Idea: Why not make a solo version of every class?

[Hyren575]

It may be a bit of extra work to balance, but here's how to make BLU easily work in party play without ruining it's identity:

You can go out and learn lots of skills. Then you set up to X number of skills into special slots, like role skills. Each ability is balanced (hence the work), but you can only bring X number of skills into a fight. This let's the player CHOOSE what they want to be. Do they want to be a tank? A healer? A dps? Or hybrid? The BLU job icon changes colour based on which role's skills have the most skills slotted. Majority tank-oriented skills? Blue icon.

In addition, BLU can maintain it's monster spell-castinf ability by simply getting hit by enemy attacks while a short shield is up, like with DRK or SAM. For Y seconds after, their shield skill changes to the skill they blocked, and they can cast it at will within that time window. These abilities are less inpactful as the manually learned skills - more akin to how SAM and DRK get a boost from blocking.

It's definitely something that could be done to work as a group, though if made solo there is ideally more that could be done since you're less concerned about party interaction. However you are right it definitely could be made to work in a party dynamic. The problem as I see it, though, is that it would be a bandaid on the larger issue of player disengagement long term. There is a limit to what you can do while concerned about party balance and even if you're not the game has simply been around too long and become too established as what it is. If blue mage was made with unique mechanics it would still be attached to the gear treadmill and overall game systems that are fostering many long time players to become bored with the game. A rework would cause too many players to quit because of things they like being changed thus causing a situation where you're pleasing one group to satisfy another and losing players regardless. I would personally love a total rework of the game, done well, that would provide a larger pool of options and builds to be done along the lines of what I presented earlier. A "Realm Reborn Reborn" if you will. Realistically, though, if they are going to do that they would probably just start work on the next FF MMO with a new system from the ground up. I would certainly be excited for that but it doesn't do much to solve the issues with the game we have now.