I sort of wish players could only choose one job.

[Kallera]

I think I start to feel a little disconnected to FFXIV when my tank changes out of his plated armor and into a dress. And if we are going to split hairs let me point out that learning how to bake, play tennis, and ride horses aren't exactly difficult things to learn in comparison to what our characters endure to level a job. I can say this because I actually work in a Bakery, my mother owns horses, and I played tennis in high school.

I mean, how likely is it to meet someone who is an expert at everything? Because that's exactly what our characters in FFXIV are made out to be. If I were to try to make a correlation in real life, it would be like someone attending college and getting a masters degree in everything. Is it cool to play a character who excels in everything? Definitely! Realistic? I don't think so.


It's this that ruins my immersion, when I was playing FXIV I felt like I could actually feel reality warping to suit the needs, desires, and actions of my character. Is a certain job restricted only to the best, to a certain gender, or to a certain type of person? Regardless, my character was will be able to get in, on account of her incredible skills/communication, etc. My character is the only one who is able to fix things, because the things get fixed in response to her. It is like challenges of taking on that job to the typical person in the game has a 'blurry' sense, as if it has been shunted aside, like experience, central themes, etc. in favor of the character. It's as if... oh, something doesn't really exist until we come in contact with it. It's gotten to the point that our character could go into a field and grab a cup and a box of cookies, yet you really had no idea they were there, til she makes them appear. Is it likely that these things may have occurred to a character in that world for one of these jobs, probably. All of them? I highly doubt it.

Essentially, our characters have been molded into "Mary-sues" who are always in the right place at the right time. I would rather play a character who took on a realistic amount of challenges, with reasonable difficulty so that when I finally achieved my goal I would really feel like I've earned it. Not like it was handed to me with little effort on my part. For example: The Sue goes into the kitchen and grabs a cup and a box of cookies, yet you really had no idea that she was in a room, in a house, in a place with access to cookies til she makes them appear.

Even in FFXIV the NPC's are shocked at how our character seems to innately pick up a job with such ease, despite how their background would suggest that they spent their entire life training and working to get where our characters are in only a few days. And I want to remind you that I'm not going trying to say that you're wrong, or that my opinion is somehow better, I'm merely pointing out why I feel the way I do.

No one is forcing you to help others or be helpful in turn with the way things are now. But instead you want to force uselessness on everyone else. Unless you are going to pad out the exp bar to absurd levels, of course it won't resemble the skill progression of real life. But only time and effort keep you from getting better at a task. Or do you want aging to occur in game too?