Deep dungeon for BLU only

[Kaurhz]

Here's my thing with BLU:

Against normal enemies it's pretty overpowered. But against bosses that are immune to the vast majority of status effects and one hit deaths? They're just a slightly stronger version of SMN that has mana issues. Because their "ability" actions require MP, which no other caster job in the game has to deal with, and they have a LOT of abilities they use.

Assuming you're thinking in terms of, say, damage output, it's not really exclusively relating to this as there are certain mechanics that can be cheesed quite easily, and depending on how well you time your abilities you can absolutely skip quite a bit too - My initial first T9 kill on BLU we skipped divebombs entirely, and further to this someone messed up golems and they fused into a larger one - Yet we still knocked it off. That being said, my comment was also made in reference to people being stupid enough to think that I would expect it possible to use Ultravibration combo in PotD, or alternatively be able to use other spells such as Missile, or Tail Screw, or similar with Eureka.

Whether you detract from these and it only becomes a slightly more powerful class - They still elected to develop the class itself, and regardless of my personal feelings about output, I would still like them to elect to take the route of common courtesy and allow us to actually do more with BLU. - Including raid achievements was a nice starting point for the class, commit further.

[Deveryn]

Assuming you're thinking in terms of, say, damage output, it's not really exclusively relating to this as there are certain mechanics that can be cheesed quite easily, and depending on how well you time your abilities you can absolutely skip quite a bit too - My initial first T9 kill on BLU we skipped divebombs entirely, and further to this someone messed up golems and they fused into a larger one - Yet we still knocked it off. That being said, my comment was also made in reference to people being stupid enough to think that I would expect it possible to use Ultravibration combo in PotD, or alternatively be able to use other spells such as Missile, or Tail Screw, or similar with Eureka.

Whether you detract from these and it only becomes a slightly more powerful class - They still elected to develop the class itself, and regardless of my personal feelings about output, I would still like them to elect to take the route of common courtesy and allow us to actually do more with BLU. - Including raid achievements was a nice starting point for the class, commit further.

In the end, it's extra work they have to do in tuning the content to ensure that everything works as it should. They already do this for the main content. There's no real value in tuning all the DD content for BLU. You're talking about niche on top of niche and the end result is just speeding up the farming process if they even allow it.

[Kaurhz]

In the end, it's extra work they have to do in tuning the content to ensure that everything works as it should. They already do this for the main content. There's no real value in tuning all the DD content for BLU. You're talking about niche on top of niche and the end result is just speeding up the farming process if they even allow it.

Sure, it is extra work for them to do - It is equally a wasted opportunity, and a significant waste of initial development resources if they cannot even half-heartedly commit to BLU mage in any replayable capacity.

To put it into perspective, Once you have done the initial BLU mage log, a couple of extra carnival iterations, and the raids if that interests you, then what does BLU have beyond that scope? Nothing. There's absolutely no reason to ever touch it again until they elect to update it.

The end result is giving people an excuse to use the class beyond a one-off, and potentially for them to use it more than just once. It is not just a matter of simply speeding up the farming process. If they actually elected to commit to incorporating this class into a deep dungeon then it quite easily cascades and can have an impact on skill acquisition, and influence how they deal with the class fundamentally.

It has been 719 days since they've done absolutely anything with BLU Mage, and arguably considering the patch cycle it will have almost gone an entire expansion without having any update to it whatsoever - Now let me ask this; when they update it - How long do you think it'll be before people exhaust everything that Blue Mage has to offer? How long do you think it will have taken to plan and develop?

Don't get me wrong; I understand the point of extra work, but if we're being frank, the amount of development cost for the class itself probably doesn't justify the play value and length that people get out of it.

[Deveryn]

Sure, it is extra work for them to do - It is equally a wasted opportunity, and a significant waste of initial development resources if they cannot even half-heartedly commit to BLU mage in any replayable capacity.

To put it into perspective, Once you have done the initial BLU mage log, a couple of extra carnival iterations, and the raids if that interests you, then what does BLU have beyond that scope? Nothing. There's absolutely no reason to ever touch it again until they elect to update it.

The end result is giving people an excuse to use the class beyond a one-off, and potentially for them to use it more than just once. It is not just a matter of simply speeding up the farming process. If they actually elected to commit to incorporating this class into a deep dungeon then it quite easily cascades and can have an impact on skill acquisition, and influence how they deal with the class fundamentally.

It has been 719 days since they've done absolutely anything with BLU Mage, and arguably considering the patch cycle it will have almost gone an entire expansion without having any update to it whatsoever - Now let me ask this; when they update it - How long do you think it'll be before people exhaust everything that Blue Mage has to offer? How long do you think it will have taken to plan and develop?

Don't get me wrong; I understand the point of extra work, but if we're being frank, the amount of development cost for the class itself probably doesn't justify the play value and length that people get out of it.

There are other features that go that long without seeing an update. I don't see the difference.

[Kaurhz]

There are other features that go that long without seeing an update. I don't see the difference.

A combination of their development cost and the replay value of the content is the difference. A lot of features that don't routinely see an update typically have been iterated upon, be it from Doman Reconstruction into something like Island Sanctuary, or something like airships > submarines. Or, perhaps we can look at the deep dungeon itself generically speaking. Has not seen an iteration or expansion on it since SB, but this also has quite possibly the highest replay value of any piece of content currently implemented in the game.

Unless of course, you want to tell me about Gold Saucer attractions which have innate replay value, and something that is largely attributed to the fact that MGP is an exclusive currency for Gold Saucer attractions. On this note, need I might add that any currencies tied to Blue Mage can be gotten through other means, e.g., hunts.

Blue Mage was largely developed as being a solo class in mind, similarly, this is how it was advertised. They have done absolutely nothing to incentivize this beyond 1-2 turns of the carnival.

[Deveryn]

A combination of their development cost and the replay value of the content is the difference. A lot of features that don't routinely see an update typically have been iterated upon, be it from Doman Reconstruction into something like Island Sanctuary, or something like airships > submarines. Or, perhaps we can look at the deep dungeon itself generically speaking. Has not seen an iteration or expansion on it since SB, but this also has quite possibly the highest replay value of any piece of content currently implemented in the game.

Unless of course, you want to tell me about Gold Saucer attractions which have innate replay value, and something that is largely attributed to the fact that MGP is an exclusive currency for Gold Saucer attractions. On this note, need I might add that any currencies tied to Blue Mage can be gotten through other means, e.g., hunts.

Blue Mage was largely developed as being a solo class in mind, similarly, this is how it was advertised. They have done absolutely nothing to incentivize this beyond 1-2 turns of the carnival.

BLU has its place in the game for a variety of activities, whether it's farming for seals or clearing out dungeons. I made good use of it to get allied seals and poetics back when I needed more and I still run the content every so often to refresh my aetheryte ticket. The lack of updates is honestly a welcome thing for me. I don't want a ton of incentives. I've got plenty of other things I want to get done in game. BLU is something I'll do when I feel like screwing around a bit. As I'm writing this, I went to an S rank in Stormblood and got full credit on a kill.

btw: Counting days is a ridiculous way to look at things. This development cycle already goes longer than most games have with their expansion a year plan. Looking at each expansion as one should, BLU has seen substantial updates.

BLU was developed as a solo class and I believe the initial response was pretty bad. It was then tuned for dungeon content and started to become more fun and interesting, with the Stormblood update offering a ton of QoL for that content. It wasn't developed to do current content and it likely never will be. The balance required is too much extra work, when they're already working on existing balance while looking to add new jobs.

There was talk of a possible new mode of play for BLU. We'll see what happens with that.

[Kaurhz]

Snip.

But why would I farm for seals when I can do the exact same thing on a level 90 class solo? It takes barely any time to run through Ruby Sea and get everything I want for seals. Similarly, this is the case with hunts. I'm running hunts, and not only that they're multifaceted because you progress the relic simultaneously. - If I want poetics? Can just do Eureka or Bozja and get them handed to me like candy whilst making Gil. Everything that Blue Mage can do can be done outside of Blue Mage, and more efficiently.

Counting days was just a case in point that Blue Mage has gone a profuse amount of time without seeing a singular update. I would argue these updates are not as substantial as you might think. The single biggest update to Blue was the incorporation of raid-related achievements which are a 1-off, beyond that it's just so soul-less if you actually thrive for something that the class was originally designed and advertised for. The only solo-related thing they've ever done was implement Basic Instinct (and carnival) - This was fun for playing the 'how high can you go' with Final Sting.

Nothing has changed with it ultimately, bar the fact they've added in additional achievements for those that actually want to do content with the class. They could have equally added solo-related achievements and it would detract absolutely nothing from the design. - I do want to be absolutely clear in that I don't think it should do current-level content and nor would I ever want it to be such, as that would bind it by the same restrictions as traditional classes in the first place.

Being separate from all current-(max)level content is a good design choice, I do think. But they seem to think that this warrants nullifying it from a substantial amount of dated content. The thing to keep in mind with balancing is that in the case of Deep Dungeon, this would not be a continual thing to the same degree as everything else, just the initial balance to ensure that they cannot use abilities such as Ultravibration, Missile or Tail Screw, for example. - I'll be spitballing here, but do you have any idea how people have requested or desired BLU to function in the deep dungeon?