Why is no one talking about beastmaster?

[Mhaeric]

Do we have any hard numbers on how many people actually play BLU?

https://ffxivcensus.com/




That said, I think that's the wrong question to be asking. Lots of people played Blue Mage, but the past tense is key. Once people are done with the various mini-games then they stop playing it.

[Shougun]

https://ffxivcensus.com/
That said, I think that's the wrong question to be asking. Lots of people played Blue Mage, but the past tense is key. Once people are done with the various mini-games then they stop playing it.

At least for myself, and a few others I've seen voice upset, certainly exactly that. A different question should be asked if you're evaluating reception.

When Yoshida claimed it a great success even though I saw all over NN, chat, forums, twitter, and reddit that most were disliking it (absolutely some people do like it, although I would note many of the reasons people who do like it are often reasons that could have been maintained via other permutations of blue mage / different better suited to PF focused limited jobs or better produced to their desires in a general sense), so at that I decided I would only view it instead of play it because it felt apparent to me they were using a very generic measure of success and I didn't want to contribute to that message. Being someone has leveled every job to max, and blue mage being massively easy to level it wasn't a choice from ability or lack of wanting to complete the level cap collection- in fact that's part of why I find blue mage frustrating to show up on my job pane.. I like them all maxed but I don't want to even vaguely send them the message that it's good fun (left it at 58 after reading they said it was good). Beyond forum and not touching it the only other message I can send that I think it's poorly executed is just not to pay my sub lol, and fortunately or unfortunately (?) the rest of the game is really good so... don't want to do that.

Originally even though I didn't like the news I wanted to give it an honest try (capped it right away, got all the solo spells very quickly, did much of the carnival, etc)- but hearing them call it great after seeing majority negative info (and having an bad play experience outside of the brief bit of nostalgia / wonder of casting something goofy) made me think they were using their data of play participation, so even though I found getting the teleport tickets super easy via blue mage, or slowly progression the job a tenable yet a bit painful proposition, yet not sure how else to send the message that it's not fun, especially not as fun as it should be (either limited or normal, either one) - so I stopped touching it all together (but I actively follow it to ensure I know what it can or can't do, what's peak performance, etc, which is why you can easily see even at end game depending on your role you're still way less of a job than even equally comparable jobs).

I'd keep testing it out if I was sure SE would know me playing it is not an endorsement, I prefer to test things hands on but I'll do it visually and through reading in fear they take it as an approval. Kind of wish they had an in game feedback system like some other games have "how was this mission?" etc lol. Then I could be more hands on but not muddy their participation data as appreciation.

[ReiMakoto]

https://ffxivcensus.com/




That said, I think that's the wrong question to be asking. Lots of people played Blue Mage, but the past tense is key. Once people are done with the various mini-games then they stop playing it.

With how very very easy it is to level a blue mage(literally can get it from 1 to 60 in 30mins) , using the census data there is likely to give a largly inflated result. More accuarate data would be using the lucky bancho census data to view the number of people who have completed the morbol mount achievement or such content, which paints a very very different picture (i.e. significantly less participation than even ultimate raids)

[Seraphor]

With how very very easy it is to level a blue mage(literally can get it from 1 to 60 in 30mins) , using the census data there is likely to give a largly inflated result. More accuarate data would be using the lucky bancho census data to view the number of people who have completed the morbol mount achievement or such content, which paints a very very different picture (i.e. significantly less participation than even ultimate raids)

Which I think is just as misleading, in the opposite direction. They're both extremes.

Why not compare it to how many people have completed Ultimate on any one specific job.
Comparing clear rates across 17 jobs combined, versus one job, isn't exactly balanced.
People may just not like how Blue Mage plays... just as I don't like how Summoner or Paladin play. Which is why more Limited Jobs to engage in the same content as BLU would be beneficial.
Beastmaster would even fit into the theme of arena battles in Uldah and in acquiring a Morbol as a pet, thus also gaining the Morbol Mount for lvl 60 savages.

Btw, going by your signature. Are you saying they should stop investing in PVP?

[Alleo]

... was it?
I know the forums were full of people complaining, but they always are.
They're not a good representation of anything.
Do we have any hard numbers on how many people actually play BLU?

Why should we not use the forum? Just because only a small part of the playerbase visit it does not mean that it cant show how good a content is accepted or not. Heck with stuff like Diadem the forum was right all along and when the forum (and some other sites) were on flames after Shirogane Savage the devs reacted and doubled the wards in every zone..so yes the forum is an indicator. (After all if you do statistics you also dont need all the people, just a good enough sample size)

And as others have said, you cant take numbers as the only pure fact..I have leveled blue to at least lvl 50, I still disliked it..but I would have counted as those playing it. Just like Eureka..people need to try it out for a bit to make a decision. So people playing it does not mean that they like it. There is also the problem that there is no way to tell SE what we think other than forum, reddit and other sources. So yes those sources are valuable and should not just be taken out of it because they are only used by a small amount of people. Sadly I think that SE just takes a look at the amount of players using it and take it as success...no matter if maybe some are running it just for other reasons, like certain mounts or because it makes it easier for farming fates.

[ItMe]

Why should we not use the forum? Just because only a small part of the playerbase visit it does not mean that it cant show how good a content is accepted or not.

Because people overwhelmingly post about something they're unhappy with. It's not gonna give you any more accurate a picture than the raw number of people that have BLU levelled.
For example I'm totally happy with DRK right now, but I'm not gonna make a thread being all "SQEX DRK is cool thx" because why would I? Instead the people that have issues with it just post about their issues.
Same holds true for BLU.

[Vespar]

https://ffxivcensus.com/

Given that the census information is from April, I cant say that its currently a good view of anything right now. TONS of people play DNC/GNB now. Hell, I see dancers EVERYWHERE I go and more often than any other DPS lately.
I dont know if Blue Mage is popular at all, or if its just useful right now given the whole "FATE grind" thing at the moment.

But I really doubt people were happy with Blue Mage just being a thing to be used in a mini game. 10 to 1 if you ask any BLU, they'd likely PREFER it to be a full fledged job, usable in all contents.

Snip

Very well said! I agree and admire your restraint in not capping it out. I tried BLU and got it to 16 and REFUSED to go any further with it because I absolutely detest them bringing out jobs just for use as a mini-game. If I cant use the job in all contents then its not a job! Everyone had expectations of BLU being a super cool and DIFFERENT job to finally play and then SE brought out this trash and totally buggered it up! It's not what folks wanted/expected at all!
Most folks I know who play BLU and have it capped and have beaten Masked Carnival, only did so for the rewards or completionist attitudes and not really the enjoyment of the job itself.

If they cant make a job work or fit into the context of this game then they just shouldnt bring it out. Butchering a beloved job from the series just so you can tick a box and claim its in the game, isnt a good idea!

[grinkdaboy]

check the japanese forums and see what they think about blue mage

they, for the most part, cater just to them

[Seraphor]

check the japanese forums and see what they think about blue mage

they, for the most part, cater just to them

A large part of that is the format of the feedback.
The JP forums keep everything in it's designated topic, and they voice their opinions by 'liking' the topics and posts they agree with.
In the EN forums, we all want our voice to be the one that's heard, so we make our own threads for the same damn topics on a daily basis, and it's like trying to pick out a consensus in a crowd of screaming children.

[SeikishiYuuki]

A large part of that is the format of the feedback.
The JP forums keep everything in it's designated topic, and they voice their opinions by 'liking' the topics and posts they agree with.
In the EN forums, we all want our voice to be the one that's heard, so we make our own threads for the same damn topics on a daily basis, and it's like trying to pick out a consensus in a crowd of screaming children.

This ^
In one of the interviews they said they don't read forum posts as much as they look for global trends across media. So youtube, reddit, here twitter etc and across all regions. So if Blu was doing really bad on multiple fronts they'd go do something about it. Iono if it is but chances are it isn't. Limited jobs are low impact on resources and Yoshi also recently said implementation of content is usually planned way out in advance, chances are they planned whatever they have for BST way back at the beginning of ShB and no amount of forum posts are gonna change that now. A limited tank with a trust system of pets you tamed sounds fun and a decent way to fill content caps. It doesn't have to be for everyone its just another thing to keep ppl subbed so if it get 10% more ppl to stay playing then its a success for them.