Two Months of BLU: Discuss!

[JunseiKei]

It wouldn't have mattered as much because people wouldn't be complaining about the lack of the "limited job" system we have now, if it never existed, they would just be speaking about a different implementation that didn't foresee the "limited job" to exist as is. And if it's balance, it still doesn't matter because there will always be problems with balance in every game forever and ever.

In the end though, if it really didn't matter and people would complain anyway, there would have been no need to reduce an iconic job into a "limited job" only experience that goes nowhere.

Trying to reinvent the wheel has already bitten other games in the back, again look at WoW and the backlash it received for attempting to start over again just for the sake of a "unique" and "new" experience. BLU was supposed to be a "different experience" for the sake of it when that's not what people asked for. No wonder people are upset.

IMO, limited jobs shouldn't adhere to whatever "balance" that is currently put forth into BLU. I was lead to believe it was limited because of how unbalanced it was supposed to be; you know, strong unbalanced. Not quirky and just not adhering to the trinity unbalanced.

Eh, yet players here on the forums are constantly asking for the XIV team to shake it up, from there patch cycles to requests that have lead to Eureka. Again, I'd still point out that when players first started asking for BLU, it was mentioned that they didn't think it would fit with how XIV functions. Players persisted. I don't wholly place the blame on the XIV team trying to 1) adhere to a job's identity (because due to AST chances and the majority of players not accepting AST was fine after the first balance chances, they effectively stripped WHM of an identity) and 2) tried to implement a job they didn't feel would fit into how they want to design their game but still fulfill some degree of player demands.

Just so I'm not being misunderstood, I don't agree with what was done with BLU. I just understand or sympathize with the XIV team's decisions.

[Kalise]

players here on the forums are constantly asking for the XIV team to shake it up. I'd still point out that when players first started asking for BLU, it was mentioned that they didn't think it would fit with how XIV functions.

I just understand or sympathize with the XIV team's decisions.

Well... The thing is, that there's a massive difference between "Shaking things up" and introducing pure garbage to the game.

Like, if they stopped and put in some thought about how to make BLU fit into XIV instead of just going "Whelp, I can't copy/paste every other class. Better just add a crap mini-game instead" they could have made something unique that would have shook up the status quo and fit into the game.

Literally, if they released BLU with the following:

* Experience gains from overworld increased.
* Locked from Duty Finder until level 50 (Upon learning a base set of skills, which could have easily been dictated by job quests on levels 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50. That's easily 10-30 skills right there. 1 per quest from a "Come talk to me when you've learned X", 1 per quest from fighting mob X during the quest and 1 per quest from "Hey, have this Whalaqee Totem to learn a spell")
* Learns skills from enemies. 100% learn chance.
* Balanced around a subset of skills (I.e. Ones you get told to learn/learn from job quests plus any interchangeable ones)
* Has Masked Carnivale content where there are unique mechanics involving BLU skills as side content for the job

This would have been "Different". It would have shaken things up, by being a job that not only doesn't level through the standard "Spam Duties/PotD" method, as well as having to go out and learn skills. With a unique feature that due to the different progression system, they're temporarily locked out of certain content until certain requirements are met (I.e. Someone has unlocked their core skills)

Even their bullshite excuse about BLU not being able to blast through the MSQ and start doing duties with all their skills like other classes can be countered. Simply by making the new "Mandatory" skills show up within the MSQ itself. If not required/attained through job quests. If not also making new content being more about obtaining Traits than outright new spells (Such as might be the case when button bloat starts to be designed around) with BLU merely getting new spells as its collecting side-content with some level of customization of what it uses.

At the end of the day, there have been numerous posts made with different takes on BLU and how it could have been implemented to work within XIV's systems. All of which stay true to the (Very diversely depicted) job.

All it took was spending a few minutes thinking about how to make something fit into XIV's systems. As opposed to crying about how it has to be different to other jobs and then intentionally implementing it in a crappy way out of what seems to be spite against the players who kept asking for the job.

[Anesteria]

Just so I'm not being misunderstood, I don't agree with what was done with BLU. I just understand or sympathize with the XIV team's decisions.

Fear not, I did not misinterpret your position. If anything, I didn't mean it as if I were criticising you personally, if you thought that to be the case, I apologise.

As Kalise said, the implementation could have been way better.
People like Rei, Valde, and many others who offered their input, have come up with a solution that would please the vast majority >at this point< where all that would truly be necessary would actually be for SE to put in the effort.
The only reason one could take away for the current situation, let me be plain here, is most likely laziness on the part of SE. Although Kalise suggested "spite", well it's possible if Yoshida and a couple of other devs had their personal reservations.

To me it seems like BLU was just, and pardon my expression, spat out for the sake of cheap content (and cheap it was since it didn't last a second) so close are we to Shadowbringers and they bring BLU out to advertise it.

There are things that you simply can't do much about, achieving the perfect balance is impossible and both playerbase and companies need to stop going for an all-or-nothing on this regard.
In the same vein, if a business plans to keep adding classes (whatever the genre, MOBAs come to mind) these are going to have their impact and the more you add, the harder it is going to be to make everyone fit WITH their own identity.
Which is why I find it quite appalling that they decide to bring in the Gunbreaker as a FULL job, and then SE complains about the balance and class identity, when they're simply digging their own grave further by adding yet another job, following their own logic.

Nevertheless, BLU's treatment was 100% avoidable regardless. In this case, when things can be avoided, then going into them half-heartedly (limited job) can only hurt.

In essence, their excuses are a lot poorer than they appear.