Quote Originally Posted by Duelle View Post
RDM was a poorly-designed generalist. Team Tanaka decided to invent the refresh niche because they couldn't be bothered to fix RDM nor make BRD more attractive to play. Players forced RDM into healing because FFXI had a horrible distribution of roles. Summoner was also a victim of this, sadly.
Player-created role that would have been nerfed within a week of being discovered under any normal, rational developer team that could take scope of what that would do to encounter design and overall class balance.
I wouldn't be so bothered by it had it been someone that actually had a history of being a support class. Like oracle or maybe scholar (which was eventually introduced much later). Instead it inexplicably fell on the guy with a sword in hand that happens to be able to cast magic. I'm just here to comment in hopes that crap does not repeat itself.

I also know what led certain classes down that road, and wish to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Poorly designed generalist? Well let's talk rdm for a minute.

Back before SE upped the level cap there were a bunch of mobs that cannot be low manned or solo'd except by rdm. Fairly powerful no?

Examples and if you really want hope on Sylph server speak with yetimon and Smokari.

They have (most older guys on the server have seen this) low manned Tiamat, Jorm, KB, Faffy, most of sea, Seiryu, Turtle, and other nm's that after not playing for 14 months I cannot remember any more. usually their setup was 4-6 mostly rdm and 1 pld/nin. Now these mobs even then many times took 10-18 people to take down. Their rdm were not just refresh whores they were there doing damage from DOT, to small nukes, to melee(unless tp restricted).

RDM was not a poor generalist, as a solo fighter and in a group stance, a well macro'd and geared RDM could stand against the toughest nm's the game through at the players. Those who understood RDM knew their strengths and weaknesses.

We can speak about SMN.

When talking HNM's SMN had three roles buff, back up emergency heal, and Damage using summons. When ls's first started doing the land wyrms the accepted method at the time was tank+heal+buff pt, and then through as many SMN's as we can because Garuda will do high spike dmg, and then we can uncast them to shed hate, rinse and repeat.

No one class in that game did not have uses or a way to use that class. The players themselves had pigeon holed people into job and subjob combos for different uses depending on the nature of the mob and what its strengths and weaknesses were. That is how strategy works once you find a working strategy you follow it so you don't get defeat. All games are built on layered systems, once you understand the system you understand the game and you defeat the challenge ahead of you.


Now back to exp since that'sthe thread topic. Take exping most payers do not like it hence they want to do it as fast as possible and get to the content where ever it resides, mid game/end game. So in exp pt's most parties were fairly open to getting any job once they filled certain roles tank/heal/buff/nuke pre ToAU, post TOAU there was fast DOT melee, healer, buff was what players looked for to get maximum exp in minnimum time.

Even in XIV everything is fast and less grindy over all compared to xi, but to bring back systems that made the monotony of grinding a little more fun is not a bad thing. Also in XIV there is much less strategy, much stronger pc's, and weaker mobs making sp'ing very easy and worth doing between resets. But why bother when we are still waiting until the meaty content comes? right now unless you really want to you don't need strategy to kill stuff fast and efficiently while using resource management.

This game does not require thinking on a high level like xi did. So Duelle I would suggest having better arguments and some for thought about what someone will counter when you make a statement but with not much behind as proof.

Also www.youtube.com

search rdm solo
rdm low man
rdm anything and you'll see rdm was not a poorly developed job