ended up using the same skills for difficult content?

I like customization as much as the next guy, but if that's what you're looking for, you should play a single-player game. This is a team game. Just like in real life team activities, optimal playstyles become the norm.

[XNihili]

I want to be a buttersheep !!!