Ninja, do we need it?

[Abriael]

.
Obviously SE wanted NIN to tank in 11 because they later gave them enmity+ equipment. Later on they even gave NIN those Innin and Yonin abilities that were kind of like a tanking and a DD mode.

They gave ninja enemity plus equipment much later in development simply because they assessed that forcing people to change roles after they covered them for quite a while would have caused problems. It has nothing to do with SE WANTING ninja to tank.

How many of those games were MMOs besides XI? Right none.

Marginal. RPGs have Tanks, Healers and Damagers exactly like MMORPGs.

They obviously wanted SAM and MNK to try tanking in XI too giving them dodge moves, high parry skill, third eye, etc. Does that mean they were considered a tank? No.

They were obviously defined as tanks by their abilities. The fact that those abilities were badly developed because SE didn't have any experience in balancing a MMO doesn't change that.

What? Because they make a NIN class similar to how it was in XI that means anyone is a tank? Did you even play XI? If it was really that broken they could just make it so any utsusemi type move is NIN only like speed/life surge.

Actuallyyes, for quite a while. Since there are already three classes that have tanking potential, adding a foruth means that a whole lot of people can tank. Considering that most encounters really just need *one* good tank, having too many tank-capable classes is redundant.

Also, the problem with class uniqueness isn't in the classes it's that any class can use almost any move from any other class at any level with usually good results. The system is so customizable it loses any uniqueness by way of restriction and limits.

No, the problem with class uniqueness is the blurring in *roles*

[Martin]

Expecting new classes to be added soon

[Malakhim]

Ninja is not a tank. I do not want them to tank, they should be like their classical FF interpretations. Not the player bastardization that happened in XI.

Thieves with Black Magic that throw stuff at people.

Pretty much agreed with this. I'm pretty sure that when Utsusemi was thought up for FFXI, they were planning on it being a tool to help ninjas solo a bit better or help them out in "oh shit" moments.

Ninjas should have always been about shurikens, dual-wielding DD, and sneaky enfeebles.

When I think ninja, I never think front line warrior.

[goonMagi]

Expecting new classes to be added soon

why are you expecting this soon? Is there some news somewhere? I am genuinely interested, not trying to be sarcastic.

I would really really love it if new classes were added, or if they made the current classes' roles way more defined. Because I think that even if we borrow from other classes to make our character unique, there needs to be much more of an attraction to WHAT each job/class does.

[Shikaree]

Ninja's are supposed to be a high evasion, speed type job, it doesn't mean they're supposed to be able to tank though. I don't mind if they bring ninja back as long as it doesn't reintroduce blink tanking.

I'm against blink tanking. Like others have said, it turned into an end all-be all job in that you had to have it ready for anything just to cheese out of some damage taking.

[Malakhim]

why are you expecting this soon? Is there some news somewhere? I am genuinely interested, not trying to be sarcastic.

Well it's not unreasonable to assume that these will be coming down the pipe sometime this year. You can't expect that once the reshuffled dev team implements all the big changes/additions to the game that they're just gonna sit on their butts from then on.

Given that most of these changes are supposed to be happening starting in April(ideally with patch 1.17) and should be completed by the end of summer, new classes should be incoming by late autumn or winter. There's already information in-game and out of the game on classes such as Arcanist, Musketeer, and Shepard. It should only be a matter of time before we get some kind of official word on them.

People keep forgetting that Yoshi mentioned in his first letter that they were roughly about 30% done with the stuff they were currently working on(not including additions in later letters). It's been awhile since then, and I'm pretty sure we're going to start seeing the big fruits of that rolling out soon.

[Kallera]

Pretty much agreed with this. I'm pretty sure that when Utsusemi was thought up for FFXI, they were planning on it being a tool to help ninjas solo a bit better or help them out in "oh shit" moments.

Ninjas should have always been about shurikens, dual-wielding DD, and sneaky enfeebles.

When I think ninja, I never think front line warrior.

Someone clearly hasn't been watching enough anime...ninjas can raise the dead, negate thousands of attacks, summon untouchable spirits, form spirit bombs, and render themselves invincible with enough hand motions and concentration!

[Evangela]

do not count Naruto as a ninja

it's like using Son Goku as a model of Monk

[goonMagi]

I forgot to answer the OP:

Yes, we do need it. we need new classes, dang it!!!

plus, being a ninja... that would make me excited to play again. Jesus, this just makes me want to go on a rant on how cool the traditional names are!!!!

[SHJcules]

short answer: Yes
long answer: Yes, yes we do.

I am a full time ninja enthusiast, I love everything about them, and of their many incarnations throughout the years.

However, I am prepared to settle for Assassin as an alternative, as I feel it would keep the integrity of the worlds lore, while still sating my thirst for stealthy destruction, conniving tactics, and dangerous good looks.