Quote Originally Posted by RheyIdol View Post
Now, pretty much every time I boot up the game I have to hear some meme teasing me for not swapping to picto over black mage.
There will always be myopic kiddos who fall into the elitist mindset of thinking that damage output is the be-all and end-all of playing FF14; these players have forgotten that playing a game is about having fun. Do you enjoy BLM more than PCT? Then play BLM, have a good time, and let the chatter of folks with misaligned priorities wash off your back.

An MMO is healthier when there are classes that can be played easily and classes that offer more of a challenge; that way, players who are looking for different levels of challenge with their core class can all play the same content together. I can easily do more damage when I play Summoner compared to Black Mage, but most of the time I don't find Summoner engaging; Black Mage requires so much more from me, and because of that I perform worse, but I find it so much more engaging and rewarding to play. Being able to deal more damage doesn't matter if you're having less fun doing it.

None of this is to say that balance is entirely unimportant; there is most certainly a balance to strike. But I don't necessarily think that more challenging jobs should have better damage output than easier jobs. The most important thing is that all jobs are viable, and that different difficulties of jobs are available so that people with different tastes can all play together.