Ok, I want to start off by saying as I said in the title: I'm going to try not to whine.

Also, I would like to qualify this first by saying that I typically don't make comments in forums because as a developer, I have learned it is best not to read these things.

So the Job system has been a shining beacon of hope to me in this game. I give credit where credit is due, and realize this game has come a LONG way from where it was. However, (though I have not actually played the patch yet) I have some worries about the general direction it is going. Without getting in to specifics, as I realize specifics can be tweaked, I have been worrying about the implementation of the Job system for a while.

The truth is, that while there has been a lot of various hints of HOW the job system will actually work, it was not until dev1033 that I really understood the full direction. What worries me, is this:

Final Fantasy, MMO or otherwise, has always been a game that has separated itself from other series by providing a special brand of openness to a character's configurability. This was seen in FFXI as the general theme of the Aht Urghan Release was to provide characters which provided (especially in the case of BLU) the ability to really broaden your horizons with respect to how you wanted to play you character. While I realize there will always be people who will mathematically hone in to the 'Best' way to play a character, that never took from you your choices.

Because SE is choosing to use the Job system as a way to specialize your classes, I feel like expecting people to choose a specific job for Late/End-game play, really flies in the face of the concept of openness that has brought what success the series has had. I understand that there are some that really want to put a specific job to a person in a party, but I personally have never enjoyed the pigeon-holing of a person to a specific task. It was my sincere hope with this game that there would be new ways in which you could set up your character in order to make it more YOU.

While removing openness and configurability gives way to enhancement in specific areas, I can honestly say it doesn't make me want to play the new Jobs. I honestly think that removing curing abilities from a BLM to make the point that they should be magic damage oriented isn't necessary. It FEELS a little bit like the government or overprotective parents telling you how to raise your children.

"Young man, you grew up in a Thaumaturge house-hold, now you will be a full on Magic Attack BLM when you get your class-change and use your archer abilities!"

"But dad, I LIKE being able to raise and cure people in between... why can't I just use the abilities I want to use? It's my life!"
"You see? This is the kind of nonsense you get from hanging out with that Conjuror friend of yours!... We should have been Gladiators! I bet THEIR children don't try and become Pugilists!"

Also, why is it necessary to both restrict the abilities you use AND reduce the number you can equip? If you want to take all of the possibilities out of our hands, why not just make PLD a job in which you can't change anything at all? With so little choice at our disposal, and with such a keen mind to what you SPECIFICALLY want people to be doing... why not just say when you are a PLD you get these X abilities. In a very real way that is what is happening anyway.

I fully plan on trying it out before I make any final judgments, and I like to think I am generally even-handed on things. Half my job is UI/UX development, so you kind of have to be. However, I think FFXIV has a real opportunity here. If they want this game to come back around, I think that embracing the openness of the game system's possibilities is a better long-term strategy. Rather than trying to see the best way to give someone a specific job in a party, how about we put the effort (no matter how difficult) to make a plethora of equally usable abilities in abundance which allow people to choose how they want to play. In the end, people will come to their own "best-course" strategy as they always have, but the building of your character is a large part of what makes it all fun. It is the last bit of RPG in MMORPG, shouldn't we try and embrace that concept before we lose it all together?