Could Blue Mage do more in the future?

[lionheart13456765]

With Blue mage announced to get a level increase and new spells for 6.45 after two years, I’d like to ask why it’s still as strictly limited as it is? When it first came out limiting it was a good idea but currently it seems like it has the blueprints (pun intended) to be a single target debuff caster in mainstream content thanks to Condensed Libra, like how Dancer is a single target ranged buffer with Standard Step.

Could the Masked Carnivale be made into an area like the Wolves’ Den (only like a backstage prep area)? It could be accessible by an NPC in the location the current Carnival NPC, who already won’t talk to people who aren’t blue mage a sort of filter and the NPCs specific to Blue Mage would be there, Martyn, the Mamool-ja who sell things, the current Carnivale NPC and a new NCP who allows players to sign up for duties 10 levels below current and savage content with their Blue magic hot bars (Which would be like the Den’s PVP hot bars, the regular hot bars get swapped out for them while in the area and only actions for that content can be put on them, the current spellbook actions).

This way the crazy spells that make it impossible to balance like the brush with death, instant death/flat damage and tanking/healing specific (White wind, Mighty Guard, etc) spells are limited like intended and a set of balanced actions and traits for outside the Carnivale is available allowing blues to do the content they currently miss out on.
It wouldn’t be the first time a class had its own content, Bards have their instruments, or the first area to be blocked off from all but one category, the Lalafell houses in Tomra. It also feels like the job doesn’t need the action part of the actions and traits tab page as I imagine the vast majority of people set their skills to the hot bar from the Blue Spellbook menu since they are already in it to select them anyway. Some Blue spells are learned from the Whalaqee totems so we already don’t learn everything from monsters and if we need to for a specific reason couldn’t it be told why using a Blue Mage story quest.

Since the main problem is balancing the more problematic spells is it possible that the job could be refined like this instead?

[DrWho2010]

blu will never be a real boy.

[Cabalabob]

There are a lot of issues with BLU being a regular job and you should probably set your expectations to “it will never happen”.

First off, BLU doesn’t have any innate abilities, it learns absolutely everything from monsters. Imagine a BLU joining your DF run having learned NO SPELLS. Are there ways around this? Yes. Would they require significant work on SE part? Yes. Will they put in that work? Probably not.

Second, BLU is actually really weak. Sure it can do crazy stuff but that’s because it has so much utility like white wind and diamondback. Take those away and what’s left? A really mediocre dps. Like 1k dps behind a BLM of the same level kind of mediocre.

And most importantly, it would just be really boring… BLU has no job mechanics or interesting attacks. You’d have 1 dps spell that you spam, a DoT and some oGCDs. Basically a healer without the healing.

There are more issues with it but those are the main 3 that come to my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I wish BLU could have been a regular job and I’d love them to prove me wrong, but at this stage in its development? I really can’t see it ever happening.

[Rufalus]

They could overcome any Blu quirks if they really wanted to. When players get their job stone, also give a special totem that teaches all the moves it needs for DF matching content, make it reclaimable from npc for people who already did that quest, lock out its enemy-taught moves from that kind of party matching content. They just need to decide to do it and design its rotation and design more weapons and design a pvp rotation too. So basically almost as resource-heavy as making a new job.

[ty_taurus]

There are a lot of issues with BLU being a regular job and you should probably set your expectations to “it will never happen”.

First off, BLU doesn’t have any innate abilities, it learns absolutely everything from monsters. Imagine a BLU joining your DF run having learned NO SPELLS. Are there ways around this? Yes. Would they require significant work on SE part? Yes. Will they put in that work? Probably not.

Second, BLU is actually really weak. Sure it can do crazy stuff but that’s because it has so much utility like white wind and diamondback. Take those away and what’s left? A really mediocre dps. Like 1k dps behind a BLM of the same level kind of mediocre.

And most importantly, it would just be really boring… BLU has no job mechanics or interesting attacks. You’d have 1 dps spell that you spam, a DoT and some oGCDs. Basically a healer without the healing.

There are more issues with it but those are the main 3 that come to my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I wish BLU could have been a regular job and I’d love them to prove me wrong, but at this stage in its development? I really can’t see it ever happening.

These are all issues that could be resolved by having "Unlimited BLU" unlocked by collecting all current blue magic, or a specific selection of blue magic. Or perhaps, you just need to reach a certain level. Unlimited BLU would have a preset selection of actions with altered effects that create a balanced caster DPS next to the other three and would be treated as a separate entity to limited BLU. You cannot customize their moveset, essentially. Will this happen? I wouldn't hold my breath. But my point is that there is nothing that says any attempt at making BLU playable in regular content alongside every other job requires utilizing the spellbook.

Nothing is impossible in game design. The only limitation is the designer's creativity (and money).

[fulminating]

Second, BLU is actually really weak. Sure it can do crazy stuff but that’s because it has so much utility like white wind and diamondback. Take those away and what’s left? A really mediocre dps. Like 1k dps behind a BLM of the same level kind of mediocre.

I’m going to have to ask you to elaborate on this, the opener outdamages basically everything 10 levels higher than it. Whenever doing 50/60/70/75 fates I regularly get aggro if the tank dies. To my knowledge it’s the highest damage job at 50,60 and I think 70, although summoner might have changed that last one.

[Cabalabob]

They could overcome any Blu quirks if they really wanted to.

‘Wanted to’ is the operative phrase. Yes they absolutely could make BLU a regular job if they WANTED TO. But they don’t want to, hence why it’s limited in the first place. They don’t want to put in that extra work. People like to say “oh it would be easy to make it unlimited, all they have to do is this, this, this and this, oh and rework this, oh and balance this, oh and…” and it just keeps going until you realise, ok maybe this is a lot of work and that’s why the devs won’t do it.

[ty_taurus]

‘Wanted to’ is the operative phrase. Yes they absolutely could make BLU a regular job if they WANTED TO. But they don’t want to, hence why it’s limited in the first place. They don’t want to put in that extra work. People like to say “oh it would be easy to make it unlimited, all they have to do is this, this, this and this, oh and rework this, oh and balance this, oh and…” and it just keeps going until you realise, ok maybe this is a lot of work and that’s why the devs won’t do it.

That's called game design. Game design is always work.

What they want out of the game or the job is a factor, but it's not a static factor. They are allowed to change their minds based on what they believe as well as what feedback they receive. People change their minds on things all the time. When Super Smash Bros Brawl was released, it was stated that Animal Crossing would never have a fighter added to the series because it didn't make sense. Fast forward to the next Smash Bros. game and the Animal Crossing Villager was the first new character announced. We've seen it before in FFXIV as well with Bow Mage and Gun Mage. People didn't like it during HW so they backpedaled.

Now, I can't speak for Yoshida or the design team. I can't say how for or against turning BLU into a normal job they are, not am I saying it's a likely outcome or an eventual outcome. My point is, saying things like 'it can't happen', 'it's too much work', or 'they don't want to' is the most useless thing you can actually do in the conversation.

[Cabalabob]

That's called game design. Game design is always work.

What they want out of the game or the job is a factor, but it's not a static factor. They are allowed to change their minds based on what they believe as well as what feedback they receive. People change their minds on things all the time. When Super Smash Bros Brawl was released, it was stated that Animal Crossing would never have a fighter added to the series because it didn't make sense. Fast forward to the next Smash Bros. game and the Animal Crossing Villager was the first new character announced. We've seen it before in FFXIV as well with Bow Mage and Gun Mage. People didn't like it during HW so they backpedaled.

Now, I can't speak for Yoshida or the design team. I can't say how for or against turning BLU into a normal job they are, not am I saying it's a likely outcome or an eventual outcome. My point is, saying things like 'it can't happen', 'it's too much work', or 'they don't want to' is the most useless thing you can actually do in the conversation.

That’s the way it is though. If they haven’t changed it by this point it likely isn’t going to happen. The voices that wanted it to change have gone unheard and it’s died down now, you get the occasional thread like this one but the majority of people just don’t care about BLU anymore.

It’s side content and at some point you need to just accept that they’re not going to change it and move on. The useless thing at this point is still discussing wanting it to be a regular job at all.

[aveyond-dreams]

I refuse to touch the job with a 10 foot pole until it becomes no longer limited. This sad joke has gone on long enough.