Pictomancer is absurd

[MikkoAkure]

I for one never disapproved of Pictomancer for reasons of it being silly. I was just confounded due to the fact that no one was asking for it. It's like the devs threw a bunch of ideas in a hat, and that's what was drawn.

To me, it's just difficult to fathom that this is what the dev team cooked up when coming up with new job concepts in the time frame they had to do so. Especially with other perfectly viable choices that are in demand such as geomancer, green mage, time mage, and chemist. Some of these even have existing lore in the world of FFXIV. You can't blame some players for being upset.

I don't know where you might've been but there were quite a few people in the forums asking for it at least and believing it was coming based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt.

While I would've preferred just about anything else, it's coming and I'm going to accept it because the alternative would be letting it fester and becoming a miserable grouch. Though teasing us with the symbol of a whole other FF class (clover = green mage) was a bit of a dick move. But they might make it up to me if Pictomancer is more like its Bravely Default II incarnation and they give me some debuffs and also some of SMN's lost DoT mechanics for good measure.


But while the developers obviously aim to please, game development isn't a democracy. This was already shown to us when Viera was by far the most desired race when they ran that poll like a decade ago but we got scaley people, which was the least desired just because that's the one they felt like they wanted and could be more creative with. Pictomancer was selected because they wanted it.

If we're going to only allow jobs in FF games that show up multiple times, then it'll just be the same jobs over and over. At least Pictomancer is a bit more creative and allows the devs to do more interesting battle effects. I've been a fan of the "cel-shaded" look in video games since Wind Waker and Cel Damage.

That being said, the aesthetic of their glamour and battle effects just doesn't fit what we've grown accustomed to in FFXIV. The job looks misplaced, much like how it is clear that blunderville is a totally different game, but that was temporary. Pictomancer is permanent.

While that may be true in a vacuum, the reality is that you can currently dress up as a reindeer (or any one of the dozen mascot outfits we have), pull a gigantic champagne bottle out of nowhere, and spray people down with it. I'm not really worried about the aesthetics anymore. If it's specifically jobs and/or seeing silly things in an actual dungeon you're worried about, then we've already crossed that bridge with Ninjas producing cartoon bunnies on their heads and bosses turning people into "water imps". Carbuncle itself in my opinion swings closer to the Pictomancer aesthetic side of things than the grittier medieval fantasy of everything else.

[Truen]

Saying there are already silly things in the game is about as valid of a pro argument as is the job being silly is an against argument. Just a little FYI.

I for one never disapproved of Pictomancer for reasons of it being silly. I was just confounded due to the fact that no one was asking for it. It's like the devs threw a bunch of ideas in a hat, and that's what was drawn.

That being said, the aesthetic of their glamour and battle effects just doesn't fit what we've grown accustomed to in FFXIV. The job looks misplaced, much like how it is clear that blunderville is a totally different game, but that was temporary. Pictomancer is permanent.

To me, it's just difficult to fathom that this is what the dev team cooked up when coming up with new job concepts in the time frame they had to do so. Especially with other perfectly viable choices that are in demand such as geomancer, green mage, time mage, and chemist. Some of these even have existing lore in the world of FFXIV. You can't blame some players for being upset.

You put into words everything that I feel in a way that is far more eloquent than I what wrote; thank you,

[SnowVix]

Sure, there's a lot of absurd stuff in FF--but that appears to be your point, not mine. Mine is that the Pictowhatever is the worse idea I've seen since this game launched. Horrible.

Easy solution for you!

Play one of the other twenty-one jobs and let those of us who like Pictomancer and don't want to be dark and brooding enjoy it.

[1313]

How do you know its "trash", we haven't seen it in action nor played it yet.

We need titanman back, his bait threads were at least funny.

Hi, I'm back. Any requests?

[1313]

The more comments I read, the more braincells I lose.

[SigmaOZ]

@OP


I agree Pictomancer is not such a great idea, it looks to me like an opportunity to promote Foamstars, a Splatoon clone.


I would have preferred a new Tank + Healer combo instead of what we got.

[Raikai]

What a dumb idea. This crap should be like a blue mage; it's absolutely silly trash.
Come on Square.

Some people hate some people love it. That's like with anything thematic added to the game and it's subjective enough.

Now, something worth a more objective complaint is if the job's actual gameplay is a dumpster fire.

[LaylaTsarra]

The more comments I read, the more braincells I lose.

Lost all mine been here over 10 years why I don't spend time here anymore.

[Truen]

Some people hate some people love it. That's like with anything thematic added to the game and it's subjective enough.

Now, something worth a more objective complaint is if the job's actual gameplay is a dumpster fire.

Why do you say that? I've seen basically nothing to that tells me if it's going to be good or bad. I couldn't even get over the animations. They look so out of place I actually couldn't believe what I was seeing. Grouping with people people playing that job is going to be so annoying!

[RulerOfPotaoes]

Oh please. Reaper is far more believable than Picto. It even has lore tied to the void which is something established since ARR.

Just because you dont like edgy jobs as a personal preference. Doesn't make them absurd or silly trash within the world of FF14.