Hello.

This is a message I was writing and I would like to post it now, updating it after what I read today, while I wait for auroras to catch the final glimpses of the current Eorzea. Thanks if the community reps could forward it to Yoshida-san and his team.
For the other readers, here I'm talking about something quite specific and as usual if you miss one line you'll most likely understand the opposite of what I'm trying to say. This could probably be understood better if Monk is your main Job and, even if you have all the battle classes at level 50, is still the one you enjoy the most.

Just a few days ago, Yoshida gave me the good news that in A Realm Reborn Speed Runs won't be mandatory as they're now and that we adventurers will be able to stay in the dungeons as much as we want.

Today I'm reading another unexpected statement, precisely this (thanks to Reinheart for the translation):

Yoshida: Battle will change a lot. Specially for MNK want to say sorry
Warning: This is not a post to discuss if this will either be good or bad, as we can't know yet from that single sentence.
However, I would like to use this occasion to say how Monk works now.

I stay in Eorzea at particular time zones, so it's quite difficult to do events with adventurers that I know and I mainly play with japanese pals.
In the last weeks, however, since I'm trying to complete 3 special tasks before A Realm Reborn, I've reactivated the shout filters in Ul'dah, and noticed that the treatment to Monks hasn't changed.
I can at least amuse myself to the different type of refusals/disagreements I get each time I ask to join a party , and I always take a screen of them to have a further laugh later and read again the dialogues.
The following 3 are some of the most recent ones:







I cannot cut, edit and upload every single picture I've labeled in my folder as: “Monk, no thanks!”, but trust my Subliman's word that there're a lot more.
About the above 3 examples, why those adventurers were puzzled? What battle could that have been? Cutter's Cry? Garuda? No... Ifrit! Yes! Lately I've been noticing that Monks don't seem requested anymore for Ifrit as well.
The fun thing about the messages above is that who said that, even if the party won the battle, found themselves horizontal during the fight. All of them. I won't post the screen with the big red arrow I drew pointing at the corpse of the Thaumaturge, though, lest he be around and not get the humour of it.

Keep in mind that I'm talking about this according to my experience. Then of course, if *you* are a Monk like me, you know as much as I do that with a Monk in party Ifrit can go down in less than 8 minutes, like I usually kill him in a good party. If there're no mistakes, the food I eat lasts me for the following match, too.
And most importantly, I've fun in battling the Lord of the Inferno each time. I don't need the Inferno Totems, but just fight him because I like doing it and he remains the primal I prefer.

So, partly, this commonplace of Monks being worse than other Jobs is just that: a commonplace.
Sincerely I've no idea when it arrived. It must be always due to that Speed Runs/AoE feast trend that was introduced... Holy Aldgoat, when I think about it, just like today when I participated in Caravan Escorts with 2 different groups (I wasn't doing almost anything, due to Black Mages killing everything with AoE at light speed), I always turn like this:



Therefore, Monks are now feared for Ifrit parties as well. And of course, for Garuda, in the last weeks I've not seen a single shout asking for Monks. Like I said, since I play at particular times, I cannot often find 7 adventurers online contemporaneously. I'm mainly on around Japanese evening-night hours, and they're the only ones who make a good use of the very useful Party Recruit function.
So I read the shout and look for the Recruit, just to not find it, meaning my Job is not requested, and translating the kanji Monks are indeed left out of Garuda parties as well.

This of course doesn't mean that Monks are useless for Garuda. Again, if you're a Monk, you know you aren't. Simply, adventurers tend to prefer other Jobs, faster Jobs.


In the past I had already illustrated how Monks cannot get parties for Speed Runs, except of course from friends or linkshell who want to do atypical runs (and I give those a big /clap).
I'm a Monk, my main and only Job as a Disciple of War, I've no interest to level up the other Classes and if one day I will, it'll be only for the beautiful quests.

Due to the bad design of the Speed Runs, there's not a chance in the world to find a random group for them, even though for the Aurum Vale is indeed possible to do the Speed Run, like shown in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVlLSzCff_o

I may talk about Skirmish as well. Those 2 islands are made in a way that, once again, tend to ask for “Burn parties” (I think that's how they're called).
There's Locke's Lie that is good for melees, particularly for Monks with the right “Fist of” skill activated, while Turtleback Island – that, allows me to say, with those giants running around is my favourite – tend to favor long-range Jobs. Starting from the Greater Buffalo, close-range fighters are at a disadvantage... but that's where the fun is! I have a blast in fighting the buffalo, timing the Stuns correctly he can hardly ever attack and when he does, having High Evasion helps; and once this first obstacle is cleared, there're the other colossi (I particularly like the Bixie and incapacitate its evil tail).

I stopped doing Skirmish with random groups because we were always going to that Locke's Lie and when I asked: “Hey, can we go to the other island to vary a bit?”, you can imagine the answer.


Since I cannot force adventurers to open their mind and don't be afraid to try different Jobs combinations, at least I can ask Yoshida-san and the dev team to put a balance to this Job for a Realm Reborn.

I like my Job of Monk, have fun with it and can get parties with open-minded adventurers that I know, so I'm not complaining about anything here (what could be misinterpreted). I'm not worrying in advance for that statement of Yoshida. This is a message I was already writing on the current situation, and I'm sure whatever they'll do I'll still enjoy my Job.
But what I illustrated is simply how it works now for Monks, tested and proved, and there's no denying that, at the current state, Monk is the most flawed of all the Jobs.

That said, I don't know why Yoshida apologized to Monks for the changes in A Realm Reborn, but I hope that this Job will be more balanced and requested, particularly thinking about the Content Finder feature.
Let us Monks really shine in the New Eorzea!

Thanks for reading.

Cloudio Onizuka, still proud Monk of Eorzea