Quote Originally Posted by Renathras View Post
The model seems to have all types of healers, from melee to buffer to throughput, dps, no dps, etc. WoW has options because it doesn't have a rigid combat and class system (to the level FFXIV does), which allows for a lot more variance. It also has more than 4 healer classes. Even in Vanilla, it had 5 (only 4 per faction) which became 5 outright in BC when BE Paladins and Draenei Shaman were allowed. Then it added yet more after that (Mists added Monk, Dragonflight added the dragonkin one).

But the important thing is that they were largely allowed to be distinct, even Disc and Holy Priest branching from the same class and sharing a number of abilities (before they were eventually more split up in Cataclysm) were, though granted Disc was a poor performer until...Wrath?

Experimental effects being added is fine, but note what it's NOT doing: FORCING those experimental effects on everyone. It's keeping the old base models in tact alongside the experimental changes. The players are given the option to incorporate them OR NOT.
So I understand what you're trying to explain regarding WOW, in a perfect world, I would wish that FFXIV had a test server so that we could provide feedback to Square before job design changes go live. We don't have that. Even better, I would want us to be able to see job changes before they go into development- don't have that either.

So- given that we have neither of the above, the point has been made, quite a few times, if we are addressing specifically DPS abilities in casual content - healer contribution is optional, no once can or will force anyone to use them, content can be completed without it, so the point is moot. If we then address more difficult content, a number of posts have been made, in exhaustive details, pointing out that it is quite possible add some additional skill (s) and the difference between a sub-optimal and optimal healer, in terms of DPS, is so minor in terms of overall group DPS , it again does not prevent content from being completed (i.e. beating enrage) .


Going back to our analogy :
if you're happy chugging along in your Prius in the slow lane on the highway, by all means, you'll get to your destination. However you're free to speed up, take the middle lane and get there a bit faster.