Quote Originally Posted by Sqwall View Post
There is one thing that I have always held true to this day ever since 4.0 and 5.0 launched. Monk is not fun to play. It's exhausting to play optimally. It's mechanics are old and tired. It's damage is tied HEAVILY to the party, and RNG. And has been "redrafted" every expac since. Monk needs a MCH hail mary play at this point. If they did that they job would be perfect since I think MCH is a blast to play. I don't think I could EVER go back to the way MCH played before....yikes.

I feel deeply about monk as it was my first DPS I started and just have to shake my head at all the "fixes" everyone keeps coming up with. FFS the job just needs to be fun! I don't care about optimal at this point, and that can be figured out later. But first and foremost the job has got to be fun! Otherwise what's the point.
While I'm inclined to agree with much of this, just as much of it reeks of subjective generalities sold as hard facts or your preferences as everyone's.

"Exhausting to play optimally" is exactly why I've mostly loved Monk, despite its clunk, for 4 iterations of the game. It takes a more out of you than most other jobs, but that's why I enjoyed it. It was one of the few jobs I could end a 3-hour prog night on tired but not bored after the same guy has wiped us for the 10th time to one of the same few mechanics.

Its damage being "tied heavily to the party, and RNG" is a fact, but is clearly not essential to its kit; after all, as you've just said, the core of its mechanics "are old". Brotherhood and Deep Meditation, by comparison, are not. And Brotherhood and Deep Meditation's exact implementations, not even their concepts, are the only reason their damage is tied to the party or RNG at all.

Its having "been 'redrafted' every expac since" clearly isn't a big deal if its mechanics are "old and tired." Pick one.

And compare that to 5.x MCH. You may love it, but many a MCH veteran despises it. I didn't even main MCH, but I greatly enjoyed the way it played in 3.x and 4.x and now find it dull as dirt. It's functional, sure, but there's nothing unique to it outside of an even more ping-punishing Rapid Fire Hypercharge that's been reduced to minimal forethought. I would GLADLY go back to the way MCH played before, provided Heat wasn't a half-assed mechanic this time.

Quote Originally Posted by Sqwall View Post
I feel deeply about monk as it was my first DPS I started and just have to shake my head at all the "fixes" everyone keeps coming up with. FFS the job just needs to be fun!
But, do you even bother reading them? Take the "fix" from just a page ago. Positioning is greatly eased up due to being able to run Double-Boot alongside Double-True. There is incredibly little party-tied damage -- too little to hold Brotherhood for. There is zero RNG.

Yes, it needs to be fun, but fun is going to differ for different people. You may love basic, functional jobs like MCH, but not everyone who plays Monk is going to be willing to give up all that --clunk, RNG, or party-dependence aside-- required more from Monk.

I for one would rather fix Monk for the best it's been, with anything that detracts from that replaced, than gut and replace Monk's kit as a whole with some template "functions gud with big exploders" playstyle.