Thread: 1.2 Needs to fix Sentinel, Tanking, and XI Class-ism.

The 'FFXI purist community"? Sentinel is really helpful to have in this fight, it has nothing to do with a "purist community" lol. MMORPG communities in general always thrive for efficiency and suffice to say, reducing damage taken is all about being efficient.

Originally Posted by Jennestia

The 'FFXI purist community"? Sentinel is really helpful to have in this fight, it has nothing to do with a "purist community" lol. MMORPG communities in general always thrive for efficiency and suffice to say, reducing damage taken is all about being efficient.

You are correct. And like I said the armory system is perfect for that. However this is a vastly game breaking mechanic when you're required to level up a class that you have no interest in. Obligatory leveling is something XIV needs to move away from, not cater to.

Originally Posted by Tibian

You are correct. And like I said the armory system is perfect for that. However this is a vastly game breaking mechanic when you're required to level up a class that you have no interest in. Obligatory leveling is something XIV needs to move away from, not cater to.

It's not required, but it is indeed very helpful.

Let's apply this logic to someone who doesn't like to play mage classes, like myself.

I want to tank in this game eventually. However, cure/sac III are "required" for that. I hate playing mages classes with a passion. Does this imply that cure and sac III are also broken?

Originally Posted by MeowyWowie

It's not required, but it is indeed very helpful.

Let's apply this logic to someone who doesn't like to play mage classes, like myself.

I want to tank in this game eventually. However, cure/sac III are "required" for that. I hate playing mages classes with a passion. Does this imply that cure and sac III are also broken?

As I said in the original post, tanking needs to be fixed to where you don't need those abilities. You should be able to tank sufficiently with one class leveled up.

Originally Posted by Jennestia

The 'FFXI purist community"? Sentinel is really helpful to have in this fight, it has nothing to do with a "purist community" lol. MMORPG communities in general always thrive for efficiency and suffice to say, reducing damage taken is all about being efficient.

The intention of the Armoury system has likely been to foster diversity by allowing characters to mix-and-match their skills as they see fit, but that diversity is lost once you start stacking classes and/or abilities in order to clear content. If/when such stacking occurs, then there needs to be balance adjustments made to either the content or the classes/abilities to even things out again; otherwise, you end up with fights where every fifth person is a lancer, or a marauder, or whatever, and they all have matching armor and skillsets. This game doesn't need it's own version of shaman-stacking.

Originally Posted by Quanta

The intention of the Armoury system has likely been to foster diversity by allowing characters to mix-and-match their skills as they see fit, but that diversity is lost once you start stacking classes and/or abilities in order to clear content. If/when such stacking occurs, then there needs to be balance adjustments made to either the content or the classes/abilities to even things out again; otherwise, you end up with fights where every fifth person is a lancer, or a marauder, or whatever, and they all have matching armor and skillsets. This game doesn't need it's own version of shaman-stacking.

I hear you on that, but when has there ever been a time in an MMO where one class/job/whatever wasn't better than another. The hard part of MMO's is balancing, and I've personally never seen a game that is 100% balanced.

The staticians will figure out who does the best damage, or contributes the most to a fight and create strategies that use them to their full potential.

Archer / Mage stacking for Darkhold, Lancer Mrd stacking for Ifrit, it's all a balancing game. Roll the dice and hope SE tries to make it as even as possible.

Originally Posted by RemVye

I hear you on that, but when has there ever been a time in an MMO where one class/job/whatever wasn't better than another. The hard part of MMO's is balancing, and I've personally never seen a game that is 100% balanced.

The staticians will figure out who does the best damage, or contributes the most to a fight and create strategies that use them to their full potential.

Archer / Mage stacking for Darkhold, Lancer Mrd stacking for Ifrit, it's all a balancing game. Roll the dice and hope SE tries to make it as even as possible.

It's unlikely that you'll ever get perfect balance between classes, but that doesn't mean that balance adjustments shouldn't be made regardless. You can still get pretty damned close to achieving equilibrium through observation of player behaviour patterns and adjusting classes/abilities accordingly. To do otherwise runs counter to the idea of player diversity as a whole, and actively punishes players for their choices on what skills to use and what classes to level. The success of a given group should neither hinge on use of a specific ability, nor should having that ability increase the odds of success by a significant margin, yet the current wisdom seems to indicate that Sentinel has the latter effect. It also suggests that Lancers and Marauders are better suited to the fight than other DPS, and that also needs to be addressed.