Did the devs lie to us? Either actually make BLU OP, or unlock it

[JohnSpawnVFX]

Only see people here refuting this slide.

[QT_Melon]

Only see people here refuting this slide.

Ehh.

No we're refuting statements that someone said it wasn't for solo play and not to mention that slide afterwards. I actually was watching the fanfest when they presented those slides. Slde #2 in the context of how to level it up and options to get spells. Clearly by the emotes it's saying what's most optimal on how to play it. The first slide was most definitely in context the overview of with Blue Mage was intended to be.

So people are refuting 2 things.

That Blue Mage was not intended to be solo. Slides shows otherwise
That the progression slide supported the argument that it was intended for group content . Look at the emotes and watch the live letter for context please.

It was probably the quietest part of Fanfest. People were cheering more loudly on the flavor text of a fish :/

[TheRamosOnline]

Without trying to speedrun it, I finished all of the BLU content in the first 3 days, achievements and all.

Is this it? Is this all BLU is? Sure they said they're gonna add new spells and Carnival stages, maybe the new spells are what break BLU, but in that case why not include them in the base spell selection? A small part of me hopes, wishes, that they released BLU in its current state to see if players would be happy with it or not, and then will make adjustments to make the job unlimited by the time of Shadowbringers.

But I know it isn't going to happen. They've made this strange bed, and they're gonna keep laying in it, regardless of what we want. It comes off as a "You'll enjoy what we make" sort of attitude.
BLU is Solo "because we said so".
BLU is overpowered "because we said so".
We can't balance BLU "because we said so".
BLU can't play on the roulette "because we said so".

None of the reasons given actually hold up, it all boils down to "because we said so".

[QT_Melon]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...811-29-2018%29 (with the slides)

So you can watch it for yourselves.

Highlighting it specifically.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post4829920

Emphasis Mine:

We believe one of the unique traits of the blue mage is the ability to learn and use the monster's abilities that could potentially break the balance of the game. In order to bring out this uniqueness as much as possible, we have made the Blue Mage into a Limited Job that can be enjoyed alone. By Learning, you can enjoy collecting the abilities and also mixing abilities for different situations. The concept behind the blue mage in FFXIV was based on making these three core features possible.

Blue Mage is the first "Limited Job" coming to FFXIV. A Limited Job is a job that is meant to be enjoyed in a solo environment and is not suited for parties.

[Saefinn]

I've been thinking on this. I think this dilemma is resolveable without SE having to change a lot. It seems the execution of SE's goals was: group content for spells, solo content for Carnivale. I think they can embrace this distinction and give longer lasting BLU content that's more interesting than leeching and gives Carnivale more longevity.

• Spells from level 50 content cannot be obtained if undersized
• The drop rate of spells for level 50 content is increased (especially for primals, they will definitely need a big boost). EX should give a higher drop rate than HM. So there's an incentive for the EX fights over HM.
• Add new Duty Finder options specific to Limited Jobs - a roulette or DF option for the level 50 dungeons with spells in them, Primals will need to be PF'd.
• Add a new tier to Masked Carnivale, have fights that require spells from level 50 content (if they have limited resources for this, hard mode versions of the existing ones). Give rewards useful for level 70 main jobs. This tier would pose bigger challenges to you.
• To complete this tier 100% you will need to have collected all level 50 Blue Mage spells. You get a special achievement & reward for completion

I think this would do the following:

• Open more content to Blue Mages. Rather than have them leech, which is boring.
• Offer something to those who want to do group content on BLU and have it feel like content.
• Make the Solo Content the end focus. Have it be challenging and not lose relevent after a couple of hours. Give more incentive to repeat fights. And completing it 100% will take time and offer a sense of achievement at the end
• Give extra love to old content, those who're nostalgic or joined the game too late can enjoy it. ARR had some great endgame content.

[QT_Melon]

I'd rather be able to solo content like they showed in the trailers and presentation kthx.


I mean it would have made it more different and what they intended, specially since some of the spells are rather comical. What you're proposing above feels more like the same problem with just a bit of polish, which still is an issue.

[Saefinn]

I think this is where conflicting views on 'what Blue Mage should be' come in. And I think there will be the challenge of trying to balance how they are pleasing people, I'm in the "I prefer to group up with it" corner. My suggestion above was made with the frame of mind of making changes that would not require much work or effort on SE's part that could accommodate both and help with the "lack of content" problem. Whilst I think there will be better fleshed out solutions out there than this, but I am not used to seeing SE come back with fleshed out fixes. Unfortunately SE contradicted themselves asone moment it's "solo and not suited for parties" then it's "you'll find yourself partying in instance duties for some spells". But I've ended up interpreting their contrary statements to mean "you group for to learn some spells, but the job is built for its solo content" and in practice that's how it has ended up, but with other issues on top.

But a modification on my suggestion may be to add soloable versions of the Primal Fights to the Carnivale, but keep the challenge level appropriate and make adjustments for solo to be possible (Titan Ex for example, the gaol mechanic will kill you if you have nobody to break you out). There could also be a chance to learn the spell, so 'solo versus group' becomes a choice. At least then those who like the solo concept behind it, could solo Shiva as implied by the trailer. I think the solo version should have a lower drop rate than EX primal, but possibly the same or similar level as a HM primal (if going by my last post) as EX will be harder, likely result in more wipes and in some cases require learning parties.

[QT_Melon]

The point is they advertised and stressed something else, it's not about Easy Work to change longevity. It's about keeping to what you advertised

None of what you posted no matter how well intentioned is solving that.

That is where I am being critical.

[Saefinn]

What I posted wasn't just to address your complaint, but also on topic for the thread.

What they did was contradict themselves.

They said Blue Mage progression included "Forming Parties and Undertaking Instanced Duties"
They also said as you quoted: "Blue Mage is the first "Limited Job" coming to FFXIV. A Limited Job is a job that is meant to be enjoyed in a solo environment and is not suited for parties."

I get that creates room for misunderstanding and confusion. When I was watching the live letter I scratched my head at it and incidentally took any "solo job" claims with a pinch of salt, because what hadn't been answered is "in what aspect is it a solo job?" if our progression may rely on grouping up.

But their statements are not completely inaccurate. Blue Mage progression relies on forming parties (exp & learning spells is their progression), Blue Mage can be enjoyed alone (this is what their solo arena is for) and if the Masked Carnivale is intended as Blue Mage's content, then it is a solo job in this respect. Masked Carnivale was also advertised as Blue Mage solo content at the time. This leaves me to believe what they meant was "Blue mage is not suitable for traditional parties", as they've seemingly built it around the Masked Carnivale. So what I suggested isn't just about longevity, but trying to make the contradiction work better.

That leaves the Blue Mage reveal trailer. I think it the trailer was sloppy, whether it was their intention, I don't know. "Sloppy" has been a theme, perhaps Ilberd was foreshadowing something...so it could be incompetance or human error rather than shenanigans.

[XiXiQ]

I think BLU should have DF access at least - but rather than them put into normal parties, the BLUs can be matched together. So, if you queue for Haukke Manor, Aurum Vale, etc as a BLU, you get matched with all BLUs. They could even do the roulette as well, same matching. That way, BLUs aren't interfering with the normal party formation, but still have a way to get into duties.