Quote Originally Posted by Gemina View Post
And no, not all jobs are created equal, and a current issue we do have with the game is SEs attempts to homogenize the jobs within a given role. Everyone does have the responsibility of contributing as much damage as possible, but tanks and healers have other responsibilities as well. And we can continue this 'DPS or heals first' debate if you wish, but that is even more redundant than the healer DPS debate, which has been buried for a long time now.
Things are getting a little heated here and we're deviating from the topic, so I'll say...
You call my position petty, sure, but I ask you to look at the greater meaning. This title of "Pure healer" that we've been shackled to this expansion, after seeing a so-called "pure healer" in Stormblood WHM (which I then proceeded to not play, because I'm not into that,) is... Well, Pure Healer. Renaming the role "Healer", to fit its actual in-game playstyle, means dropping the "healer" part of "pure healer." That pretty much calls for a formal divorce from the illusion that FF14 is a game where you can play a pure healer, and (while playing a pure healer) be a highly effective member of your party. If I'm able to keep preventable deaths at 0, while also pumping out damage that shaves seconds / minutes off the fight's duration, I'm more effective, right?
Healer design principles are not vibin' with healer playstyles or healer-PoV encounter design at all. The name isn't helping. Officially changing its name to reflect its playstyle, and dropping this nonsense where everyone is forced to be a "pure healer" even when they just want to be an effective healer, would show a level of understanding not shown to the role since the dropping of Accuracy and the addition of Stoneskin II... And I think that is something sorely needed right now. Does that put things in a more understandable perspective?