Comments from the Devs

[Takiwaki]

The only real difference between DDs in 1.0 was close range (everything but...) or long range (...blm/brd), so the choice was mostly pretty clear in terms of difference. If you wanted a long range DD which was used for everything, you used BLM most likely. If you needed close range anything else was mostly fine.

The specifics of who does the best close range damage was usually pretty balanced, DRG and MNK were often interchangeable, though when one did better (DRG usually) the scales were tipped pretty heavily in ones favour to the point where the others don't really matter and since there's no benefit to having a job that does less damage, you get a lot of class stacking. WAR was always a lot weaker unless superbly geared, but then it could function as a tank so that was OK. PLD is weak but was supposed to be a much better tank to compensate, but this wasn't really the case so in most places PLD was simply inferior.

So in the end if all things are truly to be equal, SE needs to realise how coveted long range/safe damage is and how much better close range damage needs to be if you have to substitute safety for it. They also need to realise that all jobs need unique ways to contribute to the efficiency of the party beyond straight up dealing damage.

Thanks thats basically what I was trying to say. Yes my two statements that were highlighted above are contradictory, that was my point lol

[Lucavi]

Mother of God, Alpha OF posters are retarded. I can't say anything more, but GODDAMMIT.

[Lordender]

Mother of God, Alpha OF posters are retarded. I can't say anything more, but GODDAMMIT.

I thought Diablo 3's OF was bad but the Alpha OF takes the cake.

[Pooky]

"Jumping doesn't belong in this game" retarded or "I don't like the grass" retarded?

[Lucavi]

...

"Take away flavor quests because they're like WoW and I don't like them" levels of stupidity. "If you have flavor quests it'll take away from levequest development!" levels of stupidity. "All I'm asking is for some innovation!" levels of stupidity. I hope that's not breaking NDA, but christ almighty, I weep for the devs.

Like a babyface wrestler pushed past his breaking point, I had to rip my proverbial shirt off and storm down to the ring to deliver my own brand of Justice. It was polite and eloquent, as it was directed towards a community rep's post, but it was justice nonetheless.

[Elcura]

Encounter design plays a lot into it as well. SE made some some pretty awkward choices with encounters in relation to their battle system. Case in point, the NMs to flag for Moogle Mog. Not only did SE release the battle changes that required melee to move around the target to maximize their damage, they put them in an area that actively punished you for moving around in combat. They basically shat on the melee classes' chest and told them to change to range to be useful. If anything, SE needs to design content that brings a certain amount of danger to both range and melee, preferably something that breaks the "stand still" combat of 1.0.

Indeed, enemy design is a huge part of what classes are wanted and needed. Most fights are stacked to either favour close range damage or long range. The later fights displayed some need for both types (Garuda needed both physical and magical damage, Darnus needing various types of damage), but frankly it never went far enough. In Garuda MNK is rarely favoured over BLM or DRG despite being able to fulfill both types of damage, since both of those classes did better at their respective damage. In Rivenroad DRG simply did far more damage than MNK, and since you could have WHMs deal with the Golems since they can use wind magic, MNK wasn't strictly needed. Therefore, DRG was still the DD of choice, while BLM being the best ranged DD was the only sane choice to deal with the meteorites so while BRD could help it would not usually, often or even slightly tip the scales in case of emergency or retardation.

Ifrit was a bit different, at least in Extreme mode. You needed different types of DD to break horns and kill nails. DRG and MNK were pretty much equal in this respect, but because of the nature of the fight, MNK was favoured more, but realistically the difference was minimal. A well geared DRG could do just as well, and a competent player does not need Fists of Wind to avoid attacks. WAR was useful because it could output such good AoE damage, but it could also break the other horn effectively and deal decent damage (but not always outlandish damage, like MNK or DRG could). WAR couldn't really tank well in Ifrit because of the reliance of self-sustained healing, so PLD floated to the top and was useful, and because of the single target nature of the fight (and how long it can be) PLD's hate generation could be on par or miles better depending on competency. But on the flip side, BLM wasn't needed at all and BRD was relegated to mere support and not so much ranged damage. In this sense, the paradigm completely flipped, which was a nice change as it was when Ifrit originally came out (and before BLMs started raping hard mode so melees weren't needed), but it still wasn't perfect.

All three fights combined would make for a nice encounter that was varied, yet SE never really thought it through enough and along with their class design probably couldn't prevent a lot of the bullish behaviour the community had towards what classes were needed.

Edit: That OF stuff looks rough. I wish I could wade the waters too, even if it might be ultimately futile.

[Pooky]

...

"Take away flavor quests because they're like WoW and I don't like them" levels of stupidity. "If you have flavor quests it'll take away from levequest development!" levels of stupidity. "All I'm asking is for some innovation!" levels of stupidity. I hope that's not breaking NDA, but christ almighty, I weep for the devs.

Like a babyface wrestler pushed past his breaking point, I had to rip my proverbial shirt off and storm down to the ring to deliver my own brand of Justice. It was polite and eloquent, as it was directed towards a community rep's post, but it was justice nonetheless.

Ah. So just as bad as 1.0 beta OF, good to know.

[Lucavi]

I know I sometimes come off... rough at times here, but I speak truth in matters concerning these. These people will destroy what potential this game has if the Devs actually listen to them. Literally destroy. 2.0 will look just like 1.0. You'll see a UI change and little else if they have their way. Oh sure, we'll have Mithra breast physics and HQ skin detail to save us, but that's it.

Hopefully more and more of you will gain access and can reinforce me on the forums. I'll honestly need all the help I can get.

Wow. 10 minutes after my post and its been up-rated thrice. Perhaps I can make a difference!

I'll rally the enlightened and oppose the witless! Join me in arms, brethren~! Rally upon my banner! TO ARMS!

[Elcura]

Everyone on BG is pretty rough, this is a fairly aggressive forum even in the nicest parts.

[Lucavi]

Home sweet home, baby. <3

[Amiricle]

Haha yea, make the witless fear to press that submit button.

[Pooky]

Everyone on BG is pretty rough, this is a fairly aggressive forum even in the nicest parts.

And that's why we love it here <3

[Cichy]

All feedback I'm submitting is regarding gathering lol. I went to other threads and my head started hurting.

[Lokus]

Battle feedback is giving me an aneurysm. We need to knock some damn sense into these people.

[Lucavi]

/Frieza voice: "...and HERE we go again~!!"

"I think quest items drop too much! Its too easy! They should drop like 40% of the time! I shouldn't be able to get a rat tail every time I kill a rat! Its too much like WoW!"

I'm not making this stuff up, people. This is YOUR "superior Final Fantasy Community!" speaking.

[Pooky]

I'd like to see the statistics of how many "This is too much like WOW!" people actually played wow. Would be worth a chuckle or two

[Lucavi]

I'd like to see each of them who hadn't played, yet talked it up, get punched in the dick, repeatedly.

[Lokus]

/Frieza voice: "...and HERE we go again~!!"

"I think quest items drop too much! Its too easy! They should drop like 40% of the time! I shouldn't be able to get a rat tail every time I kill a rat! Its too much like WoW!"

I'm not making this stuff up, people. This is YOUR "superior Final Fantasy Community!" speaking.

We should probably stop mentioning this tomfoolery despite how much it makes you want to smash your brains. OF is gonna OF, just have to hope devs are smart enough to sort the shit from the cream.

[Stanislaw]

We should probably stop mentioning this tomfoolery despite how much it makes you want to smash your brains. OF is gonna OF, just have to hope devs are smart enough to sort the shit from the cream.

While we agree that there's tons of idiotic NA feedback posted on the OF, let's not forget about the Japanese playerbase feedback. Those are much, much saner.

Of course, then comes the complaints of NAs who shout at the Devs saying they never listen to NA feedback and only take into Japanese ones... sigh...

[Lucavi]

Yeah... you're right. Everyone's going to get alpha access anyway; I'll save the surprises for all of you to... experience. Yourselves.