Summoner Questionnaire

[Connor]

1. How are you enjoying Summoner in Dawntrail?

• C: The design is good but it needs a lot of work

2. How many summons should Summoner have?

• C: A few more would be nice. Doesn’t need to be a huge list but more than 5 lol, especially for the gem summons. Demis are fine at 3, but not when one is basically a palette swap. They should swap Solar Bahamut for…literally anything lol. King Mog, Anima (pretty sure that counts as a primal?), Ravana, Bismark, idk who else but it’s not like they don’t have options.

3. Would you prefer summons as pets or something else?

• D: Honestly I could take or leave any one of these options so I don’t know how to answer lol. As long as it’s well-developed and engaging I don’t mind either way.

4. Should Summoner have a rezz?

• A: Yes. Summoner has consistently had utility as part of its job design and I don’t see any reason to change that. Hell, bring back Eye for an Eye and Shadow Flare

5. How simple or complex would you prefer Summoner to be?

• C: Moderate - I just want to feel like I earn my output
• D: Complex - I want a struggle to overcome
  
  Anywhere between these two options. Doesn’t need to be unplayable levels of difficult but it doesn’t need to be as simple as it is now

6. Do you prefer building up to or opening with powerful summons like Bahamut?

• D: It\\'s my Bahamut and I want it now
  
  Unfortunately because of 120s raid structure; all jobs must (mostly) be able to use their biggest attacks during opener. Until they change that it kinda has to be available to open with by necessity.

7. How do you feel demi summons are being handled? (pick any number)

• B: I wish I could choose between them!
• E: I would like more variety
  
  It still infuriates me that Bahamut and Phoenix have totally different functions (one for damage one for healing support) yet are treated as entirely interchangeable. Why can’t they just be their own summons lol. Also, less Bahamuts. One is enough thanks.

8. Do you enjoy the mini-rotations of current summons?

• B: Yes but I wish there was more to them
  
  Complexity wise and in terms of the summons themselves.
  

9. Would you rather cycle through summons or focus on one?

• C: I want to pick the best / my favorite one and stick with it
  
  I’m also happy with A or B but ideally they’d be situational / chosen based on circumstances and not a prescribed rotation.

10. How do you feel about having summons like Shiva or non-primals like Diabolos?
[*]D: It depends on the execution frankly. Summoning Shiva, I wouldn’t really mind that much. From my understanding, at the end of the day primal summoning is limited solely by aether/crystal reserves and the user’s imagination, so theoretically as long as the appropriate aether is available (i.e from other primals) we could probably make anything pop out if we really wanted to. Though it would probably still have to be something that has existed at least once properly so there’s aether to form it from lol.

That said it would honestly make the drop the class completely if I had to literally turn into Shiva, that sounds awful. I like being a dude thanks; Seraphism is bad enough. Let’s not ask for another one lol. Please please please god no ff16 Summoner. If people want a Shapeshifter class so bad maybe it should be like its own thing and not tacked onto a random class. I mean, they’d basically just need to turn ff7 Vincent into an FFXIV job so it’s not even that out there as a job

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

1. How are you enjoying Summoner in Dawntrail?
C or D - DoT was not perfect and certainly was not "Summoner-like", but I see no benefit in turning them into lego chomper without giving the old SMN fans a place to stick around.

2. How many summons should Summoner have?
C - Pls no more 'bahamuts' lol. Learn some creativity.

3. Would you prefer summons as pets or something else?
B: I want my summon of choice to follow me everywhere and do my bidding like the oden days (minus the ghosting).

4. Should Summoner have a rezz?
C: Situationally - maybe actually give Phoenix that niche?

5. How simple or complex would you prefer Summoner to be?
C or D - There's this thing called 'the middleground', SE. Look it up.

6. Do you prefer building up to or opening with powerful summons like Bahamut?
C: Build up but with a way to speed it up for the opener - Ironically, the job that felt closer to this today is PCT lmao.

7. How do you feel demi summons are being handled? (pick any number)
E: I would like more variety.

8. Do you enjoy the mini-rotations of current summons?
B: Yes but I wish there was more to them - and the only one that I like is Ifrit.

9. Would you rather cycle through summons or focus on one?
D - Which mean this also requires few fundamental changes to the encounter design.

10. How do you feel about having summons like Shiva or non-primals like Diabolos?
C: As long as they can be made to make sense, sure - Besides, there are already odd things i.e. unable to glamour SMN carbuncle into faes or even Moonstone Carbie despite the term being essentially 'a glamour'. C'mon, make it make sense.

[Sarantserel]

1. How are you enjoying Summoner in Dawntrail?
C: The design is good but it needs a lot of work
D: It needs a complete rework, something new
The initial idea of having SMN actually summon Ifrit, Titan and Garuda was interesting from a job fantasy standpoint, but the implementation is severely lacking. The job is at the same time extremely easy and extremely rigid. Solar Bahamut being the only change this job got in DT was a huge disappointment that sadly made the job worse by adding to its rigidity.

2. How many summons should Summoner have?
C: A few more would be nice

3. Would you prefer summons as pets or something else?
N/A
I do not particularly care. I'm not fond of the extra macro needed by pet jobs, but considering there's not other jobs like it, I wouldn't mind if that became SMN's niche

4. Should Summoner have a rezz?
B: No
Battle rez on non healers has led to constant balance issues. As nice as they can be in certain scenarios, it might be better if they go.

5. How simple or complex would you prefer Summoner to be?
C: Moderate - I just want to feel like I earn my output

6. Do you prefer building up to or opening with powerful summons like Bahamut?
No real opinion

7. How do you feel demi summons are being handled? (pick any number)
B: I wish I could choose between them

8. Do you enjoy the mini-rotations of current summons?
B: Yes but I wish there was more to them

9. Would you rather cycle through summons or focus on one?
B: I want to cycle through a few but not always the same ones
IMO SMN part of current SMN's issue is the rigid 3 gummies. If you need to delay burst for some reason, you're stuck spamming Ruin which is not great gameplay. Plus, part of current SMN's restrictive design is that your only rotation choice in your filler is when you summon Ifrit since its the most limiting one movement wise. IMO you should have the choice of the 6 classic ARR primals, each with their own utility and you could mix and match different combination every filler depending on the fight.

10. How do you feel about having summons like Shiva or non-primals like Diabolos?
C: As long as they can be made to make sense, sure

[NegativeS]

E: I wish it was still a dot mage

C: A few more would be nice
(note: i would prefer a 'summoner' to have a wide variety, but i also know its an mmo and there are restrictions. i would settle for more egiglamours)

B: I want my summon of choice to follow me everywhere and do my bidding like the oden days (minus the ghosting)

A: Yes
(note: at least in the context of ffxiv where it and scholar stem from the same core class, it makes sense. plus it has been part of the class for far too long to remove it now without it feeling odd)

E: Punish me harder Yoshi-senpai
(note: every job needs to be made more complex, not just summoner)

X. no opinion

E: I would like more variety

D: No, I prefer more consistency

B: I want to cycle through a few but not always the same ones

B: They don't make sense in the lore, so no
(note: shiva makes sense since she's a primal, but so far its only been primals and it would probably be best to keep it consistent)

[miraidensetsu]

1. How are you enjoying Summoner in Dawntrail?

• C: The design is good but it needs a lot of work

2. How many summons should Summoner have?

• C: A few more would be nice

3. Would you prefer summons as pets or something else?

• C: Just give me big flashy attacks like Ifrit/Titan/Garuda, I don't want a pet

4. Should Summoner have a rezz?

• A: Yes

5. How simple or complex would you prefer Summoner to be?

• C: Moderate - I just want to feel like I earn my output

6. Do you prefer building up to or opening with powerful summons like Bahamut?

• C: Build up but with a way to speed it up for the opener

7. How do you feel demi summons are being handled? (pick any number)

• E: I would like more variety

8. Do you enjoy the mini-rotations of current summons?

• C: Only certain summons should have their own rotations so they feel more special

9. Would you rather cycle through summons or focus on one?

• A: I want to see every summon as much as possible

10. How do you feel about having summons like Shiva or non-primals like Diabolos?

• C: As long as they can be made to make sense, sure

[Brandr]

1. How are you enjoying Summoner in Dawntrail?
C: The design is good but it needs a lot of work
D: It needs a complete rework, something new

I'm in-between both these alternatives

2. How many summons should Summoner have?
D: A dozen or so sounds cool
E: ALL OF THE SUMMONS

Somewhere between a dozen and ALL OF THEM.
For context, FF6 have 25 summon creatures.

3. Would you prefer summons as pets or something else?
Pet would be cool but I wouldn't cry if it weren't.

4. Should Summoner have a rezz?
D: Only if it becomes a role action

5. How simple or complex would you prefer Summoner to be?
C: Moderate - I just want to feel like I earn my output

6. Do you prefer building up to or opening with powerful summons like Bahamut?
A: Build up with the potential for loss of progress on death

7. How do you feel demi summons are being handled? (pick any number)
B: I wish I could choose between them
E: I would like more variety

Both these.

8. Do you enjoy the mini-rotations of current summons?
B: Yes but I wish there was more to them
D: No, I prefer more consistency

Each summon should play like different classes:
If Ifrit is a mini-BLM,
Garuda should be like a mini-RDM,
Titan like a mini-WAR,
if we get Yojimbo it should be like a mini-SAM, Ravana like a mini-Viper, etc.

9. Would you rather cycle through summons or focus on one?
A: I want to see every summon as much as possible

10. How do you feel about having summons like Shiva or non-primals like Diabolos?
C: As long as they can be made to make sense, sure

Though any concept can summoned. That's how FFXIV version of Necron came to be.

[Brandr]

It's been over 4 years since old Summoner was Old Yellered, how is everyone feeling about its replacement?

I made a little questionnaire for anyone interested in giving their input: Summoner Questionnaire

I'm working on a rework of sorts for fun and am curious to know what others would like to see.

Edit: The questionnaire wasn't working, remade it elsewhere and updated the link.

Btw, questionnaire still not working. The site says this survey is offline.

[Reginald_Cain]

1 B
2 C I just want all 6 primary elements and leviathan Shiva ramuh. No Lunar phoenix please.
3 B I miss titan tanking fates for me but Im also okay with the modern Clive style.
4 A
5 B or C not stormblood complex but not endwalker easy. Shadowbringers felt good.
6 D rampers suck in this game. I hate dying on summoner bard and red mage so much. You are so cooked.
7 N/A solar Bahamut ruined to clean cycling of bahamut and Phoenix i fell in love with in Shadowbringers and it looks disgusting. If he gets lunar cou terrarium before we get the 3 missing primary element gem summo s I'll crash out. If we get a new demi it better be Odin or diabolos for dark element.
8 B make slipstream apply a dot debuff that stays on enemies that walk in it. Also make the level 86 primal skills available at level 50. The job is awful at levels under 90.
9 A make the whole kit usable not 90% ifrit 10% garuda and 0% titan again.
10 A/C I want Shiva leviathan and ramuh but id like the rest beyond that to make sense. Solar Bahmut makes no sense and is ugly.

[Tulzscha]

Btw, questionnaire still not working. The site says this survey is offline.

Augh. Should be up now.