FFXIV: Limited Job and why it doesn't work

[_Koneko_]

you can't use basic instinct with others though its for solo only and without it the class feels very weak without endlessly weaving buffs into some super long dps combo

[DarkDaifuku]

The reward for BLU is not too attractive/worth the time invested in.
As much as I would love to work on getting the morbol, that also need another 7 players, which is not that easy to find after the first period of time.
And there is not much reward in between.

[MyakotApelsia]

IMO, if they want to turn blue mage normal, they should first finally make an option in duty finder that makes your abilities stay when syncing down.

One of blu features right now is that its the only job in the game that doesn't get gutted when syncing to any level. I can get set of 70lvl spells, bring them to alexander and still have as much fun playing it on 60, as i do on 70.
Turning blu into normal job will make it commit sudoku on sync-down as well, leaving 0 options for players to play old extreme/savage content synced without any penalties.

And before you mention unreals - come back when they stop removing previous unreals from the game every time patch hits. As of now, they only partially do that function
And before you say that extreme/savage doesnt matter - well, yikes but alright.

Another part is that blue being not a standart job makes people do some otherwise considered "weird" things in hard group content, like staying low health for revenge blast. It gets some more juice out of existing content, which i assume would be somewhat, if not barely, taken care of if df setting is introduced. Jobs do play differently after all.
(also current blue mage is one of the most fun things i did in shadowbringers, and i'm not the only one, but oh well)

[Brightamethyst]

IMO, if they want to turn blue mage normal, they should first finally make an option in duty finder that makes your abilities stay when syncing down.

That is an exceptionally terrible idea. Low level content is designed around not having higher level abilities available. I for one am super cool with not needing my full rotation on level 24 trash mobs that die in 6 seconds.

[MyakotApelsia]

That is an exceptionally terrible idea. Low level content is designed around not having higher level abilities available. I for one am super cool with not needing my full rotation on level 24 trash mobs that die in 6 seconds.

I never said it needs to be default thing. We have option that lets us force only highest dungeons when we are premade, same thing would apply here. If you are premade or undersized, you can go down without losing your skills, maybe with exp penalty applied like when you unsync.

And also, there are more things that are just dungeons in the game. There are people that want to experience coils synced surprisingly, but nobody wants to actually do it, part of which is because you have like half of your abilities.

[Mariel_Crystallie]

Well let's take aside about BLU ( I understand since for now BLU the only limited job right now ) , what I really want is no more Limited Job ever again... since BLU already "sort of" failed in end game content right now. Please SE just remove the limited job system and stop wasting your resource to half baked content... BLU really have many potential to become normal job , now they just become clown in Eorzea and I don't want see another clown joining the club with "Limited Job" on their title...

[Shougun]

Personally I think blue mage still needs polish but the recent 60 and 70 spells show a significantly more interesting side of blue mage, and given the rebalance to happen soon also opens up a better position for blue mage in the long term by suggesting blue mage is the new 'do it overpowered by yourself, when its a bit old, content' (as devs suggested unsync may not be as powerful after they change things).

Polish being things like making 1 to 50 spells more interesting overall, like the quality of 60 to 70 spells, taking away and adjusting, imo, unfun mechanics (self stun is just... ... lol, at least make it far shorter, or like a blink with a cast time and short distance is only useful in hyper specific niche cases.. that's not great isn't that fun to 'use'), while overall adjusting the growth of blue mage because yes basic instinct does let you get the majority of spells solo but it still suffers a horrible growth experience if you do so and by that I mean you have to hit max level with a quite uninteresting (read boring) set of skills so you can then go back with the 'chance' at getting interesting spells while using the boring kit. It really shouldn't be that way, they should organize out some skills to lower levels (can use carnival or new skills, adjusted 1 to 50 skills, or new monsters that use those skills). That polishing could probably also include boosting basic instinct such that it has both tank and healer stance, as heal spam isn't really an ideal gameplay style either (you might consider all three stances, perhaps like level 60 or 70 'primal instinct' which adds all three, but the boost to damage might be 'too much').

That said a normal blue mage would likely be a job I'd enjoy as well lol. But I don't enjoy taking away content from others and I still see the potential for the limited concept (like being able to clear old content unsync, especially as we're going to lose some power in that department soon). Which is why I push generally for "both" (aka advanced job, rather than just limited or just normal). If they improve the growth, general gameplay (good in many places but certain skills feel very .. "ew", like self stun is just an ew mechanic I think lol), and continue to support the strong solo ability I do see an opportunity for myself to use blue mage even though I generally look unfavorably at PF (it's useful and I see it's value, I just personally don't want to wait for my groups in a lobby like setting and especially for a content where waiting has a very high chance out of FOTM).

Edit: wanted to add while agree with some and disagree with some overall just liked to say I see a lot of effort was put into the post and recognize that effort, the passion is pretty clear!

[AC9Breaker]

I like Blue Mage the way it is now.

[TheMightyMollusk]

I like BLU as it is, I just wish I had more reason to actually use it.

[MarsAstro]

I don't have the patience to watch 1+ hours of this, so I read the first few pages of your script and I think I've seen all I need to see.

Your arguments fall incredibly flat to me. With most of your issues, my immediate response is simply: "Why is that a problem, though?". The only justification you seem to be giving for most of your issues is that BLU isn't up to par when you compare it to what other jobs can do. But why on earth would you compare it to normal jobs, when it's not at all trying to be like them? It's its own separate content trying to do something different and its own thing, just like Gold Saucer is, and just like what Island Sanctuaries will be. You're expecting Limited Jobs to be something they aren't, something they're not trying to be.

If you don't enjoy the gameplay, that's totally fine, but you're seemingly claiming it's inherently flawed and can never work in an MMO solely because it isn't similar to, or tied to, the main gameplay loop. You're not really arguing that BLU and Limited Jobs don't work, what you're actually arguing is that BLU and Limited Jobs aren't like normal jobs and you don't like that. If you treat it like a normal job, of course you'll be disappointed, because it's not a normal job. I also saw you mention replayability and rewards, but again, this is not the main gameplay loop. It doesn't need to be highly replayable or rewarding, it's totally fine for it to be a finite thing that you play for fun and then put away until new content comes out.

Personally, I like BLU and I hope they make more limited jobs. Why? Because I like collecting things and completing logs in video games, which is clearly what BLU is supposed to be about. It's a mini-game about spell collection and log-completion, and it has some one-time currency rewards as an added incentive as you complete those logs. It's also great for when you need to grind old FATEs for relics, as it's powerful, flexible and syncing doesn't affect its kit.

If you don't like BLU, that's totally fine. You don't have to like this content, you don't have to like all the content in this game. I'm sure you're not spending very much time with Mahjong or Lords of Vermillion either. Different strokes for different folks. As this is an MMORPG you're just going to have to be fine with the game having a wide variety of content that doesn't necessarily all appeal to you.