Elemental Wheel, What's the point?

[RockVolnutt]

Switching to another job is not the solution bro, If someone wants to play this game as BLM only and that content locks them out cause the mobs are weak to everything it does is bad game balance. The elemental wheel does not add complexity at all. Cast thunder it resist it ok use fire! Man that was so hard to figure out!!!

You're saying the elemental wheel doesn't add complexity....but then use an example where you have to figure out what element type the monster is.
That's what complexity is.
I'm not trying to rag on you, but sitting there going "aduuuh i'mma cast any spell and do damage" is in no way complex.
Elements have weaknesses, which would make someone who knows the weakness of a certain mob destroy it faster.
Want to be able to have more variety? use thm and level up whm to get the other spells, if you're in a PT none of this matters anyway.
If you're too stubborn to make your character more robust to play a game mechanic, then that's your fault.
This is like saying "Why do so many Pokemon have elements? only legendaries should have them, everything else should be normal."

[Duelle]

If you're too stubborn to make your character more robust to play a game mechanic, then that's your fault.

Just because a preferred playstyle didn't matter in Final Fantasy XI does not mean it should also not matter here. If a guy wants to play BLM he should be allowed to do so with minimal penalties. I can understand something like a 2-5% difference, but outright excluding a job/class is really unacceptable by today's standards.

It'd be nice to see more MMORPGs adapt an elemental wheel themselves, really.

That's until your favorite job or class ends up getting locked out of content. I still remember how Arcane Mages and Moonkin couldn't do Karazhan runs because of the mobs in there that were resistant to arcane damage sources.

If everyone performs the same against all mobs there's no point in having different classes, in which case you could just remove all jobs from the game except one.

Ah, a modified version of the hybrid apocalypse nonsense. WoW's class balance says "hi". It is very possible to have jobs performing equally or near equally. The job system is not an excuse for not doing so.