What if we got the Sub-Job System in FFXIV?

[Shurrikhan]

Can't like this quote hard enough.

Anyway, devs have be so opposed to the "subclass" idea that there have been stated plans to remove base classes from the game just to make the job system simpler.

Also OP, please don't pull that "but more options" line, because that just creates another illusion of choice that led to the role ability system we have today.

I'd be fine with being forced to become the job to continue, but the idea of starting as a Paladin when it's supposed to be an insular sect of historic palace guards who are fairly untrusting of outsiders, or as part of an ancient nigh-extinct order of spellweaver is... off-putting to say the least.

But you walk an incredibly thin line with that last comment. As a warrant, that scarcely differs in essence from even the idea of having multiple jobs. Is anything but the meta an illusion of choice (despite, even, that meta redefining itself at times)? Or are those outliers just victims of poor balance, rather than development time apparently all just spent on smoke and mirrors?

I'll agree that intentionally situational skills that nonetheless have no real narrowing factor beyond the loss of maybe Second Wind in certain fights are pure bloat, an illusion of choice at best, even, but to imply that any and all options are fated to meet the same end is ridiculous. Such is no more an illusion of choice than one's choice of job-- a compromise, perhaps, to a given player within a certain composition on a certain fight within a certain patch, but more importantly just a failure on the developers' part to appropriately balance jobs around flavor, rather than niche, or to at least allow fights to be attempted by varying compositions of said niches. That's not some inevitability: it's a screw-up. And it can therefore be remedied.

Personally, I couldn't care less about sub-jobs or the like at this point, simply because the game has virtually nothing to support or contextualize character development outside of the generic face of "WoL, slayer of gods and fetcher of wine", but if that context actually existed, I would love to have more available to me by which to create my own character. There just isn't presently the battle, lore, dialogue, pacing, content openness, or virtually any other form of context to warrant it. This game is as barebones, if not more so, than most one-class-per-character MMOs in that regard.