Am I the only one who prefers simpler jobs?

[ThermonuclearBob]

Tl;dr does anybody else not like very complex burst focused jobs and prefer things like WAR or SMN specifically because of their simplicity?

I have only been playing for a little over a year, so maybe I am just not good enough at the game, but I feel like I am the only person who likes simple jobs over the more complex and busy jobs. I do not like juggling a lot of stuff like buffs, DoTs, keeping my combos going, using ogcds on cooldown, etc. However I feel like I only see stuff about how much people dislike how simple and homogenous a lot of jobs feel.

Currently I main SMN, but I have spent a lot of time on all the casters. For the other two I feel like I am not putting out their max damage because they have procs or a lot of buffs/support that I just am not being efficient with. Now there are things I like about them, like RDM having on demand gap closer/back step or BLM focusing on sustained high damage over big bursts. I am definitely most comfortable with SMN, but a lot of people (or maybe just YouTubers) seem to think it is boring or missing something.

This became most obvious to me as I learned more about what the viper job will be like, because I was really hoping for a less complex job with the kind of sustained damage by just switching between high damage and recovery phases that I do enjoy in BLM. However it is looking to me more like viper is a new blend of stuff we already have in the other melee jobs while still being unique. That is fine as RPR is simple enough for me to enjoy playing from time to time, and maybe DRG will be reworked into something I can enjoy more, but I can't help but feel there is a niche in melee that is not being filled.

[WeakestZenosEnjoyer]

They're good in small doses, I leveled SMN specifically because I wasn't very good at the game after coasting into Endwalker never getting punished when I had zero situational awareness.

Every role can have a simple job, but over time I need a job with more to chew on so it doesn't get monotonous. SMN is fine when I'm going into a new fight blind but when it's Myths of the Realm in roulette again I find it really dull, some people also get mad with SMN because the job they used to enjoy simply doesn't exist anymore.

[LilimoLimomo]

You're far from the only one. The most vocal players — like us on the forums — tend to lean towards the hardcore end of the spectrum. But never forget that the overwhelming majority of the player base is casual, and broadly speaking their preferences will lean towards the more simple end of the spectrum.

That's one of the reasons that I think SMN is such a great class: it's very simple, very straightforward, and thus it's a great class for casual players, players with certain disabilities, or even just players who don't feel like more of a challenge after a hard week. An MMO is at its best when it has a diversity of classes that allow both casual and hardcore players to play and enjoy the same game together.

Generally I like BLM, because it's one of the more involved classes, and I find that really satisfying. But I definitely have my days when I don't have the energy for that, and in those times, SMN is a great way to still play effectively in spite of that.

[Dzian]

Simple jobs is absolutely fine.

The problem is when you combine simple jobs with simple content. And simple mechanics..

There's no engagement. Every job has a strict rotation you could essentially macro the whole thing if the devs didn't intentionally cripple the macro system. Every encounter heavily scripted and because brainless. And every system that added some depth to the game has been butchered and removed to the point that dps is literally everything.

Simple jobs would be fine if it wasn't combined with simple everything else... (as long as it didn't mean simple jobs were miles behind more complex jobs)

[Mackerris]

I'm am older player who is new to this game. I tried it out years ago but at the time the game wasn't for me. I've never been into the whole 50 different skill mmos, even though I have played many. As I have been mainly playing ESO since it was in alpha, I am getting reacquainted with the joy of mile long rotations.

[Zeastria]

I prefer more simple jobs,
because i play to have fun
not to have a second job.

[CasterSvarog]

Nothing is wrong with simple jobs, but with 21 jobs, and that number growing every expansion, there needs to be more to jobs then just having all of them be simple. Especially when it’s a job with depth to it, that gets changed into something simple.

[Chajii]

Personally having simple jobs itself isn't a problem, simplifying jobs that were originally complex into simple jobs is the problem as there are players whom enjoyed that job and its complexity. For example the SMN rework was quite controversial by this reason but you don't see many people complaining about the simplicity of DNC as it is implemented as a simple job (at a mediocre level) from the very start.


As a player who started the game with Arcanist in Stormblood, I do miss the old SMN, and all the buttons such as Miasma, Bane, Shadowflare on SCH; I suppose it was partly our fault that we the players who liked the jobs didn't show enough appreciation on the forum back then and let the players whom couldn't handle the jobs or didn't even play the jobs complaining on how difficult those job were.

At the end of the day, I am still a SCH main, I feel disappointed with the new changes in DT but I probably will continue playing SCH.
(not that I care but since I am playing on JP, that weird strike won't affect me anyway haha)

[OliviaLugria]

As others as said, within a role there should be a spectrum of playstles and difficulties. Having simple jobs around is good, but there needs to be the complicated ones to

[mallleable]

Simple is fine, but "Simple**" is where I think jobs should be. Jobs should be intuitive to play, and relatively jank free, but they do some funk, and a little bit of bite to them -- the asterisks, and quotation marks. What makes job 'funky' needs to be obvious, intentional, and intertwined with the job's identity. To me, mechanics like Continuation, Dual Cast -- along with mana balancing, and Iaijutsu, are good good examples.