Can players' interests and needs be balanced?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Can players' interests and needs be balanced?

I think - much as Yellow Mage has added - that Jobs like Scholar and Dancer's ulterior design is to free up jobs like RDM and SMN from the healer role, in addtion to moving WHM back to the forefront.

If Dancer is a capable healer and can Haste allies, then MP endurance and RDM's Haste are less relevant, but it could also leave the specialist on White Magic some room to back a Dancer up. Scholar being able to change schools on the fly would also serve to take the pressure or RDM and SMN to main heal.

The thing is, this would take a great deal of time to change. I don't think even the ToA jobs have fully settled into the game yet. PUP is just finally coming into its own and CORs are still sparse. Not to mention many CORs ram their heads against the wall, misunderstanding the job and trying to play it exactly like a BRD when, in some ways, it has a lot more freedom than BRDs. BLU has conveniently pigeonholed itself as a DD, but I think players are going to get wise to those antics in time and see that they, too, are capable of support.

I for one, am no longer reliant on BRD nor do I feel boxed in as one - I have seen to that and anyone that wants to insist that I should play BRD for any situation other than those of my choosing can kindly piss off. Just because you are whipped on BRD does not mean you are owed a BRD. No one dictates what I play, not until you start paying my monthly fees and for my internet connection.

If I offer my BRD, then you may ask for it. If I say "RNG or COR?" then BRD clearly isn't among your options. If you want a BRD so bad, then you level one.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Can players' interests and needs be balanced?

I nominate this question to asked at Fan Fest above all others!

White Grimoire is one of the things to be considered, yes, but there's also Dancer, and it's TP-required Healing Steps. Those could be part of the solution, as well.

[tdh]

Re: Can players' interests and needs be balanced?

I think it was worded well, and I agree that it's a problem that needs some attention. I was really hoping that the new expansion would introduce a new tanking class, and I don't see Dancer being a tank for those who still think that's what the job is.

In all previous FF games, I have gone through all the work to gain all the available Summons, side quest for them, as they were about as awesome as it got for most of the games. I enjoyed the story behind them, I enjoyed the challenge, and I enjoyed their power. FFXI SMN has been a sub job for a very long time. When I say subjob, I mean sub to other jobs like WHM/SMN and I mean being a WHM when they're actually a SMN/WHM.

Similar things have happened to RDM, as we are now Pimp Mages who's only role in the game is Healing Magic. I have no problem with putting my skills to use, but when one skill has become my only reason for being useful - which isn't out best skill - I take an issue. My favorite job has become my least used job because of this.

I'm all for fan base made adjustments. I think it's a great way to challenge the player and the developers, but there also has to be a balance. When a SMN is no longer (Never was) a SMN, something needs to be done. When RDM gets watered down, something needs to be done. When THFs are being replaced by anybody with /THF, something needs to happen. When the player base excludes another job because they don't "fit in" something needs to happen. Now the two handed update helped the two handers re-enter the TP Burn, but still didn't address their main problem. (DLY) TP Burns have still excluded BLMs, and vice versa with Manaburns. I really feel something needs to happen to bring the masses back together. We have a complete "generation" of BLMs who have no idea how to party. So the rare occasion that they are included with the melee world, they do not know how to function within the group. Same goes with a melees who complain when they die, but WS 2 seconds after initial pull. There's a rift between the jobs, and I for one would like to see it lessen, if not close.

It's been a long time since we heard the "all jobs will get an adjustment" announcement while only a small group of them appear to have received any love. New jobs to distract us from short comings only last for so long. Sorry to say I don't have any suggestions that wouldn't cause other problems, but we'd like to know if something is being done/tested to address any of these concerns.

[Taskmage]

Re: Can players' interests and needs be balanced?

For a lot of jobs, yes, the problem is the players and it's not something that can be fixed.

Not directly, but there are things that could be done to make the necessary roles more attractive to more players to indirectly alleviate the problem.

For the matter of main healing for example, nobody likes being a cure bot but it's so time and mp intensive to do that it's very hard to juggle along with things that people consider more fun, like meleeing, summoning or using damage spells. If the cast time and cost of curative spells was lower then versatile-type jobs that can cure could regain some of their versatility. As a side effect, the demand for refreshers might be slightly lessened. Thinking optimistically, this may be what they had in mind when they created White Grimoire.

Obviously it's a complex problem and I only took a stab at a small part of it, but there are things the developers can do to nudge player attitudes into directions that would make the game more fun for them.

[Mhurron]

Re: Can players' interests and needs be balanced?

I really believe this is the underlying problem with most of the job griping that's left in the game.

For a lot of jobs, yes, the problem is the players and it's not something that can be fixed.

[Taskmage]

Re: Can players' interests and needs be balanced?

This is really broad ... I tried to word it as clearly and concisely as possible, but if you guys have interest in making this one of our ten questions it could probably still use some cleanup and I welcome suggestions. I really believe this is the underlying problem with most of the job griping that's left in the game.

[Taskmage]

There has been a longstanding difference between the interest of the playerbase in playing certain jobs and roles and the percieved need for those classes for forming successful parties and alliances. Over time, this has caused many players and jobs to become pigeonholed into roles that are less enjoyable to play. For example, many red mages and summoners feel their jobs' uniqueness is eclipsed by their ability to perform the critical healer position in a party, many players who have leveled bard feel trapped by the demand of their job into never getting to play anything else, and there is a general sentiment of there not being enough tanks to go around. What solutions are you considering to make more necessary roles more attractive to players?