This is a form letter I'd like to eventually get as many people as possible to agree to, and eventually spam SE's suggestion box with it. If they see it's coming from a large number of players, perhaps it might do something. Perhaps not. But I have time to waste; I play MMO's after all. Warning: This is a rather long post.
Read over the changes suggested below. If you disagree with one, say so, and make your reasoning clear. We need to phrase things in a way that will get the Devs to listen, and Devs usually don't like being told their ideas suck. So butter them up, describe the issue being faced, and a suggested change that would remedy it. I know there are a lot of suggestions out there, but let's try to narrow it down to as few as possible, to better the chances of the changes sounding reasonable. I probably have too many listed for some of the jobs.
Dear SE,
I've enjoyed FFXI for a long time now, as it has a lot going for it. Thank you for all your hard work! We'd like to get a lot more enjoyment out of the game, and we have heard from you that there are things you'd like to see differently, with regards to how jobs are used. We'd like to bring to your attention some issues, and what we as the community have come to, with regard to suggestions that could greatly improve the enjoyment of those that play these jobs.
WHM: While good, WHM itself doesn't bring that many unique tools to healing in later levels, outside of Raise 3, Regen 3, Cure V and Curaga III and IV(the latter two aren't used much). This stems partly from the fact that it's status cures are sub-able, and regular cures are just as potent whether as a Subjob or main job. In addition, Scholar recently obtained the ability to AoE status cures 10x more often than WHM. To remedy this, add AoE status cures (ie, Blindnaga) or Divine Veil on it's own 1-3 min seperate Job Ability specifically for status cures.
BLM: BLMs have fallen in desire for xp parties, due to the issue that they are limited by MP, and thus can't keep up with melee damage dealers. IF Skillchains's are going to be made attractive again, then BLMs would benefit greatly from a passive ability to return 25-50% MP on Magic Bursts, or other ways for them to maintain their MP pool, so they can keep up and not slow a party down. Higher ranks of Conserve MP or Aspir II would help. Also, greatly lower resists on a Magic Bursted spell. More mobs that are vulnerable to magic like Puddings, so BLMs have more areas to merit on, would be nice as well. *NOTE: it could be said that SE meant for /SCH to solve the BLM MP issue; it does, but it appears BLMs really don't want to lose Stoneskin/blink.*
THF: One of the main issues with THF, is the fact that they feed a mob a lot of TP. The playerbase would like to see THF get several levels of native Subtle Blow, to help remedy this issue. The other issue, is that SA and assassin-TA are quite often lost and not used, due to how a mob may turn, or not being lined up right. We'd like a change so that if you're not lined up correctly, the SATA buff stays on instead of going away. Only a correctly lined up hit will actually use and consume the buffs. The buff should still wear off after a certain amount of time.
MNK - Like SAM was previously, it's not used as a sub due to poor defensive options. SE adjusted SAM that made it more attractive as a sub, could the same be done for MNK? To make MNK more attractive as a sub, emphasize countering attacks more, with more Job abilities or traits that enhance this aspect. Reducing the cooldown on Chakra to 3min or less, would help as well.
BST: A BST does not bring much to a party or high level boss fight, due to pets being capped and thus not as good as other DPS classes. To encourage more BSTs to party and participate in high level fights, uncap most (if not all) jug pets and reskin the current HQ jug pets that look like normal mobs to more unique styles, similiar to how Courier Carrie looks different from normal crabs. Pet TP abilities generally aren't used, because many of them are aoe or not useful. Thus, there needs to be some ability to use a BST's TP to force pet to use a specific TP ability, and/or additional pet commands related to TP usage of the pet. Also, it would help greatly if Snarl could be made to work with charmed pets as well.
DRK: Like SAM was previously, it's not used as a sub due to no defensive options. SE adjusted SAM that made it more attractive as a sub, could the same be done for DRK? One suggestion is an "Anti-provoke" ability or spell; a 30 second cooldown that lowers your enmity low for awhile. This would help the job as a main and sub.
SMN: It's been stated by SE that they want players to leave their avatars out, and they are disappointed this isn't happening. The primary reason is the high perpetuation cost versus the low melee and TP damage gained. Adding enspells to the avatars to increase the damage they deal, would help encourage players to leave them out, while also upping the damage gained via TP when using a magical BP. Avatar buff spells currently have a very small radius where they can buff, so they miss party members often; an increase to the range of these spells would help prevent MP from being wasted. An extra BP command like Rage, but for the LvII and IV spells, would also encourage a summoner to leave their avatar out to build TP for them. Normally, a summoner doesn't bother using the LvII and IV, preferring to use their Rage command for a physical attack.
BLU: SE did a great job with BLU, as it is highly balanced and well-liked by the community. The only adjustments suggested, would be to smooth it's use, and encourage use of more of their lesser used abilities. Azure Lore doesn't currently seem effective enough for a 2 hour ability; the players really like the idea of opening a BLU's entire spellbook for its duration in addition to whatever current effects it has. Also, the following spells could benefit greatly from an extended duration so they are used more often: Amplification, Saline Coat, Reactor Cool, Plasma Charge. As for new spells, most BLU's would like the following: Mighty Guard(protect and shell for party), Battery Charge(self MP restore), White Wind,and Fang Rush. Multi-hit Blue spells currently give a lot of TP to their targets, as much as 10 per hit. As a result, it's highly punishing to the group when the mobs use stronger TP attacks more often. As a suggestion, lower the amount of TP a mob gains through multi-hit spells; perhaps 5 per hit.
PUP: The Puppetmaster is generally seen as less useful and powerful than other jobs, due to lack of the master's power and lack of gear choices. While we are waiting on seeing what new improvements SE would add to the puppet, we would like to see PUP's Hand to Hand skill raised to B or B+. Asuran Fists isn't needed, but a simple skill cap raise would help them compete with other dps classes in higher end content. Giving the PUP more gear choices in the form of Homam would also help.
DNC: Dancer is another good job, but is seen as less powerful against tougher enemies such as HNMs. Their abilities are dependant upon TP, and this can be hard to generate without giving mobs large amounts of TP in return. Thus, it would seem a good idea to give DNC a passive Auto-regain that gives 1 TP per tick, and/or a TP samba. Steps are currently limited, so adding a dispelling Step and/or more status effect steps would be nice. However, a bigger issue is the lack of gear choices. It's generally felt that Dancer would benefit greatly from being added to the Skadi and Homam sets, to give them more end-game gear choices.
We don't expect all these changes, but we feel there is a good selection here, for the SE devs to have an idea of what the playerbase feels about the jobs, and what adjustments to make that would be well-received by the community. Thanks for your time and consideration!
Sincerely,
Your Name
Alright, now tear it apart! I'd like to aim for the mass delivery to happen 4 weeks from now. This gives them time to read it over, and perhaps make some changes in time for the next patch in 3 months, and perhaps the following one as well. I'm also expecting at least one TL;DR post, so don't let me down!
Edit: Removed SCH, and quite a bit from WHM. Considering removing BLM and BLU, to limit things to the jobs who need updates the most.