How Blue Mage Could Exist in FFXIV

[Ilan]

After having talked with the vast majority of consistently subscribing member of FF14, I know I speak for the vast majority of the community when I write: not only does no one have a problem with Blue Mage, but we are really excited about this Class.

Honestly, I'm kind of forced to be on the forum now and then but most players of this game are not on the forum.

So you've talked to a handfull of players on your server or datacenter and you think you speak for the vast majority? Sorry to disappoint you but your datacenter is not the vast majority of the final fantasy community.

[RubyCirha]

ill just say it here i think blu is literally in its play test phase and i believe it will eventually be added as a full job but this is my opinion take it or leave it just know im rarely wrong at predicting this stuff

[Auryan]

ill just say it here i think blu is literally in its play test phase and i believe it will eventually be added as a full job but this is my opinion take it or leave it just know im rarely wrong at predicting this stuff

Nah, you're wrong. They have already planned BLU's progress from 1 to 70 and will continue from there. Not only is BLU going to be a limited job for the foreseeable future, BLU is just the first of possibly many. The devs have already mentioned ideas for BST and PUP as potential limited job candidates. It's likely that a new one will be introduced near the end of every expansion. It really isn't some decision they've made on a whim, they really have put a lot of thought into it, including the initial mixed reaction.

Sure, that doesn't mean it will pan out well, but I like it that they're going out of their comfort zone and surprising players including me. It doesn't hurt that I liked what they showed off from the last live letter.

[jon041065]

Nah, you're wrong. They have already planned BLU's progress from 1 to 70 and will continue from there. Not only is BLU going to be a limited job for the foreseeable future, BLU is just the first of possibly many. The devs have already mentioned ideas for BST and PUP as potential limited job candidates. It's likely that a new one will be introduced near the end of every expansion. It really isn't some decision they've made on a whim, they really have put a lot of thought into it, including the initial mixed reaction.

Sure, that doesn't mean it will pan out well, but I like it that they're going out of their comfort zone and surprising players including me. It doesn't hurt that I liked what they showed off from the last live letter.

I don't think there will be more limited jobs in this manner unless the feedback to limited BLU is overwhelmingly positive after the backlash we've already seen and the potential for it to grow and keep going after the patch.

I have to disagree that they are going out of their comfort zone. I think they right back where they are comfortable after trying to push things with BLU. It looks like work was done to have the first multi-role job and then, for whatever reason, they decided the challenge was too much/not worth it.

[Auryan]

I don't think there will be more limited jobs in this manner unless the feedback to limited BLU is overwhelmingly positive after the backlash we've already seen and the potential for it to grow and keep going after the patch.

I have to disagree that they are going out of their comfort zone. I think they right back where they are comfortable after trying to push things with BLU. It looks like work was done to have the first multi-role job and then, for whatever reason, they decided the challenge was too much/not worth it.

Why do you assume it has to be overwhelmingly well-liked? Eureka is considered a success based on the only criteria that SE truly cares about: the number of people actually doing the content. As long as a lot of people end up playing the job and show some mild enjoyment out of it, I'm sure they'd chalk it up as a win. And like Eureka, I'm sure they factored in that some people will not like BLU, no matter how fun it is.

No, I'm pretty sure they are still out of their comfort zone. Their m.o. was to always adapt an iconic job to fit as either one of three roles. That is after all what everyone expected them to do. Limited BLU still retains its hybrid aspect as well its customization when it comes to it's spell selection. It would lose a significant portion of both by being associated with the other jobs. Let's not pretend it wouldn't.

A multi-role BLU, while better than just a caster DPS, would essentially be just a hybrid BLU broken into three. And more importantly, it will play and have the same level of utility like the other jobs. Little to no attention on customization (since everything will become mandatory) and it will likely lose out on the learning aspect. At that point...why call it BLU?

[jon041065]

Why do you assume it has to be overwhelmingly well-liked? Eureka is considered a success based on the only criteria that SE truly cares about: the number of people actually doing the content. As long as a lot of people end up playing the job and show some mild enjoyment out of it, I'm sure they'd chalk it up as a win. And like Eureka, I'm sure they factored in that some people will not like BLU, no matter how fun it is.

I could be wrong but I don't see them turning more jobs into side content if the first one isn't received well enough. There's been such a backlash already and there will be more after the patch and coming months. No one can know for sure how much but it will happen. It's a large risk to turn a very requested job into something that can't be used in the full game and the positives of doing this have to outweigh the negatives. There will most likely be a higher threshold on how well limited BLU does compared to Diadem/Eureka for them to keep going with the concept as is.

There's some value in the limited job concept so hopefully they would use it as the framework for another system if limited BLU doesn't pan out.

No, I'm pretty sure they are still out of their comfort zone. Their m.o. was to always adapt an iconic job to fit as either one of three roles. That is after all what everyone expected them to do. Limited BLU still retains its hybrid aspect as well its customization when it comes to it's spell selection. It would lose a significant portion of both by being associated with the other jobs. Let's not pretend it wouldn't.

You and others can think they are while myself and others think they are not.

I think it's too soon to say that limited BLU will be a full on hybrid. We don't know enough about the spell interactions yet to say for sure that it can be a competent tank while also healing for example. It's possible that the 24 spell limit was chosen to prevent that from happening.

Making spell builds was only part of XI if you're counting the main FF titles so I wouldn't say it's part of BLU's identity.

It's your opinion that it would lose too much and it's my opinion that it wouldn't.

A multi-role BLU, while better than just a caster DPS, would essentially be just a hybrid BLU broken into three. And more importantly, it will play and have the same level of utility like the other jobs. Little to no attention on customization (since everything will become mandatory) and it will likely lose out on the learning aspect. At that point...why call it BLU?

Multi-role BLU could be 3-4 "jobs" that share the key identity of learning and using enemy abilities. I already went over the customization part but why do you think spell learning would have to be removed? They could keep the spell learning method they went with and still have a multi-role BLU. It would depend largely on how it's done. For example, it could be that you swap between the roles using stances/buffs that swap out your bars but you still need to have learned the appropriate spells for that role.


I should add that I still think there should be BLU as a standard job and the limited job version. Best outcome would be those things AND the first muli-role job and/or a talent system to start allowing more within the trinity system the game has.

[Elerus]

Why do you assume it has to be overwhelmingly well-liked? Eureka is considered a success based on the only criteria that SE truly cares about: the number of people actually doing the content. As long as a lot of people end up playing the job and show some mild enjoyment out of it, I'm sure they'd chalk it up as a win. And like Eureka, I'm sure they factored in that some people will not like BLU, no matter how fun it is.

A key difference being a lot of content (mounts, glamours, and this expansion mcguffin-weapon, etc.) are all gated behind Eureka. Put a big enough carrot in front of a person and they'll walk through hell barefoot. So far the rewards for the "pinnacle" of Blue Mage (the Masked Carnival) are all outdated seals and tomestones. No custom glamour, no mounts, no titles . . . nothing. Maybe they'll be a big reveal to change that but at the moment the rewards for participating with Blue Mage at the highest level are, in a word, obsolete.