Maining a job you don't find the class fantasy particularly appealing?

[Hysorn]

I've been leveling a Ninja these last few days and it's by far the most fun I had in the game, the class is fast paced, it can be punishing if you make mistakes and some of its abilities look really good and I tend to quite enjoy the "Rogue" classes in RPGs, but the issue lies with the class fantasy for me, Ninjas just don't do it for me. I've even been trying to wear the Ninja job armor to see how I feel about it but... I don't know.

This is just my personal opinion, I know a lot of people love Ninjas and whatnot, but I feel a bit weird about it, I mean, looking at the Endwalker job sets I got really hyped for a lot of them but the Ninja one didn't quite hook me, and I am afraid this will be a common theme should I main this job.

So my question is: How many of you main a job where you really enjoy the gameplay but the fantasy for you was a bit "Meh"? And in that case, did that bother you or you just kinda ignored it?

[PlushyprincessMusa]

hmm I watch the trailer the only thing about Ninja that felt wrong to me is the removal of the dot that seems like its ripping away the classic theme (atleast for me) for Ninja and turning it into some anime job. In a way I agree with you I think the elemental attacks should be scroll pull outs not hand signs, that said I'm happy that summoner job fantasy will be there for me I quit a long time ago because of that I'm glad after 4 expansions they finally listened.

As a mage fan I am both happy and angry about rdm I don't think it should get to aoe the flare/holy or even get foul at all... Those are suppose to be signatures for whm/blm but at the same time I'm meha w/e

blm idk how I feel about it I've always called that job the Cooldown job not a mage (since almost every ability it has is a cd)

the rest idk how i feel about but for the most part the only things im angry with is how Sch is ripped off/ ast doesnt have back the old card system (best card system) and ninja losing the only poison (dot) they have that is what made the weebyness bearable was it still had theif style movies/assassin type with poison now I dont think I will ever look at it.

[Breakbeat]

You need to decide if this is true:

I've been leveling a Ninja these last few days and it's by far the most fun I had in the game

Or if this is true:

Ninjas just don't do it for me.

Because, literally, they are mutually exclusive. Either a Ninja really is 'doing it for you' and you have had "the most fun [you've] had in this game", or it isn't. You need to be honest with yourself and forget what your friends or siblings might say, forget what your favorite streamer might play, forget about the article or Reddit thread you read that said Ninjas are the best thing since sliced bread, and just actually do what you want to do.

If the 'most fun you've had in the game' is a Ninja, as you stated, then the armor and fantasy is sufficient for you to have a really good time. Hence, you'd continue to play a Ninja.

If the armor and fantasy are bringing you down, then it can't possibly be 'the most fun you've had in the game.' Well, I mean, it could be, but if the most fun you've had is playing a character that 'doesn't do it for you,' something is amiss. IMHO you'd drop the Ninja, and try a different job. Possibly a different game if that less-than-stellar experience was the best fun you've had here.

Same as if someone insisted you eat a plate of oysters, and you didn't like them after trying them, you'd say, "no, thank you," instead of forcing them down. Well, at least I would.

So my question is: How many of you main a job where you really enjoy the gameplay but the fantasy for you was a bit "Meh"? And in that case, did that bother you or you just kinda ignored it?

Personally, I don't do entertainment I don't like. Music, movies, books, games ... if I don't like those things I don't continue to partake of them, and I don't do the 'everyone else likes this so I should too,' thing. Done and dusted with that about 30 years ago.

Either you like Ninja enough to play it, or you don't. So, you either play it or not based on your internal feelings. To be honest, my whole post here is irrelevant relative to your direct questions. You shouldn't either play or not play a Ninja based on what other people would do or have done. You do you.

[Ferra]

This may be due to me being an ex-WoW player and a heavy RPer, but I have the mindset of a single character having a specialization, and I make a character out of it. Ferra's the striker so I intended her to be almost exclusively MNK. I have a Viera spellcaster and I made her character based on her being an arcane saleswoman, dabbling in spells and arcane items.

It makes it easier for me to get into a job I normally wouldn't play. Naturally this isn't for a lot of people because you're intended to have the one character do all the jobs and each new character makes you replay MSQ.

Otherwise, yeah, it is sometimes tricky to get into the fantasy of a character if they're doing a job they normally wouldn't do, or goes against their character. Anyway, paramount thing is play what you enjoy!

[Rowde]

My main gripe with Ninja in FFXIV is that its base class is Rogue. Thief is just as much of an iconic job in the FF series as Ninja.

I know I know... in FFI Thief upgrades to Ninja, but in other titles they have also both existed as separate identities, including FFXI (the other MMO) and FFVI.

I just wish the Thief/Rogue could have been a separate job.

[Poporito_Popoto]

I have all jobs at 80, but still haven't found one I like well enough to main yet.

[Alxyzntlct]

I've had this issue in previous games, actually, and because of that tried to approach this game differently by doing research on the various classes/jobs as well as trying out several before really settling into anything. I still fully expected to go through that, to play a Job because I liked the idea but potentially wind up not liking either the gameplay or the mythos and jumping around a bit, but I wound up getting pretty lucky this time around...

I started as BLM, just because I'm a mage-nerd and always play them in any game. That's always my personal head-cannon, always gotta be a wizard of some type, and BLM is the quintessential wizard. Leveled BLM up first and loved it!

Started exploring the other pillars of the holy trinity because I like jumping between dps, tanking, and healing, and started leveling a PLD. I liked it, but similar to what you described, wasn't super-feeling it. Then I discovered GNB, and gave it a go. It was rough at first, but after getting it up to 80 and advancing through the game into higher content, it just got better and better for me, and fits my head-cannon so amazingly well because it's like being a Mage-Tank; no heavy armor, a seemingly "simple" weapon, but the ability to channel immense magics to devastating (and highly protective) effect.

And from there got into healing; WHM is an old standard so while I viewed it as a possibility, didn't want to dive in immediately. I checked out SCH, liked the idea, but the gameplay didn't mesh in my head. Then I discovered AST and was immediately intrigued. Gave it a go, and like GNB, fell in love with it!

So yeah, unlike most previous games, I got silly-lucky this time around and have been enjoying the Jobs immensely. I still want to level up and explore all of the other jobs for fun, but for right now I'm still having too much fun with my personal trinity.

I know this doesn't help you right now, OP, but where I'm going with is this: One of the amazing things about this game is the amount of flexibility there is to explore new classes/jobs, so there's every reason to explore others to see how they fit for you. And who knows, maybe it's possible that by exploring a few other Jobs it'll bring you back around to enjoying Ninja again! (Or at least enjoying it enough to ignore the mythos, lol)

[Wilford111]

I'd say use whatever glamour you like, and forget the job is named "Ninja". Cuz no one really cares about job lore when they're in a dungeon or raid.

[Jeeqbit]

I main a job that I like the fantasy of, but there are jobs that I main for secondary roles that I didn't like the fantasy of.

I think a lot of people feel this way, but punching with fists seems pointless when you can use a weapon, so monk didn't appeal to me at first, but when I played it I enjoyed it so much that I played it as a main DPS for most of this expansion.

I thought that bows were not very good. I would see Amal'jaa shoot arrows at me while in front of me (so they would miss me if it were real) and I would just slash them and that put me off arrows. But when I played a bard I enjoyed it so much that it was my main DPS throughout Stormblood.

So whether you can enjoy playing a class is not related to the fantasy but liking the fantasy helps you to enjoy it more. If an expansion changes it so it's not as good, if you like the fantasy enough you might stick with it until it's fixed.

I prefer rogues over ninjas as well, but what you can do is dress up as a rogue and pretend to be one. The only thing that is hard to ignore is the mudras.

[StriderShinryu]

I can definitely feel this with Paladin but sort of in reverse. I've always loved the concept of paladins, and I've always been a fan of sword and board "styles," but I just can't get into the way paladin's play. The low level play actually felt pretty good but once you start getting into your magic phase it just lost me. Something about that just feels so clunky and, frankly, ugly to me visually. I love the way it looks in the EW job trailer now but I just don't know if it will "feel" better to me. Right now if I tank, I much prefer gunbreaker (which, ironically, I love the feel of playing but just like but not love the visuals of).

So, yeah, love the concept of Paladin but don't really like the way FF14 Paladin feels to actually play.