I sort of wish players could only choose one job.

[Mikita]

I personally like being able to switch to any class or any job at any time.

FFXIV was the first online game I played, so being able to change jobs at any time is "natural" to me. Afterwards I tried another MMORPG where you can't switch... and very honestly, I hated that restriction.

I primarily play White Mage and my friends know that. When necessary, or for a change, I may play Black Mage or Bard... but being able to switch to a different job doesn't take away from -my- identity.

Being able to switch gives players freedom and flexibility, as well as to Linkshells and parties. It also means I only need one character, and at least for me, it means that I have grown very attached to my character and will continue to play for a long time.

[tymora]

1 character multiple jobs = more time spent = deeper attachment = better chance of staying on the game.

Its good from a marketing point of view too!

[Dannythm]

FFVII kind of uses a job system through the materia.

[KyahAlmasy]

Doing everything over again for 10+ different classes on 10+ different chatacters and the feeling of having let's say credit for a kill or something that would be exclusive to 1 character regardless of changes to make everything "account wide" is not appealing

the fact you can do everything on 1 character is a huge plus for people that like MMOs & Final fantasy, thank god for them introducing it in the offline games first though



only people who would be against it is the people that like alts and "different appearances" and thats a minority, atleast be glad you aren't paying for your alts anymore seperately

I see what you're saying, you want all your achievements and feats acknowledged on a single character, instead of having them spread apart on a bunch of alts. I understand and respect that.

But I feel as if it's in having to do those things again with that new job that would make the reward appealing. The hard work and effort only serve to bolster the sense of accomplishment once you've endured it. For example, the feeling of fulfillment for getting a weapon from a low-level dungeon is no where near as appealing than achieving a weapon from an end game dungeon. Like working hard to level a new job, there's a notoriety with earning a weapon from a hard boss.

In the end, I feel like it is this inherent "unappealing" nature of leveling and having to go through lots of work that would put a cog in the large proliferation of jobs and return that sense of accomplishment when you finally reached your level cap. Because personally it was so easy that I barely blinked a lid.

[Nix]

But I think the idea of leveling a job should feel daunting, and be difficult to a reasonable degree. I mean, the reward of working hard for something is certainly far more satisfying than having something catered to me so that it's easily achievable for everyone and thus is a common commodity.

When I played WoW, if I made a new alt I had to go about leveling and unlocked everything again. Mounts, instances, and towns, but its through that journey that I would learn and become a skilled player through experience in having to solely use that job. Not just have that job at cap with little to no idea how to use it. I never felt that doing those things wasn't worth the reward of having a new job to play with. Perhaps in FFXI, I'd agree.

Daunting I agree with but I don't think it should be so difficult as to turn people off from wanting to experience more. A difficult levelling path won't miraculously make great players - you're going to get people that are PL'd, barely scraped by or just generally awful regardless of how hard the levelling path was, the only difference is that it will take them a bit longer to cap D:

I understand what you mean about gaining knowledge through experience, but why can't you get that experience on the same character? You're still having to level the job ; ;. I played WoW for a little bit (got dragged into it by a friend) and getting a mount didn't help me learn how to conserve mana in a raid D: (but I freaking loved that moonkin transformation haha)

[KyahAlmasy]

Daunting I agree with but I don't think it should be so difficult as to turn people off from wanting to experience more. A difficult levelling path won't miraculously make great players - you're going to get people that are PL'd, barely scraped by or just generally awful regardless of how hard the levelling path was, the only difference is that it will take them a bit longer to cap D:

I understand what you mean about gaining knowledge through experience, but why can't you get that experience on the same character? You're still having to level the job ; ;. I played WoW for a little bit (got dragged into it by a friend) and getting a mount didn't help me learn how to conserve mana in a raid D: (but I freaking loved that moonkin transformation haha)

Well, the idea is that when one player has one job that they main and wish to progress with, that their position in the party "feels" important and needed to the party. A sensation that is rather mild when the white mage next to you possesses better DD gear for your class than you do. I guess, in a sense I relate defining a character by their job directly to Final Fantasy. Which strikes those nostalgic cords along my heart.

I personally wouldn't think the idea of leveling a new character would prove too daunting for me to not consider it. Druids could actually be a good example of what I'm trying to say, actually. When I played WoW, I mained a Priest. I loved her, from her arsenal of diverse healing spells to the way her armor looked. But Druids were always so captivating as well, the idea of shifting form to whatever circumstance was such a different change of pace. And though I wasn't thrilled about having to go through that grueling leveling process, I knew the hard work would all be worth it in the end.

I like to believe the harder you work for something, the greater significance it has. I marveled at Druid players because of all the spells and hard work they went through to get to that point. The same applies to jobs in a sense, if we had to work harder for them they'd hold a heavier bearing and more respect as a job. On this game its so easy to level that I hardly ever bated an eye when someone told me they capped out another job.

[Colino]

The armory system has always been the most appealing feature to me. Not to mention it is the most exciting thing about the game for people who don't play it, every time I describe it to a friend they are instantly interested in the game because it's just so different from every other mmo.

[Saiph]

Ok let's look at the Final Fantasy games and it's "Job systems".

FFI: set jobs/roles but you can choose how many of every job you want at ebginning
FFII: no jobs but every character can do what he wants
FFIII: free job system
FFIV: set roles/jobs
FFV: free job system
FFVI: set roles but magic is learned through espers which you can equip as you want
FFVII: limit breaks and freely usable materia system
FFVIII: limite breaks and freely switchable GFs and Magic system
FFIX: set/jobs roles
FFX: freely usable Spheregrid + Overdrives which you can consider a bit job like
FFXI: free job system
FFXII: license board

As we see only FFIV and FFIX has really set roles through the whole game. In FFI you can decide at the begining but it's set after that.
The rest has either a completly free system or set system for character + a free system.

[Zenaku]

I think the point of FFXI/FFXIV main reason i like it is only take one char to level everything. You take that away from FFXI/FFXIV and it just a normal standard MMO like everyone else.

Sorry but i never want FFXIV to only allow you to be one class. I think the main reason for allowing us to level all job one char is story. Unlike other MMO out there FFXI/FFXIV focus a lot more on story telling while other game focus on dungeon and pvp. FFXIV is becoming a game where it still focus on that story telling but have that great dungeon/pvp feel with it.

I'm happy that FFXIV can level all jobs the only thing that i dislike is you could level all craft that should have a limit but w/e.

[Kallera]

One of the first things that comes to mind when I think of Final Fantasy are the jobs, like White Mage, Black Mage, Monk, etc and that the characters were normally reined to one role and thus were indispensable for their unique abilities. (Well, for the most part that is.) It is this, I think that allows others to more readily respect and appreciate the significance of that specific role and player when it isn't so easily replaceable, or if at all. The player and their name sort of becomes renowned with that role.

I mean when if I wanted Black Magic I think of Vivi, the black mage. Martial combat? The monk, Tifa Lockhart of course. The list goes on, but if these characters were allowed to change their abilities freely, like lets say give Vivi a sword and Tifa a staff they wouldn't be as iconic to these roles as they are now.

Lastly I feel like allowing players to change their roles at will takes away from the traditional Final Fantasy experience, and overall makes it less gratifying to play a Job when you can potentially be replaced by anyone and everyone in your party at the flick of the wrist.

In the end, I understand why others like it and why it's detrimental to playing online, but just wanted to share why I don't particularly like it myself. Perhaps my ideals are a little dated. lol

What do you think? (Sorry if this is a misplaced thread, or repeat.)

It is the ability to switch jobs that make a more unique experience for Final Fantasy compared to other MMORPGs. Tifa was the summoner/blm in my playthrough, and I didn't use her as much as the awesome Cid, who I found a breath of fresh air in a genre all too populated by prototypes and pretty people (and all but steamrolled Sephiroth with 4x cut).

My experience is different from yours, who's different with someone else's. Traditionally speaking, switching jobs isn't new. In the genre of MMOs, switching jobs is a welcome addition, tracking which alt is good at the cooking is a hassle I do not want. And I get attached to the alt I'm playing, to the point that I forget which is the alt and which is the main. This isn't merely because of what they do, it because of their character, the character I portray through them. And think, with each alt all your adventures got forgotten. Unless you have no adventures to begin with, how sad is that?