Full disclosure; I am (or was) a BLM player normally LMAO but please; just hear out the things I want to discuss and get the thoughts of others on. I just don't feel like the community is being heard while the FFXIV team is focusing on fight design.
Endwalker to Dawntrail Job Changes
Endwalker finishes and Dawntrail is released - it was openly stated that the team would be be focusing on fight design, and job identity would be addressed in 8.0. The statement in itself is not the worst - the level 100 versions of each job are mostly the same as Endwalker, with a few extra QoL changes, finishers, etc. The problem itself (I feel at least) is the dumbing down of almost all jobs since then.
DRK, MNK, DRG, BLM got the worst of it in my own personal feelings, but my point is that almost every job was made *simpler* - after running their courses for however many years in Endwalker. I don't see why the community would want to play almost the same jobs, but with less to them, for another whole expansion of several years? Which leads to my next thoughts: especially with that question in mind, even with a great raid, trial or dungeon, is it still fun if your jobs are simpler than the previous expansion?
The point of discussion I want to raise here with the community is: can you have good raid/trial/dungeon design if don't think the jobs you're playing are fun? In my head, it's like a Ferari on a tiny go-kart track, or some kind of sports race track but you only have a child's tricycle. I feel you need both, not just one or the other.
Pre 7.2 Pictomancer
Before I say my next point, a disclaimer: I have been playing on and off since Heavensward, but consider Shadowbringers the point where I really started getting into the game, so I do not know all the history of job balance. However, I can't think of any point in the games lifespan, where I've been playing or not, that has had a class as problematic as Pictomancer pre 7.2.
Why I think this is probably the most important part of why I feel SE is not hearing the community, is probably because.. it broke almost all of the content for a long time. Fights were ending so quickly that several mechanics were being skipped, in all difficulties of content across several different, previously end-game, level brackets. Everyone knew this, everyone knew that the class described as a 'no raise caster with a raid buff but will do less damage than black mage' shouldn't be doing the insane damage it did, and beating every other class by a mile regardless of whether it had downtime or not.
But SE flat out refused to listen to the community to nerf the job because it is a selling point of the expansion, even though it was breaking the games own content. This was happening for roughly 267 days (Dawntrail released on July 2, 2024, and the 7.2 adjustments were on March 25, 2025).
Continue reading...
Endwalker to Dawntrail Job Changes
Endwalker finishes and Dawntrail is released - it was openly stated that the team would be be focusing on fight design, and job identity would be addressed in 8.0. The statement in itself is not the worst - the level 100 versions of each job are mostly the same as Endwalker, with a few extra QoL changes, finishers, etc. The problem itself (I feel at least) is the dumbing down of almost all jobs since then.
DRK, MNK, DRG, BLM got the worst of it in my own personal feelings, but my point is that almost every job was made *simpler* - after running their courses for however many years in Endwalker. I don't see why the community would want to play almost the same jobs, but with less to them, for another whole expansion of several years? Which leads to my next thoughts: especially with that question in mind, even with a great raid, trial or dungeon, is it still fun if your jobs are simpler than the previous expansion?
The point of discussion I want to raise here with the community is: can you have good raid/trial/dungeon design if don't think the jobs you're playing are fun? In my head, it's like a Ferari on a tiny go-kart track, or some kind of sports race track but you only have a child's tricycle. I feel you need both, not just one or the other.
Pre 7.2 Pictomancer
Before I say my next point, a disclaimer: I have been playing on and off since Heavensward, but consider Shadowbringers the point where I really started getting into the game, so I do not know all the history of job balance. However, I can't think of any point in the games lifespan, where I've been playing or not, that has had a class as problematic as Pictomancer pre 7.2.
Why I think this is probably the most important part of why I feel SE is not hearing the community, is probably because.. it broke almost all of the content for a long time. Fights were ending so quickly that several mechanics were being skipped, in all difficulties of content across several different, previously end-game, level brackets. Everyone knew this, everyone knew that the class described as a 'no raise caster with a raid buff but will do less damage than black mage' shouldn't be doing the insane damage it did, and beating every other class by a mile regardless of whether it had downtime or not.
But SE flat out refused to listen to the community to nerf the job because it is a selling point of the expansion, even though it was breaking the games own content. This was happening for roughly 267 days (Dawntrail released on July 2, 2024, and the 7.2 adjustments were on March 25, 2025).
Continue reading...