Thread: Blue mage at patch 4.5

Originally Posted by BillyKaplan

People need to stop being amazed at backlash over new, different content. Different in and of itself doesn't make it good. And while a part of me thinks BLU might be a fascinating experience, it's not what was asked for. This is a horrible bait and switch.

You say that like the community ever agreed on what they were asking for. Some wanted a caster with Blue Mage flavored spells learned the traditional way, some wanted the traditional Blue Mage design where you learned abilities and could switch them out.

And while you're right that different in and of itself doesn't make it good, you and others seem to have already made your decision that because it is different that it is, in and of itself, bad...solely because it doesn't match what you were expecting. You haven't even played it, nor tried the content being designed for it, and have already proclaimed your judgment and thrown it in the trash.

Also, bait and switch? That would require them not having been upfront that it was different from the moment they announced it. If they had acted like it was going to be a traditional class and then explained as this version, that would be bait and switch. Within seconds of the trailer ending, they were explaining that it was the first "limited job" and would have an initial lower level cap, which immediately set the expectation that it would work differently. There was no time for them to bait you on this, much less then switch.

So while I'm not surprised that some of ya'll are getting uppity and going for the backlash route on this, I have no problem calling you out for your backlash being unreasonable and honestly childish.

Originally Posted by SilverObi

Having KO abilities instead do massive damage to more important enemies is a thing in RPGs. Particularly to show how badass the enemy is that DEATH only hurts it.

Then a resistance to Death would be needed, and much much more to balance those abilities in a duty environment. SE realized that, and shoved the Blue Mage into a special corner for this to keep it true to its design.

(Did you know that Level 5 death already exists, by the way? Gubal Library NM has those book monsters who cast it occasionally. And it does kill level 60 characters, while level 59 ones are spared.)

I'm very optimistic about BLU. It's different, and people always say the formula is stale. Well, enjoy! They're doing something different.

I think that if the Gunblade class is a tank, and the class after that is a healer, and the one DPS is BLU, that will help balance things out a bit and give the majority something to focus on.

Originally Posted by Arrius

Then a resistance to Death would be needed, and much much more to balance those abilities in a duty environment. SE realized that, and shoved the Blue Mage into a special corner for this to keep it true to its design.

(Did you know that Level 5 death already exists, by the way? Gubal Library NM has those book monsters who cast it occasionally. And it does kill level 60 characters, while level 59 ones are spared.)

Have it be coded as a status (is KO a status technically already?) and have them resist it like they do sleep, paralyze, stun etc

I am still mixed, but less pessimistic than I was.
The "solo" play was an expectation, previous interviews from like 2014 suggested that if they were to do Blue Mage, that's what they'd do.
But the fact you can do premades could be a fair pay off. It looks like they want to go full out on a proper Blue Mage experience, but recognise the draw backs of doing that. It looks like they've taken some cues from FFXI on how to manage it and I loved my FFXI BLU. So I expect the job itself will be good fun to play and I'd still be able to do content with friends on it and possibly party finder. I just can't queue. I figure at least with a premade people consent to the state of the BLU in their party, so it's not impeding on anybody. But my concern is in how it plays out for content and how it grows.

For me it'll be wait and see, I love Blue Mage, I have wanted this for ages. I am glad it is a real Blue Mage, I just hope it doesn't get shafted.

Originally Posted by Koss_Nottoris

This iteration of BLU is absolutely perfect and the only viable way they could translate it into an MMO setting. Its unique and sheer perfection. Wonderful job dev team! Ignore the crying, continue on!

FFXI had Blue Mage and it had access to the same level cap as all other jobs and wasn't banned from doing content based on its design.

Also fighting overworld enemies in ff14 is not fun in anyway and they dont have access to the variety of abilities compared to their 11 counterpart so I don't see how this will be enjoyable content.

It could have work.
If solo content was more interesting and engaging.
But it's not.
Leveling with trash mob isn't even something you do with other classes, yet, that's something common on MMO, but not in FFXIV.

It looks like a sandbox job. It looks fun time to time, then you forget it.
Disappointed of course.

They could have make blue mage work on every content by putting some restriction on some monster skills. Overworld, you can use everything, on its dedicated content as well, not in raid and all.
So it could have had a "rotation" on more streamline content.

And the excuse "do you have each skill for this content", see the restriction above.
Besides, you don't let a blue mage queue on duty finder with no skill. Since we know he can have 49... well, just be sure you can't queue until you've learned them all so they don't come naked lol.

Originally Posted by Rita1989

FFXI had Blue Mage and it had access to the same level cap as all other jobs and wasn't banned from doing content based on its design.

Apples, meet oranges.

FFXI combat design was wildly different than what we have here.