Pictomancer is absurd

[Gemina]

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.

Show me the receipt(s). I've been around since 2016, and while I don't dedicate my every waking moment on these forums, the rise in Pictomancer discussions is very recent. It rarely, if ever came up in discussions when adding a new caster to the game was the topic. Those conversations always centered around Geomancer, Green Mage, Time Mage, Chemist, and Necromancer. I can recall more mentions of Puppet Master than I can Pictomancer in previous years. While I won't say it has never come up, I will stick by my previous comment of saying no one was asking for it. I would even wager many pro Pictos would still choose one of the other options over it if given the choice.

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.

Well, what other choice do we have? That doesn't mean we can't criticize the decision. Dev criticism and complaints happen all the time here. Is it only allowed when the critique/complaint is the consensus?

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.

This argument only works if Viera were never made a playable race. They even reversed their decision when they stated that it would be female only along with male Hrothgar. FFXIV isn't a democracy in the sense that the subscribers decide who gets to develop the game based on what those team members promise to bring, but their feedback can and does influence their decisions. They can't make everyone happy, but it's not a bad thing to try anyway.

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.

This is one of the better arguments I have seen that is pro pictomancer...

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.

... This is not. Your argument is much, much stronger if you leave this out. This is parroting, and is indicative of an NPC mindset. Your previous statements show that you can think for yourself, and come up with your own viewpoints to express your opinion on why Pictomancer as a viable design choice to bring into the game.

The thing is, when it comes to glamour and battle effects, I cannot control, nor do I care how a player chooses to dress their character. I also can turn the battle effects off for other players so I won't even see them. My argument here comes into play about my own personal decision to play this job. The glamour options, the job's skillset, and its effects heavily influence this decision. I would love to want to play Pictomancer. None of the other casters with the exception of BLM has appealed to me, so when it was announced that the game would be adding another caster, I was excited to see what it was and what they would do. What they came up with fell short of my expectations. I know and understand that this does not mean everyone else should dislike the choice. Of course not. However, it does place me in the camp of other players who were also disappointed, and this should be ok too.

[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,

[Myrany]

What little I have seen of Picomancer so far I am not a fan. It's the overly cartoonish splat graphics that are the big turnoff for me. Not the class itself. I fully realize others like it. To each their own.

[Ashennae]

In all seriousness, I get why some people don't like it, but I am looking forward to trying pictomancer when 7.0 rolls around. It'll never replace Red Mage as my main job, but I'm gonna enjoy leveling it anyway. I don't think it's too silly or too cartoonish for the game because there's at least a whole laundry list of "silly and cartoonish" things in this game. This game had a Fall Guys crossover event not too long ago and the minigames were fun, and the glamour was also heckin' cute.

[Heroman3003]

People who have no problem with the "asian stripper job" shouldn't have problems with "western painter job". Honestly having some variety in our mDPS aesthetic is good, and not another "channel the element, but mostly fire"

[Turtledeluxe]

This bait is so poorly implemented...is this what the very very end of a patch cycle is always like?

We really need Dawntrail...

[Sotaris]

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

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.

[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?

[Araxes]

While Pictomancer wont be anything i will play longer than it takes to level it to max, im happy for the people who enjoy such Art directions. I myself will _probably_ dip right into Viper since FF 9 was the first FF i ever played before smashing through all the others available on the first playstation back then.