Please Reconsider Splitting Main and Off-Tank Roles Based on Job

[Carighan]

Subrole split is orthogonal to balance though

It is not.

Or more specifically, it is enabling tighter balance. Because it creates more specific contexts in which classes need to be fully balanced. MTs only need to be balanced if they're the one currently getting punched. OTs only need to be balanced if they're not. Neither needs to be balanced in the other role, and not against each other either (at least not too tightly).

Now of course, utopian-lense you could say "But just balance everything 100% as-is?!?!?!?!!!!!". Yes, that's what people have been asking for since 1999 in MMORPGs. Has it ever happened? Not in the slightest. But over the years certain ways of mitigating the impact of imbalance have been found. For example, it's okay if some classes are not as durable as others, and that's okay. We call the former "DPS" and the latter "tanks". We balance this by taking some damage from the latter players, but designing fights so that usually they can't just be left out as only they are durable enough to withstand direct attacks.

Are these classes balanced on a target dummy? No, of course not. Are they balanced as a game design? Yes, if done correctly. Splitting into roles does not go against balance, unless your understanding of balance ends at "What DPS number do I produce with programs I'm not allowed to actually use, at a target dummy".