Thinking about it... Has Square been prepping for April Fool's?

[Aramina]

Anyone else got an inkling this is a setup?

Not even a little bit. I know we want to try to stretch things as far as we can to make it seem like we really aren't going without a healer, but I think it is time to face reality.

[Bongaboi]

I am sure a big [sic] announcement will take place on Apr. 1. My popped millioncorn and Ala Mhigan Salt and fermented butter is on standby.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

I am sure a big [sic] announcement will take place on Apr. 1. My popped millioncorn and Ala Mhigan Salt and fermented butter is on standby.

I will both Love and Hate that.
No matter how you view it, or no matter what side of the argument your on....either
-A- You'll think they Bent the knee for the loud Minority
or
-B- Think you won because you complained
So even if you are part of Camp
-C- They had this planned the whole time, April 1st was around the corner and the perfect time to bait and switch

It will still be an A vs B argument...which will just cause more chaos.

[Fawkes]

They'll probably just change our forum avatars to Viangaas, or show a fake scene of the new Dad of Light movie where Yoshi plays the drunk uncle.

[Greven]

It would be a big release if they say no male viera and new healer were April fools

[hasana]

- The long-anticipated Dancer's a DPS despite historically doing (de-)buffs more than damage

Sorry I must ask but what's your point here?
If that doesn't suit the fantasy of the dancer because it is a buff/debuff class/job it doesn't fit Tank/Healer either.
Also a dancer is obviously someone dancing which means they move their body with grace and elegance and what stat does fit better between Intel, Mind, Strength and Dexterity?

[KikoriL]

Sorry I must ask but what's your point here?

Keep in mind I care little about the actual end result of what comes out; I'm poking fun at the controversy and trying to spark jokes like those on the first page.

But being serious? The healer trinity currently has White Mage filling gaps in health bars, Scholar preventing gaps in health bars, and Astrologians tilting to fit the missing hole. All three are ranged offense when it's their turn to DPS.
If we assume Lyse's new poses and garbs were the precursor for Dancer's style (which many people I know did), we could have looked forward to a very unique take on a healer: Melee, likely building dance-related energy as their gauge via damage being done, with a focus on versatile (de-)buffs as their trick instead of healing big numbers or preventing damage. To say (de-)buffs don't fit the Healer job is to ignore their prior history of slowing, sleeping, and crippling stats of foes before retools of skill distribution. I'd personally love to spend 20 Dance Gauge points to lower a boss' Strength by 20% during its tank buster cast before spending 20 more to boost the party's crit rate against it.
Pipe dream, though.

The main attribute question can be asked of almost any job. Monks don't merely punch through armor, they nimbly strike weak points. Bards don't merely move their hands quickly, they use strength to draw bowstrings back at unreasonable speeds. I'd wager it's Intelligence that lets a Scholar or Summoner understand the inner workings of biochemical warfare in spells. And if a Gunblade so much as shoots one single bullet, it opens the door for crying, "That's DEX!"
If we want more realistic attribute distribution, though, we'll play D&D.

[Andevom]

- The long-anticipated Dancer's a DPS despite historically doing (de-)buffs more than damage

Historically? Dancer isn't even all that common a job in the series, and in XI, I'd be floored if anyone ever seriously said "We have a DNC, we're set with heals". Other games make the job almost like a berserker, where dancing completely disables your ability to control the character, and certainly not a source of reliable heals (and that sure as hell wouldn't work in an MMO). It's like people think any job that had some healing abilities in the past should automatically be made full fledged healers in XIV.

Dancer as a ranged physical DPS makes more sense, since we've only got two of those right now.

[Astril]

I wish it were.
But i'm pretty sure its all legit. It'd be an awful lot of money and time to waste on a mere joke.