And the reason I say that is because a few of the core jobs are really quite different in terms of theming, story, and even animations from their later incarnations.
The one that most comes to mind for me, at least, is rogue. Personally, I would much rather play a rogue than a ninja is pretty much any Final Fantasy setting (I'm of the belief that Locke is more compelling than Shadow or Edge, but I know there are tons of people who would go the other way). A rogue is a thief; a brigand; a social outcast who lives off their wits. By contrast, ninjas generally operate under some kind of code - their trade is heavily influenced by eastern traditions, mysticism, Bushido, etc. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the transition from a rogue to a ninja is an enormous stretch - the difference between a dirty pit fighter who gets his or her nose bloodied often, and being such an astoundingly slick warrior as to be nigh-unhittable. FFXIV reflects this transition by essentially dumping the majority of the rogue kit the moment you become a ninja - you've "outgrown" everything from abilities to animations (ninjas and rogues don't even run the same).
Another example of this is archer. Yes, archers and bards both use the bow (at least in FFXIV, they do). But, really, is becoming a minstrel a natural evolution of the traditional ranger? How does one go from slinging arrows to strumming a lute? Similarly, how about pugilist to monk? One moment, you're a brawler... the next, a mystic. I think a strong case could be made that there is as wide a gulf between a boxer and a warrior monk as this is a rogue and a ninja.
I understand the reasoning behind these evolutions - that they a) in some ways mimic the job system in Final Fantasy Tactics - where there isn't necessarily a direct line between one job and another - and b) that it used to be that there were other components to these classes that helped make the swap feel more natural (a gladiator directly becoming a paladin makes a lot more sense when you've had to actually level a healer to make it happen). And, I am by no means arguing that we should return to some formula where people have to play 3-4 jobs they have no interest in just to unlock the class they actually want to play.
But... I also think it would be really nice if rogue and ninja; archer and bard, etc., weren't necessarily lumped together in some oozing mass. I'd like to play an 80 rogue; I have no interest in playing an 80 ninja. Just because they both use daggers doesn't mean they should be considered the same thing (even FFT strongly distinguished between the two; it wasn't natural that a thief became a ninja - you could play a thief all the way to the Ultima fight) - especially now that SE has removed the justification for how you went from point A to point F.
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The one that most comes to mind for me, at least, is rogue. Personally, I would much rather play a rogue than a ninja is pretty much any Final Fantasy setting (I'm of the belief that Locke is more compelling than Shadow or Edge, but I know there are tons of people who would go the other way). A rogue is a thief; a brigand; a social outcast who lives off their wits. By contrast, ninjas generally operate under some kind of code - their trade is heavily influenced by eastern traditions, mysticism, Bushido, etc. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the transition from a rogue to a ninja is an enormous stretch - the difference between a dirty pit fighter who gets his or her nose bloodied often, and being such an astoundingly slick warrior as to be nigh-unhittable. FFXIV reflects this transition by essentially dumping the majority of the rogue kit the moment you become a ninja - you've "outgrown" everything from abilities to animations (ninjas and rogues don't even run the same).
Another example of this is archer. Yes, archers and bards both use the bow (at least in FFXIV, they do). But, really, is becoming a minstrel a natural evolution of the traditional ranger? How does one go from slinging arrows to strumming a lute? Similarly, how about pugilist to monk? One moment, you're a brawler... the next, a mystic. I think a strong case could be made that there is as wide a gulf between a boxer and a warrior monk as this is a rogue and a ninja.
I understand the reasoning behind these evolutions - that they a) in some ways mimic the job system in Final Fantasy Tactics - where there isn't necessarily a direct line between one job and another - and b) that it used to be that there were other components to these classes that helped make the swap feel more natural (a gladiator directly becoming a paladin makes a lot more sense when you've had to actually level a healer to make it happen). And, I am by no means arguing that we should return to some formula where people have to play 3-4 jobs they have no interest in just to unlock the class they actually want to play.
But... I also think it would be really nice if rogue and ninja; archer and bard, etc., weren't necessarily lumped together in some oozing mass. I'd like to play an 80 rogue; I have no interest in playing an 80 ninja. Just because they both use daggers doesn't mean they should be considered the same thing (even FFT strongly distinguished between the two; it wasn't natural that a thief became a ninja - you could play a thief all the way to the Ultima fight) - especially now that SE has removed the justification for how you went from point A to point F.
Continue reading...