Quote Originally Posted by Shurrikhan View Post
You're absolutely right in that current caster classes lack a "theme" as it applies to combat gameplay. However, I don't think that can be solved in a system like this alone. I also have a huge amount of respect for solo combos. And having also played a WoW mage (other favorite classes being warrior, hunter, and death knight) I know exactly what you mean there.
I was a Prot Warrior, Ret Paladin, and transmogrification facilitated my playing a Mage. Funny how being able to swap out those weird robes for something a little more modest can encourage one to play a class they would normally not play.
Though, that might only be true for setting oneself up in preparation for a fight. [Additionally, it's very doable without ability cooldowns, using a more analog system of gliding strength per ability and sets of abilities instead.] Either way though, it needs to stem off something larger, more intricate. WotLK's talent systems were a good example of this. Whether you like the idea of the areas of choice being identical for every player or not (I personally don't), they had sufficient complexity and enough unpredictable uses to make some truly unique playstyles. FFXIV would first need something similar. That in turn requires a new layer of depth in leveling, where FFXIV again falls short.
I disagree here. You don't need a talent system to get something similar. What you'd need is further emphasis on job traits, especially when playing as a job rather than a class.
That said, I would never try to copy WoW's system. WoW's talents system (paired with its abilities) worked for WoW because it was WoW, not just because it's a universally powerful system.
I wouldn't copy it, but take a look at how it achieved balance in the form of involved gameplay on a level that did not have you losing to the latency boss (which screwed over skillchains in FFXI for anything more complicated than "Open WS and Close WS" with nothing in between), balanced raid comps that could have class stacking but very rarely encouraged it, and paced progression that didn't involve our current 0.000000001% drop rates. Draw inspiration, borrow what works, tweak it to fit your setting and move on.
What I'd make for FFXIV would stem from Final Fantasy instead, the more fundamental or thematic the connection the better. Mechanics are made to serve a story and to serve play. Not the other way around.
I understand this, but it also brings up something I've been mentioning for the last two years: certains parts of Final Fantasy do not work in the context of an MMORPG. Tanaka tried to stick to "Final Fantasy" when designing XI's mechanics, and what we got was a botched resource system, some jobs being more useful than others, the "I spent 50% of my time AFK resting my health and the other 50% AFK auto attacking" joke, and Refresh-botting. Lore and job-wise I have every bit of confidence in the Final Fantasy IP. Mechanics-wise...not so much; not after seeing two of the more popular jobs in the series treated the way they were in XI (Red Mages and Summoners).