Re: Campaign Gets Reinforcements! (06/15/2009)
Bringing up the subject of partying in Campaign is, in a way, precisely one of the reasons I have doubts about just what sort of obligations you, as a job, should have to other people in Campaign. On the one hand, people generally don't party with each other. On the other, everybody should have an interest in actually winning as a group.
WHM, RDM, and PLD are held as having the highest responsibility of keeping people are cured. They are not the only jobs capable of curing. BLUs, DNCs, and SCHs can do it too. And BLUs are among the most popular jobs for Campaign for reasons that are very similar to WHM, RDM, and PLD. But don't be fooled by their "Need TP to function" retort. They actually have some pretty interesting ways to heal and support. In fact, when they are brought to events, their function often is not that of a damage dealer, but as a support unit (you might even see some of them wearing elemental staff!). It just so happens their support functions are often better done in the frontline. Much the same can be said about DNC. Yet they are often considered exempt from the above 3 precisely because they cannot heal outside of their party.
Demanding for cures from these jobs is tied to wanting somebody to watch your back without the baggage of actually inviting them. 1) Because you're suddenly responsible for them, whether that responsibility is perceived or actual. 2) Because you don't want to take your Seek down cause you really want a party.
Other things that mess with the Campaign "Is this a group event?" dilemma are:
- SCH. Their AoE abilities work, but only if they target an NPC. For example, if they want to give everybody in the area Protect, they must use Accession Protect on an NPC, not a PC. If you use it on a PC, it will only Protect that person's party. That means things like AoE Stoneskin or AoE Enspell are off unless you invite them to party. And the benefits reaped from them make less of an impact the smaller the party is.
- WHM runs into a similar problem with Regen. That's a big one, WHM is cut out of using one their most MP efficient means of keeping people alive. All they are left with, if they want to play a dedicated healer role, is Cures. Same with RDM who cannot Phalanx II people outside of their parties.
- SMN's Avatar Blood pacts work in on everybody in range, regardless of their party status with respect to the SMN. They don't have to party with anybody for people to benefit from their Blood Pacts. Unfortunately, because of the way their ability timers work, they still have to think about either what will best aid the situation, or what will maximize their own EXP. It's not always mutually exclusive, but the two don't always coincide either...And the whole Mp thing...
Until they take out the ambiguities about who wants to party and who doesn't, there's simply no way to fulfill a healer role and truly be 100% efficient at it. That is on top of the fact that, as Campaign is now, simply fulfilling one role is not as rewarding to EXP. Incidentally, if they made it so Waltzes, etc. healed outside of the party, so many less people would die since healing responsibility can be more spread out while still allowing people to maintain their non-party status.
Bringing up the subject of partying in Campaign is, in a way, precisely one of the reasons I have doubts about just what sort of obligations you, as a job, should have to other people in Campaign. On the one hand, people generally don't party with each other. On the other, everybody should have an interest in actually winning as a group.
WHM, RDM, and PLD are held as having the highest responsibility of keeping people are cured. They are not the only jobs capable of curing. BLUs, DNCs, and SCHs can do it too. And BLUs are among the most popular jobs for Campaign for reasons that are very similar to WHM, RDM, and PLD. But don't be fooled by their "Need TP to function" retort. They actually have some pretty interesting ways to heal and support. In fact, when they are brought to events, their function often is not that of a damage dealer, but as a support unit (you might even see some of them wearing elemental staff!). It just so happens their support functions are often better done in the frontline. Much the same can be said about DNC. Yet they are often considered exempt from the above 3 precisely because they cannot heal outside of their party.
Demanding for cures from these jobs is tied to wanting somebody to watch your back without the baggage of actually inviting them. 1) Because you're suddenly responsible for them, whether that responsibility is perceived or actual. 2) Because you don't want to take your Seek down cause you really want a party.
Other things that mess with the Campaign "Is this a group event?" dilemma are:
- SCH. Their AoE abilities work, but only if they target an NPC. For example, if they want to give everybody in the area Protect, they must use Accession Protect on an NPC, not a PC. If you use it on a PC, it will only Protect that person's party. That means things like AoE Stoneskin or AoE Enspell are off unless you invite them to party. And the benefits reaped from them make less of an impact the smaller the party is.
- WHM runs into a similar problem with Regen. That's a big one, WHM is cut out of using one their most MP efficient means of keeping people alive. All they are left with, if they want to play a dedicated healer role, is Cures. Same with RDM who cannot Phalanx II people outside of their parties.
- SMN's Avatar Blood pacts work in on everybody in range, regardless of their party status with respect to the SMN. They don't have to party with anybody for people to benefit from their Blood Pacts. Unfortunately, because of the way their ability timers work, they still have to think about either what will best aid the situation, or what will maximize their own EXP. It's not always mutually exclusive, but the two don't always coincide either...And the whole Mp thing...
Until they take out the ambiguities about who wants to party and who doesn't, there's simply no way to fulfill a healer role and truly be 100% efficient at it. That is on top of the fact that, as Campaign is now, simply fulfilling one role is not as rewarding to EXP. Incidentally, if they made it so Waltzes, etc. healed outside of the party, so many less people would die since healing responsibility can be more spread out while still allowing people to maintain their non-party status.
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