Quote Originally Posted by Ransu View Post
To say a job show be low dps because it's "easy" is beyond stupid and Yoshi P has the right of it with his statement.
This Machinist and Dancer erasure is pretty hilarious imho. They exist, are extremely easy to play compared to a considerable majority of the jobs in the game, and are also competing with Summoner for lowest DPS in the game. Seems like difficulty and output are correlated for some jobs, at the very least.

Comparing fighting games with an MMO that has a GCD per command input isn't exactly a great comparison, and it roundly ignores the natures of both games while also ignoring some very basic things about motivating players in ANY videogame. It also ignores real fighting game examples where complex inputs on difficult to use characters often results in extremely powerful attacks (and can turn an otherwise difficult to play character who may be at a general disadvantage against a 'meta' character into a very dangerous matchup).

As someone who plays Virtual Fighter, I think you could probably name a few things in that game that fall in line with that design philosophy.

If a job is mechanically more demanding and complex, and requires more attentiveness from the player to get the most out of it, why shouldn't it result in a greater reward for the player than, say, someone who just gets to press buttons when they feel like it from a very safe distance? Why would anyone play something that requires maximum effort for minimal reward? The answer is they often don't. Look at how many more Machinists, Summoners, Dancers, Reapers, and Red Mages there are compared to Monk and Ninja, and this is AFTER Monk has effectively been dumbed down to cater to people who have been screeching for years about a job they don't even play that they are put off by the "high-stress gameplay" of moving left and right next to a boss with a clearly defined hit box at their feet.

This is a problem that Ninja, in particular, has been facing for years, and the answer to their personal DPS woes has consistently been "but you provide trick attack!!!!11". Ninja is also now the least played DPS in the game, and the recent changes have pulled the floor out from under its player population. Ninja requires significantly higher CPM than Reaper currently does, yet has far lower raid AND personal dps than Reaper, which has far less to worry about throughout its rotation while also providing a powerful support utility.

If the only thing driving people to play Ninja at this point is ~the aesthetic~, it's no wonder fewer players are bothering to show their mastery of the job in more demanding endgame content. Just roll up with a Reaper and contribute more for far less effort and fancier particle effects.