How fitting

[Anahlise_Auhn_Giinslai]

That said, I'm having trouble understanding your meaning/intent with your last comment. I don't think anyone is asking that a given capacity, especially a vague or generic one, be entirely exclusive to their job.

To start from the least demanding common denominator, most seem to want the tank jobs to feel distinct when actually playing them, without necessarily requiring that they look distinct on paper.

(Personally, that's the camp I fall under, as I feel that capacity differences, for instance, are ultimately less impactful than differences in decision-making or playflow, even if they may look more distinct "on paper".)

Others would caution that some portion of capacity, or the way they reach that capacity, may need to be mutually exclusive if we want those jobs' feeling of play to differ as above. But that's already pushing towards a specific camp, rather than a common consensus. Others would be happy enough with more eclectic ways by which a job may distinguish itself.

I agree with that as well, and agree with you, which is why I said that I think it is a bad idea. The point of my last comment is because I have seen and ran into people that think different, and want or demand that a Subclass both look and feel unique, as well as to be unique in game-play function; so I put that part into my post, as I tend to attempt to put compromises alongside my own ideas, to work with people that do not agree with me.

For the time being, we have a few different traditions among the long-standing XIV jobs: one from XIV, one from XI, and another as some sort of awkward averaging of previous franchise iterations (in which case, say, Warrior is highly tied to "Knight"... and therefore rather muddied into/with Paladin, Dark Knight is hardly distinguishable from "Mystic Knight", "Warmage", etc., etc.).

Personally, I'm of the camp that XIV is XIV, and shouldn't short itself just to retain alignment with previous iterations, which are themselves rather jumbled or painfully barebone. But that is, again, one of multiple camps, just as are those who would seem to find XI iterations sacrosanct, and likely any movie an inherent failure if/when --in taking advantage of the new medium and opportunities presented to it-- it differs from its source work.

I have never played nor even seen FFXI, so I have no idea, to be honest... And I sit half-way into both "camps", I suppose. I can agree that new ideas are good and that FFXIV aught to have its own themes going for it, and not just to take ideas from else-where and copy and paste, but I also feel like references to other things, which FFXIV is full of, should be based on what the reference copies, or else the point of being a reference to another thing seems to have lost its point, in my perspective.

Personally, I... don't see why, to be honest. Warrior has, in XIV, always been a more centered around its percentile life-steal (or, "healing for a portion of damage dealt", if one doesn't wish to bias the term towards vampirism) than DRK has been, in keeping with WAR's "the best defense is a good offense" sort of theme.

In either case, though, "lifesteal" is an incredibly generic effect, just as would be "damage-absorbing effects" or "healing abilities". I think what matters most is the sense and style of agency among/between the two.

For instance, as a WAR, I expect to be kind of pulled into the flow of combat, and then I simply live or die by that, whereas when playing as a DRK I expect to have a bit more choice or deliberateness in my actions. To use lifesteal mechanics or their tie-ins as example, as a Warrior I'd expect lifesteal to be appended to a wider variety of attacks, and therefore less selective, but also to be integral to other granular areas, like maximum HP, or an oGCD that deals damage based on my current HP (and therefore benefits from those maximum HP increases), etc., etc. As a DRK, I'd expect it to charge something I could tap into very deliberately, for less throughput per minute but perhaps a bit more when it really counted.

I say that, because Ninninin aside, I have seen other Dark Knights that are mad about Warrior has convert-damage-into-HP self-heal effects, more than what Dark Knight does, and I have no idea how many Dark Knights feel that way... while.. say that both Subclasses, Dark Knight and Warrior, have the convert-damage-into-HP self-heal effect... Then come the complaints about the two being too similar, in another way than they already are, so either the complaints are ignored, which at this point is what I think may be better, or the complaints are addressed and one Subclass loses the effect in question.

I have to be the villain for one of the sides, when it comes to the decision of which Tank takes the loss, in which I chose to be the Villain for Warrior, as a personal opinion.

that aside, my opinion is that Dark knight and Warrior should both have convert-damage-into-HP self-heal effects, and although I have no idea how to explain that for Warrior, where-as with Dark Knight I can just call it Blood Magic, I see no reason to remove that particular self-heal effect from either Subclass. For a example, say that Warrior has two of them, Nascent Flash/Glint and a new one, while Dark Knight has four or five; to reference back to the comment in my old post.
For the sake of argument, if whom were to say that the convert-damage-into-HP self-heal effect "belongs to" Warrior more than Dark Knight, then it could just be the other way around, Warrior has four or five actions in that theme, and Dark Knight has two or three.

DRK in...

• FF2: Starts with a broadsword and buckler. Top proficiencies are with (one-handed) swords and axes. Some lore implications of mind-influencing capabilities. No lifesteal capabilities.
• FF3: Can sacrifice HP to deal AoE damage. Can use White Magic. No lifesteal capabilities.
• FF4: Can sacrifice HP to AoE or, in later versions, to double its attack (at HP cost per attack). No lifesteal capabilities.
• FF10-2: Excels in raw physical damage (albeit at low speed) and applies status effects such as Bio, Doom, and Blind. Immune to Poison, Petrification, Confusion, Curse, and Doom/Death. Can sacrifice health for a ST nuke or to AoE. Can cast Arcana spells. No lifesteal capabilities.
• FF The Four Heroes of Light: Sacrifices HP to deal additional damage. Deal increased damage as %HP decreases. No lifesteal capabilities.
• FF13 Lightning Returns: Can sacrifice HP for additional damaging effects. No lifesteal capabilities.
• Dissidia 2008: Just a slower, hard-hitting attack mode for Cecil. As an AI job, it is a stepping stone leading to Mystic Knight and Berserker. No lifesteal capabilities.
• Dissidia 2012: Simply adds an HP-sacrificing Attack, Shadow Bringer. No lifesteal capabilities.
• FF Airborne Brigade: Requires BLM and WAR. Sacrifices HP to deal additional damage. No lifesteal capabilities.
• FF Tactics (WotL): Drains HP or MP to maintain a throughput-increasing buff and can sacrifice HP to deal additional damage. Can absorb both MP and HP.
• FF Dimensions: Sacrifices HP (Darkness or Onyx Wave) or MP (Ebony Slash) to deal additional damage. Lifesteal effect only affects auto-attacks, at a mere 10% of damage dealt. Increased relative range via the Backliner trait.
• FF XI: Has access to Black Magic, though less than as available to BLM or even RDM. Can sacrifice HP to deal additional damage. Can mimic the effect of wielding a Blood Sword via the Blood Weapon skill once per hour, gaining health equal to damage dealt with basic attacks.

That's 3... out of 12 games with a playable "Dark Knight". But, sure, let's pretend lifesteal is somehow long-historied and exclusive attachment to DRK, let alone more integral or prevalent than HP-sacrificing skills such that XIV's lifesteal capacities ought be exclusive to DRK (even though Warrior, historically, sees as much use of lifesteal and they're both outdone by any Black Magic casters in games where Drain is a player-accessible spell), while lifesteal itself has been given to many a character that has nothing in common with DRK...

On this other scale... I would love and prefer that Dark Knight in FFXIV has the self-sacrificial Blood Magic that it has almost always had, but... that is never going to happen. I already gave up on Dark Knight, in that sense, as it will never be what I want it to be, whether that is similar to Dark Warrior, or similar to previous FF franchise Dark Knight versions... the convert-damage-into-HP self-heal effect, is probably the most close that FFXIV Dark Knight will ever get to, and still fall short of, Blood Magic; which is the reason why I like the idea of Dark Knight actions with the convert-damage-into-HP self-heal effect, which Ironically.. would go well with the self-sacrificial Blood Magic, much sorrow...

I don't think that it matters which tank is the 'lifesteal tank'. What matters is that each job provides a distinct gameplay experience without giving any one job a significant advantage over the alternatives.[...] / [...]I do want to see the tank jobs commit more clearly to a central theme or mechanic.[...] / [...]What I dislike is when the concepts get diluted. What's even worse is when another job gains access to your unique job flavour, while keeping their own unique identity.

again on a different scale(aiya, so much typing...), I agree with just about all of that. SE aught to hire some of the forum posters as job designers, even...