Lorewise, are Time Mages viable? [Discussion]

[Elexander]

It's a really long post, taking about 6000 characters, so I guess I'll have to post in a succession of replies.

I decided to bring this quite old discussion to the forums so that I would know every thought on people interested. Knowing FF XIV's current state and how the Role Trinity dictates every thing (Damage Dealers, Tanks and Healers, strictly) in it, would it be even slightly possible for Time Mages to be a thing? Let's see what you people think.

Here are my thoughts:
Some facts known that COUNTERS the idea of having Time Mages in the game:
• Astrologians already have control of time - or fate, for that matter. Their specialization lies in deciphering stars and bending space according to their personal Aether.
• Some of their spells are actually heavy references to common Time Mage's, like Gravity and Lightspeed (Haste), even though they are unaspected - thus being categorized as Arcane Magick.
• Yet about their spells: Meteor, a common Time Magick-schooled spell, is given as a Ultimate Limit Break to Black Mages, thus categorizing it as Black Magick.
• The Role Trinity wouldn't allow a class which is based only on buffing and debuffing allies and enemies respectively, thus rendering Time Magick rather "useless" or "less effective" than others.

Some facts known that SUSTAINS the idea of having Time Mages in the game:
• Time is known to be a "catalyst" Element, non-natural, in FF XIV. Although it's not something tangible or present among stats, Alexander's existence has seen to that. Thus, Time Magicks ARE possible to come, as much as we know.
• Time Magicks CAN be remade anew, as some of the Jobs and Classes we already know. For instance, Geomancers/Elementalists used to bear the power to control Water, Wind and Stone, natural elements of creation, instead of Conjurers, which came to be White Mages in the game.
• Technology is a quite recurrent feature in the game. Using corrupted Aether as engine to things, creating weapons that channel Aether into ammunition and ancient technology (Allagan) is a thing still unknown.
• Time Magicks do NOT necessarily have to come out of simple magic manipulation. They can be manipulated into being, be it by using catalysts, summons or steampunk-like technology.

MY POINT OF VIEW:

Although we know that Classes are more unlikely to come in the next expansions, with jobs like AST, DRK, MCH and RDM - the known most recent ones - taking the role of "Special Jobs", there is only a single Healing class in the game. People are forced to learn CONJURER 101 before anything if they want to heal; Even to get Scholar, that branches from Arcanist, they have to reach a specific level in CNJ (15, for that matter), and this is their - OUR - only healing experience before getting SCH itself.
More Healing Classes may come in time, giving actual CHOICES to people starting to play of whether you want to heal as a tree-loving magician or something else first.

Speaking in "time", we also know most classes/jobs have a deity among the 12 to which they can relate, Nymeia (and presumably Althyk) being Astrologian's, for example, and Nophica White Mage's. That can also be somewhat directly related to the classes starting cities, when not relating our Astrologian role to Ishgardian's. Althyk is the the god of Time among the twelve, Nymeia's older brother, and has no classes related to it (to my knowledge).
All this brings to light that there is, although little and darkened, fertile soil for Time Mages to grow - and I'm not talking about their Space Tarot Counterparts, the Astrologians.

Although most healers actually have similar play styles, they all differ in a point. White Magick is heavily based in pure healing, lifting people's HP bars to max with little to few difficulty, while giving them regen effects so that they can be mended by the power of the light. "Fae Magick", Nymian Spellweaving, is heavily focused on avoiding damage to be done, bringing sustain in the process by summoning Faeries and harnessing their power. Astrologians use their Arcane Magick to bend Fate itself to their will, while manipulating their own Aether between Light and Darkness to bring Benefic spells to help their allies or Malefic spells to wound their enemies. Their alignment with celestial bodies allow them to shape sunlight in renewing magic, like that of the WHMs, or moonlight in shrouding magic, like that of the SCHs.

Chronomancers, as can be called those who harness and control powers related to Time, could be simple Healing classes, based on undoing damage done in times past. While Astrologians are heavily focused in the future, Time Mages could fit in the game as healers specialized in rolling back what has happened seconds prior to the event of casting, intensifying healing based on damage taken for a specific amount of time. They could keep their buffs from other games, like Haste and Slow, yet focused in their stronger versions, which effects are party-wide. Space magic, like Meteor and Gravity, would no longer belong to them, giving space to a new range of time manipulation spells - take WoW's Warlock Doom, for example, which does a certain amount of damage after some time. Intensifying other debuffs on enemies, hastening their effects or delaying hazardous effects on allies, they could also prove useful supports. They could not necessarily use the same pattern for every magician - They could rely upon Aethered technology instead of using powers of nature/whatever those fairies come from. Wouldn't it be sick to see a healer using a magicked, sand-filled needle with a shield hologram as a weapon?

What I mean to say is that I believe - and that's my sole noob belief - that Time Mages ARE a viable class in FF XIV, if reworked appropriately. And, again, I'm not talking about looking at a Bole card and gluing it on your tank's forehead.

Those interested, please, discuss. Be it to prove me wrong and correct my mistakes, be it to agree with me and hope for possibly nothing. Enrich the post. Don't let it die.

And sorry for the spam. There'll be a lot of blank boxes - those are the deleted posts I created to divide those 6035 characters coherently in stacks lower than a thousand characters long. Thank you Anonymoose for enlightening me about hot to bypass that limit.