Quote Originally Posted by Enkidoh View Post
it basically became not "mix and match Jobs to your heart's content", but more "find the sub that gives the best benefit to your main Job and only use that", specifically stat increases and especially abilities that it could use.
This is true, but it was actually made even worse when coupled with the skill-up system. If it wasn't bad enough that taking BLM as a subjob only gave you BLM's spell set up to level 37 (later 49), but you couldn't even cast THOSE spells effectively because your Black Magic skill was ALSO capped to what it would be at level 37. Fire III might not be a top-tier nuke, but it could still be useful as a bit of DPS between Cure spells, or during periods of immunity to physical attacks - if not for the fact that the low Black Magic skill meant enemies resisted it into the single digits. Therefore, you equipped BLM for Stun, Warp, and if your job happened to have Enfeebling skill, Sleepga.

The same went for weapon proficiency. DRG sub to let you use spears for some piercing damage? Sorry, your Polearm skill is capped to the point where you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

While it's true that everything would boil down to one "best" subjob for any given job, there was potential to make certain subjobs situationally uesful. The skill system killed many combinations that could have been interesting and useful, even if they wouldn't have been generally optimal.

Yeah, the FFXI subjob system was pretty deeply flawed. While I think the system has promise conceptually, in practice I wouldn't say that FFXI did it right.

Quote Originally Posted by Kazrah View Post
That was the cross-class system pre-SB. It worked for a little bit, but it was much worse with that "illusion of choice" problem than the current role system.
Particularly since so many of the available cross-class skills were ludicrously unuseful. PLD can cross-class CNJ's Cure - but thanks to low MND, cures for only a couple hundred HP. DRG can cross class MRD's Skull Sunder - but why would DRG want an Enmity-generating tool, especially when not able to combo it for extra damage? Many jobs were LUCKY if they could pick five useful skills out of the set available to them.