I liked the concept of Red Mage in XI but, as always, the playerbase turned it into something that honestly disgusted me to no end--all in the name of "efficiency". The uniform was there, but the soul was stripped out, and no amount of Avesta videos could offset that fact.

I sincerely hope the devs are working out the ways RDM here can be effective in its DPS role and not allow certain sections of the playerbase (and you know who I'm talking about) to corrupt its identity. The way I hear it, not having WHM or BLM spells is a promising start (not counting cross-class skills, if any). No point in stepping on other mages' toes from the start. Starting the job at level 50 makes sense if their repertoire warrants it, i.e. key spells/abilities would go missing in Haukke Manor and other pre-50 dungeons. The dual-weapon is quite interesting, to say the least (I would have guessed a rapier/buckler tandem, though that would have suggested a Tank role) and I'll be curious to see the magic/melee combos in action come late June.

At the start of ARR, I had questions about how the devs would work RDM (or BLU, if the deductions in the forums hold true) into the game if they were to bring the job in at all. Hopefully, they will have answered my queries to satisfaction in 7 months' time.