I think this game could use a warlock class.

[Mycow8me]

(and PUP was actually pretty good DPS in the right hands; so few people could play it properly, though, that party leaders rarely gave them the chance to show it)

Thats funny i could say the same in regards to early summoners. No, the main reason summoners were healers is because there was always a healer shortage for party exp. It was so bad sometimes you found yourself using rdm and anything else that could toss side cures, which is what the na community ended up doing with summoner. Most only had carbuncle and were trying to get the class leveled anyway only healing setting a unwanted standard. Free mp cost would have been way unfair downtime wise against blm anyway. I never dissapointed parties as a dps when i was in a group even with mp cost. All it took was learning skill chain combos, having all your avatars, knowing how to magic burst if you were the burster, and using the wiki charts and graphs to find out blunt/piercing/slashing weaknesses of mobs and using the best pacts for it.
Free mp casts later on just made smn avatar favor more reliable. Dps was good even before it. I was using smn back when cap was 75 and sky was fresh. So i know what i know. Guess i agree to disagree.

[HereticBliss]

SMN dps was never "good." Every Summoner tried to argue this citing their 1800 damage Predator Claws, but they were at the low end regardless of how good the player was. The class was designed that way.

And if you were MBing on your Summoner, it sounds like you were on the low end of a low end class.

[Iromi]

SMN dps was never "good." Every Summoner tried to argue this citing their 1800 damage Predator Claws, but they were at the low end regardless of how good the player was. The class was designed that way.

And if you were MBing on your Summoner, it sounds like you were on the low end of a low end class.

Yeah DRK and SAM we're amazing for DD's..at least when I played way back then lol. SMN was just good for hate free damage on wyrms and such.

[AnaviAnael]

Yeah DRK and SAM we're amazing for DD's..at least when I played way back then lol. SMN was just good for hate free damage on wyrms and such.

Trust me, I agree with SMN being decent damage, but I gotta stand up for DRK and SAM for a moment. Remember, FFXI was notorious for having "flavor of the month" jobs. People used to love DRGs until Penta Thrust got nerfed, nobody wanted DRK and SAM then they buffed 2-handed weapons (consequently Great Axe WARs were wanted as well), etc. etc. etc. XI was a mess in terms of balance.