Rapiers

[Gemina]

To be somewhat fair, it's also a magic wand that you sometimes use to directly hit things with charged magic power. It does rather pathetic damage in its unenchanted state.

Not only fair, but also accurate. RDM weapons are wands/staves first, and melee weapons second. Whether the weapon would cause slashing or blunt damage doesn't matter at all due to the enchanted versions of their skills, which are also magically based.

RDM is weird in the sense that how they draw and ready their weapon is totally impractical. They spend the majority of their time casting, yet their base stance has their rapier and the focus detached; so they are constantly attaching and removing it during combat. It would make WAY more sense to just keep the focus attached and stance similar to a BLM or WHM, then remove the focus when engaging enemies in close quarters.

Ahhhh. I've been needing to get that off my chest for like the last three to four years!

[Corvus_V]

Not only fair, but also accurate. RDM weapons are wands/staves first, and melee weapons second. Whether the weapon would cause slashing or blunt damage doesn't matter at all due to the enchanted versions of their skills, which are also magically based.

RDM is weird in the sense that how they draw and ready their weapon is totally impractical. They spend the majority of their time casting, yet their base stance has their rapier and the focus detached; so they are constantly attaching and removing it during combat. It would make WAY more sense to just keep the focus attached and stance similar to a BLM or WHM, then remove the focus when engaging enemies in close quarters.

Ahhhh. I've been needing to get that off my chest for like the last three to four years!

Despite doing very little damage the autos are sword strikes as well though (though most are melee attacks) which is probably why the combat idle is the way it is as well
again, i get that they are casters, most of their attacks are magic based but it is still very clearly supposed to be used as a rapier lol; even objectively that's essentially their entire aesthetic apart from their weapon; their class clothing is indicative of that as well

from a stylistic standpoint what doesnt make sense is to make almost every animation other than the ones where you are casting return to the sword stance, including autos, and then have all of the "melee" attacks look like youre using it as a rapier when it doesnt look like that at all (it's not totally fair to say that theyre supposed to just look magic based when nearly half of them are sword oriented, you just spend alot more time building up mana)

i dont really feel like thats a great excuse for them to look the way they do, they'd have to reanimate the hell out of everything to make it look normal; what would probably be simpler is to make the half of the weapon used like a sword look like a sword instead of a metal stick going forward lol

even by a different standard its completely square, the "sword part" doesnt even look like a staff with the focus attached; it doesnt look anything like BLM or WHM weapons; so i dont think its fair to pretend that that's what theyre supposed to be; i think theyre just kind of not really great looking rather than what they are being a deliberate choice

[Gemina]

Despite doing very little damage the autos are sword strikes as well though (though most are melee attacks) which is probably why the combat idle is the way it is as well

Yeah, that makes enough sense when in melee range. Less so when out of it. It is kind of a give and take here.

again, i get that they are casters, most of their attacks are magic based but it is still very clearly supposed to be used as a rapier lol; even objectively that's essentially their entire aesthetic apart from their weapon; their class clothing is indicative of that as well

It's also clearly supposed to be used as a magical weapon such as wand or staff. I am aware that RDM arms serve a dual function. My point is that from a practical standpoint, it makes more sense for RDMs to keep their weapon in a casting stance. Especially considering that they need to build mana before that can enchant their weaponskills.

i dont really feel like thats a great excuse for them to look the way they do, they'd have to reanimate the hell out of everything to make it look normal; what would probably be simpler is to make the half of the weapon used like a sword look like a sword instead of a metal stick going forward lol

Oh don't get me wrong. I am just talking in a fantasy world where either you or I could practice red magic. It would definitely be better to always have your focus locked and loaded in a battle situation. I am also aware that RDMs tend to favor style over just about everything else. xD

[Corvus_V]

They’re basically big wands, which is fine.

thats more or less what i was saying, everything else is indicative of like a musketeer's outfit, which i believe would be more likely to be running around with a rapier as opposed to a wand; so despite them basically being that, everything else is pointing at them supposed to be being swords. like to an extent, a lot of them LOOK like swords, which is what i said in the OP, but they look like poorly modeled swords; like they're fat, or they have no cutting edge; as if someone modeled them without looking at it from every angle and said "this is fine because its straight"

Yeah, that makes enough sense when in melee range. Less so when out of it. It is kind of a give and take here.

well naturally, theres no auto for out of range casters and melees; just ranged; but there is still a return to combat idle (where you point your "sword" at the enemy) inbetween every GCD, or when you're running assuming youre not sliding along the floor from using reprise or slidecasting lmao

It's also clearly supposed to be used as a magical weapon such as wand or staff. I am aware that RDM arms serve a dual function. My point is that from a practical standpoint, it makes more sense for RDMs to keep their weapon in a casting stance. Especially considering that they need to build mana before that can enchant their weaponskills.

i'm considering the "fantasy" practicality of it less because its a fantasy world, basically
im aware that red mage is a caster and is all magic damage, im more or less pointing at the fact that's that what its pretty clearly supposed to be, going back to me quoting the first guy im actually much more inclined to believe that it's actually just a really not a spectacular modeling job as opposed to a deliberate choice to make it "look like a staff or wand"; since i havent seen anyone ask or confront them about it in an interview or anything im totally unaware of there being a source for that; im just assuming the people who pick red mage who like it partly because of the way it looks would probably appreciate the fact that the sword matches the outfit lol

i mean we still have that TV antenna cryptlurker rapier that you holster uncomfortably in your left kidney everytime you put it away; it definitely isn't a stretch to say that its probably supposed to be a sword and someones not doing a famously good job at it somehow

edit: woops! at some point during a hiatus they mustve fixed it lmao it no longer stabs you in the waist when you put it away
it was still broken when endwalker came out iirc

[hagare]

RDMs tend to favor style over just about everything else. xD

Which is why a RDM with bad glamour is no RDM at all

[StriderShinryu]

Yeah, despite RDM being my favourite class in the game I find myself disliking the vast majority of their weapons. I get that fantasy weapons don't always need to be, or have to be, realistic but I do feel that there should at least be some level of logic to the weapon in regards to how it's used. And most RDM weapons look, frankly, pretty stupid.

My favourite weapon remains the Laws Order Rapier from the ShB Resistance weapons series, with the Talekeeper from the same series being a close second. Not only do I like the visual effects on both but they actually look like proper usable swords.

[Bad_Luck]

They’re basically big wands, which is fine.

[Tsiron]

...

100% valid, I share your complaints with regards to RDM weapons... not that a lot of the other Jobs (off the top of my head, WAR, DRK, DRG, for example) aren't also afflicted by this. Weapons that look fine from the side, but then you turn the camera and they're stupidly thick for whatever reason, to the point they look more like weird hammers than anything. The 3D models can be quite inconsistent in this... SAM has thankfully been quite good about that (even if I wish they'd give us more variety), but... because its weapons are more sensibly scaled they end up looking weirdly like toothpicks next to others (PLD swords, for example). It's... made picking weapon glams much more difficult than it probably should be...?

[Corvus_V]

100% valid, I share your complaints with regards to RDM weapons... not that a lot of the other Jobs (off the top of my head, WAR, DRK, DRG, for example) aren't also afflicted by this. Weapons that look fine from the side, but then you turn the camera and they're stupidly thick for whatever reason, to the point they look more like weird hammers than anything. The 3D models can be quite inconsistent in this... SAM has thankfully been quite good about that (even if I wish they'd give us more variety), but... because its weapons are more sensibly scaled they end up looking weirdly like toothpicks next to others (PLD swords, for example). It's... made picking weapon glams much more difficult than it probably should be...?

Oh, I absolutely agree, Paladin weapons are also particularly egregious for this like you said; the only reason I didn't mention Warrior by name as well is because they also use some weapons that are hammers, which I think is pretty cool. It's easy to tell when it's meant to look like an axe, though. And again, I imagine even if you were to try to cut something relatively soft, it would be more inclined to crush it rather than slice it based on the width. Other than that I don't play DRK; but RDM weapons are incredibly noticeable to me because they're also thin, so if you widen a thin weapon ever so slightly you've basically just made a metal bar.

But almost none of the SAM weapons look like that, so they obviously know how to make a proper edge, but they just... don't. That's why I'm less likely to look at it like "its supposed to be a wand/staff" as the reason they look like that, because it's a pretty inexplicably widespread visual issue. That's why I like the (i think, i cant look now cus maint) Chromite Axe, which is HUGE, but also very thin, so it looks like a very sharp weapon.

And it's not that I'm acting like this about it because I take issue with the practicality of swinging whatever the weapon is, i'm just looking at it from the perspective of someone who sees it that it doesn't look practical or good to me when it's wide like that, so I feel confused as to why they decided to do that to so many of them in the first place and why it hasn't seemed to stop into 6.0 outside of rehashed models either. I can't even think of a reason why, like it wouldn't be more demanding on a PC to make a thinner edge IIRC. Maybe its an art style or something? but then they don't make the samurai weapons fat either; so why is that?

im basically jumping between two points that just dont make sense when you consider the other. i've played the game this long anyway; its just been my opinion that it doesnt look great and no one seems to talk about it lol

[Tsiron]

Oh, I absolutely agree, Paladin weapons are also particularly egregious for this like you said; the only reason I didn't mention Warrior by name as well is because they also use some weapons that are hammers, which I think is pretty cool. It's easy to tell when it's meant to look like an axe, though. And again, I imagine even if you were to try to cut something relatively soft, it would be more inclined to crush it rather than slice it based on the width. Other than that I don't play DRK; but RDM weapons are incredibly noticeable to me because they're also thin, so if you widen a thin weapon ever so slightly you've basically just made a metal bar.

The added thickness makes me think of tabletop miniatures, except those actually need(ed?) it for durability reasons, whereas digital assets don't have any such limitations. I actually think PLD swords look reasonably sharp (for obvious fantasy weapons) in comparison to some of the other Jobs I've played, but it's just weird overall...

But almost none of the SAM weapons look like that, so they obviously know how to make a proper edge, but they just... don't. That's why I'm less likely to look at it like "its supposed to be a wand/staff" as the reason they look like that, because it's a pretty inexplicably widespread visual issue. That's why I like the (i think, i cant look now cus maint) Chromite Axe, which is HUGE, but also very thin, so it looks like a very sharp weapon.

I've (unfortunately) noticed they sometimes get a bit too excited about edges on some SAM weapons, they have beveled backs as though they're sharp all around, which makes no sense and I can't unsee it...

And it's not that I'm acting like this about it because I take issue with the practicality of swinging whatever the weapon is, i'm just looking at it from the perspective of someone who sees it that it doesn't look practical or good to me when it's wide like that, so I feel confused as to why they decided to do that to so many of them in the first place and why it hasn't seemed to stop into 6.0 outside of rehashed models either. I can't even think of a reason why, like it wouldn't be more demanding on a PC to make a thinner edge IIRC. Maybe its an art style or something? but then they don't make the samurai weapons fat either; so why is that?

im basically jumping between two points that just dont make sense when you consider the other. i've played the game this long anyway; its just been my opinion that it doesnt look great and no one seems to talk about it lol

No yeah I totally get where you're coming from! I'm actually glad someone else has noticed these weird inconsistencies...!