blue mage and NG+

[TheMightyMollusk]

Blue mage can't do NG+ because it can't do the MSQ normally.

[LauraAdalena]

It wasn't promoted as a solo job, they just failed to clarify what they intended to do with it.

I have this portion of the slide ready at any time I see this now.

[Reinha]

feels like a missed opportunity

The whole job feels like a missed opportunity.

[frostmagemari]

I dont know why people perpetuate that it wasnt promoted as a solo job, they literally had a big ass slide saying designed for solo play/ not suited for parties

I don't know how you could take that tagline as anything but as BLU being intended as a solo job.

<image>
I have this portion of the slide ready at any time I see this now.

I might keep this for that purpose too.

[linay]

I have this portion of the slide ready at any time I see this now.

One possible explanation would be it's designed for solo play more than any other job (faster leveling in open world, masked carnival, perhaps being able to solo certain duties at level), but it's not designed only for solo play, and it's not suited for parties due to limitations (not being able to match make or do certain contents due to level cap).

[Iscah]

I dont know why people perpetuate that it wasnt promoted as a solo job, they literally had a big ass slide saying designed for solo play/ not suited for parties

That was still in the early stages of development. Things change.

Have they ever talked about it being a solo job since all the details came out? Or are you all just determined to hold them to a concept that they haven't talked about in years and clearly aren't trying to implement?

If they kept saying "it's a solo job... and here's another twenty skills you'll need to learn from group content", it would make sense to complain about it. But holding up the same old slide and asking why they aren't following it... well, clearly they aren't, and they're not intending to. Bringing it up over and over just gets tedious.

Maybe they'd only designed the Masked Carnivale when they wrote that slide, and hadn't decided how the skills were going to be learned.

[linay]

Or are you all just determined to hold them to a concept that they haven't talked about in years and clearly aren't trying to implement?

To be fair, it has not been years as it was only last year. But, yes, it could be an early design that they're moving away from. That said, it was mere months between announcement and release and they could've said something if there was a shift in design, so I think my explanation above has some validity.

[Archangelus]

If they showed signs of being made into a real party job, then yeah I sure wouldn't point back that slide of them advertising it as a solo job. After all, I found the initial idea of an entire job relegated into being a mere solo mini-game to be a stupid idea to begin with. But that still isn't happening either, they'd repeatedly stated they have absolutely no intentions of making Blue Mage a real job, so what IS their plans for Blue Mage to be, and for whom, cause right now it exists in a limbo state of neither the solo job it was advertised nor the real party capable job that it should have been to begin with. So what is the end goal for BLU here?

The fact that it can't even do the most basic solo content in the game, the MSQ, is laughable at best for something that once claimed to be solo focused.

[linay]

The fact that it can't even do the most basic solo content in the game, the MSQ, is laughable at best for something that once claimed to be solo focused.

As I said earlier, there would be no point in being able to do MSQ when BLU is limited in level. It's not something you can depend on to progress through the MSQ, especially since the MSQ contains dungeons and trials, making it even less efficient to do on a job that cannot queue.

[LauraAdalena]

One possible explanation would be it's designed for solo play more than any other job (faster leveling in open world, masked carnival, perhaps being able to solo certain duties at level), but it's not designed only for solo play, and it's not suited for parties due to limitations (not being able to match make or do certain contents due to level cap).

While that is a logical conclusion to make, you have to keep in mind you needed a group to get any of the primal spells or some of the later dungeon spells making that a moot point. However, here's the problem I have with your statement: While obviously the emphasis is on "only" the sentence "but it's not designed only for solo play, and it's not suited for parties due to limitations." Then why even say "not suited for parties" if it's not designed "only" for solo play?

I'm actually more willing to believe the person who followed you:

That was still in the early stages of development. Things change.

Yes! They do! But at the moment its a mis-mashed confused mess between whether it's solo or not. It's designed with death spells and stuff in mind but balanced and encourages party play. Which is it? Is it trying to be different and solo?

Have they ever talked about it being a solo job since all the details came out? Or are you all just determined to hold them to a concept that they haven't talked about in years and clearly aren't trying to implement?

To answer your questions: 1. No, but have they talked about moving away from the solo stuff and more towards parties? Not really either.

2. Here's the thing. It's not just a "they said this" it's also an "look how it's designed" thing. It discourages partying up until high level or until you need an ability from a leveling dungeon (or just wait until you can solo that dungeon as BLU by outleveling it, which now means you can't get a guarunteed spell which is stupid). Then it's either the Masked Carnivale (which was sidelined this patch for the most part), then it's like "Alright you need a party for all these skills" when you've been fine solo and now the Blue Log which just encourages parties. If this is party content why isn't the Masked Carnivale now just class instances? If it's solo content why are you encouraging partying up? SE hasn't given a definitive answer either way except, you guessed it, in that slide portion I posted.

If they kept saying "it's a solo job... and here's another twenty skills you'll need to learn from group content", it would make sense to complain about it. But holding up the same old slide and asking why they aren't following it... well, clearly they aren't, and they're not intending to. Bringing it up over and over just gets tedious.

Honestly, this is where I stop thinking you're actually saying an opinion about the class and more just tired of hearing about Blue Mage and tired of people expressing they wish it was more solo. I don't care if you think it's tedious, and many people don't find it tedious. I didn't find it tedious when I kept talking about Eureka every time it got patched in. Now Eureka, that was tedious (I know it wasn't a funny joke if you even read it as one, which you probably didn't). The reason I don't is because I'm not just holding up a single slide and saying "why not solo content" I'm asking questions. I'm asking, "Push it one way or the other, don't leave us in the dark or try to walk the line. Balance it for party content and give us a full class or make it your solo limited-content thing." And the big thing that a lot of people see is that if they keep pushing this Blue Mage party stuff and keep balancing it like it's party content, why is it not a fully fleshed-out class? Hell, people have even created rotations for Blue Mage now. Something they said they wouldn't have in the class because they weren't sure how that would work if it would at all. In case you haven't guessed it: It's not tedious because we want to enjoy this content. If we didn't care we wouldn't be so passionate on making the class what se wee as enjoyable. Right or wrong, you have to accept that we love the game and want every bit of it to be great and when we don't enjoy it we talk to hopefully make it better.

Maybe they'd only designed the Masked Carnivale when they wrote that slide, and hadn't decided how the skills were going to be learned.

Nah nah nah nah. That was when they announced how the skills were going to be learned. Don't walk into a discussion with "maybes" and "perhapses" if you don't know the whole context. That slide was a part of the second fan fest, when the first they had announced the class the second they dove deep into exactly what it would be. Including how they'd learn skills, what to expect from it, why they chose this, and the first tease of The Masked Carnivale. While you did a commendable effort trying to rationalize without the context, you can also easily look up the Fan Fest to get this footage since they streamed them on twitch this time and, from my recollection please correct me if I'm wrong, left the vod up for all to see.