Add Blue Mages Already

[Biridan]

What you've just described sounds like a blue mage...

A blue mage uses the abilities it has been hit with back at his enemy.

On no level does that sound like a guy enchanting his swords and defending himself via manipulation of time.

[Seraphor]

A blue mage uses the abilities it has been hit with back at his enemy.

On no level does that sound like a guy enchanting his swords and defending himself via manipulation of time.

A dual sword physical/magic hybrid with debuffing utility.
That's a blue mage.

A blue mage only LEARNS it's spells by being hit. Once learned it just becomes a mage with a unique spellset with wider utility, who weilds dual swords.

[Tanathya]

A dual sword physical/magic hybrid with debuffing utility.
That's a blue mage.

A blue mage only LEARNS it's spells by being hit. Once learned it just becomes a mage with a unique spellset with wider utility, who weilds dual swords.

Actually that's very, very wrong. What dictates what a blue mage is, is its blue magic, and blue magic are skills/magics learnt from their enemies. End of the story, there's nothing more to it.

[Seraphor]

Literally what I said, it learns its spells from enemies.
But if that’s ALL a blue mage is, then do the actual spells not matter?
What if a blue mage only learned healing spells from enemies? Is that still a blue mage? (because apparently some people want blue mage to be a healer)
Certain spells and types of spells are identified as blue magic, and they include elemental magic, and various utility spells, mainly debuffing.
The dual-sword set up is also iconic of blue mage, and... nothing else wields dual swords. Thief/Ninja gets dual knives but that’s it.
Blue mages have used other weapons, but no other jobs have used dual swords.

A job that wields dual swords, casts elemental magic, and debuffing spells, NOT being a blue mage... would be very, very odd, and a completely missed opportunity considering people want a blue mage.

[Tanathya]

Literally what I said, it learns its spells from enemies.
But if that’s ALL a blue mage is, then do the actual spells not matter?
What if a blue mage only learned healing spells from enemies? Is that still a blue mage? (because apparently some people want blue mage to be a healer)
Certain spells and types of spells are identified as blue magic, and they include elemental magic, and various utility spells, mainly debuffing.
The dual-sword set up is also iconic of blue mage, and... nothing else wields dual swords. Thief/Ninja gets dual knives but that’s it.
Blue mages have used other weapons, but no other jobs have used dual swords.

A job that wields dual swords, casts elemental magic, and debuffing spells, NOT being a blue mage... would be very, very odd.

Yes to the question in bold. And let me remind you that what is probably the most known blue mage in the series is a pure backline mage that uses rods and maces, with no physical prowess whatsoever. So dual wielding swords isn't iconic at all. In fact, as far as I remember, BLU dual wielding swords was a thing only on FFXI. Blue mage is probably the most flexible job of the entire series, the only tie-in between version is the fact that they do use blue magic, differing heavily in gear and weapons. They've used from swords, to guns, to staves, rods, or maces. Even forks, mind you.

[Seraphor]

"Blue mages have used other weapons, but no other jobs have used dual swords."


"A job that wields dual swords, casts elemental magic, and debuffing spells, NOT being a blue mage... would be very, very odd, and a completely missed opportunity considering people want a blue mage."

[Tanathya]

"Blue mages have used other weapons, but no other jobs have used dual swords."


"A job that wields dual swords, casts elemental magic, and debuffing spells, NOT being a blue mage... would be very, very odd, and a completely missed opportunity considering people want a blue mage."

You do want a dual wielding BLU, that's fine and I do too, but that doesn't make a BLU like you've explicitly pointed out, it just doesn't.

[Seraphor]

It’s like Geomancer. That’s never going to happen, because lore has already established that Geomancers are just Conjurers with a different name.
Or Time Mage, which will never happen because it’s been repurposed in Astrologian.

If they introduce a dual-sword class that uses elemental and debuffing spells that’s not a Blue Mage, then that means we will never get a Blue Mage, because the concept will have already been used with a different name.

[Tanathya]

It’s like Geomancer. That’s never going to happen, because lore has already established that Geomancers are just Conjurers with a different name.
Or Time Mage, which will never happen because it’s been repurposed in Astrologian.

If they introduce a dual-sword class that uses elemental and debuffing spells that’s not a Blue Mage, then that means we will never get a Blue Mage, because the concept will have already been used with a different name.

You're missing the point completely. Blue mage can happen with whatever weapon they can imagine, deal with the fact that blue mage isn't tied to a single weapon of choice. Again, dual wielding blue mages happened only once, in FFXI, and it was just a choice, as their weapon of choice were one-handed swords AND clubs, and you needed a specific selection of magics set to be able to gain the "dual wield" trait. You could also dual wield weapons (again, not only swords) in FFV if you picked up the ninja skill "dual wield". I'm sorry to break it to you, but again, blue mage's only solid characteristic is the fact that they learn enemy skills. Like I said, I'd like them to dual wield swords if only because I think FFXI's blue mage is the best iteration of the job, but in no way does that make it a blue mage.

Also, Geomancers appear as a specific job in FFXIV, so there's still a very solid ground set for them to appear as playable some time. Whether they add it or not is another bag of flour.

[Seraphor]

Dual wielding swords alone is not a blue mage trait, but combined with that sort of spell set, it's too similar to not be a blue mage.
Just like how Astrologian is too similar to time mage.

And I'd certainly welcome a blue mage that uses other weapons, (in fact my own proposed blue mage interpretation uses a gunblade) but if this class were made, then we would not get a blue mage period, dual wielding or otherwise, because there would already be a class too similar to it.
Too similar to include a separate blue mage class, not similar enough to appease blue mage fans.

I'm not against the idea of this sort of class, at all. But because of it's similarity to blue mage, it would be pointless to deny that similarity.
That should be embraced instead, make it a full on Mystic Knight/Blue Mage combo, like Astrologian has embraced time mage.