BroodingFicus

You don't! However, you may want to get the cross class skills from CNJ and ACN. ACN has Eye for an Eye and CNJ has the ever useful Protect and Stoneskin, meaning you'd have to get 34 in each class And regardless, you have to level SOMETHING to 50 and through the MSQ. Which yes, for the above reason, it only seems logical to become a WHM. I could become an Astrologian on my Ninja however I also want an Au Ra so...leveling a WHM it is. And I shall hate him until the day he becomes an Astrologian. Grumpiest healer ever.

*waves* Hi, before the introduction of Astrologian, I only really had interest in playing WHM. The combat was far too sluggish for a dps or tank class to do anything but bore me to tears. Of course, that makes me super narrowminded and unhealthy! Oh boy! Eh...I think I must be narrowminded, too, since I have always been bored with DPS and tanking rotations. In every MMO I've ever played. I only ever play healers because they're the only ones who really entertain me. Count me in with the narrow minded people too I guess. I honestly have zero fun on a large percentage of the FFXIV classes. I like Warrior and I fell in love with Ninja later but my favorite roles in an MMO have always been support/healer. Unfortunately I find playing the existing healers about as much fun as watching paint dry. Astrologian and their cards/support stance sound like a dream come true but I'll have to level a crap healer I don't want to get there. I'm sure there are people who feel the same way about the existing tanks/dps as well. Will I? Yes but only because I have been with the game since launch and a friend of mine is here to suffer along with me and offer rp when I feel like killing the next person who sends me on a crap errand for the MSQ. Will returning players be willing to invest that much time in order to get the classes they want? Maybe. Will new players? Maybe. But why does it have to be maybe?

Well if they allowed you to start the classes at 30, I do think we would get a lot more people making alts since the Au Ra are dropping. Hence those people will also be redoing the 2.1-2.55 instances/content. As is, most will probably Fantasia existing characters rather than make any new ones even with the race release because they would have to level their new toon as a class they don't want start to finish. Maybe I'm wrong about that but I know I am doing an alt despite the restrictions and so I would bet there are others out there(especially here) who would make an additional character rather than Fantasia if it wasn't being made such a pain.

This. So much this. Benefits of opening new jobs at 30 1. New players feel included and not cheated if they purchased the game for the new classes/content. 2. Returning players don't feel as if they are going to have to play catch up for weeks in order to enjoy the things that brought them back to begin with. 3. Old content would get more returning, veteran players who level the Au Ra race as the new jobs on an alt rather than sacrificing an existing character on the Fantasia alter. 4. Queue times would be shorter in MSQ trials/dungeons since everyone would be experiencing old content anew. 5. Veteran players and new players alike would gain the necessary experience with their new Job and still get the exp from the MSQ along the way. Cons of opening the jobs at 30?..... Not really sure there are any. You could meet the job giver in Coerthas when you are sent there by the MSQ. No lore is breached, nothing needs to be rewritten. No one feels cheated, left out, behind, frustrated etc. As you said, everyone wins. Unfortunately they are going with the 'but guys we made it easier to slog through all that old crap' approach and it is likely to stay that way. Most veteran players will simply fantasia an existing character to become an Au Ra rather than make a new one (why square gives me 8 slots and then wages a private war on alts, I'll never understand) and new players will just have to work through all the old stuff to catch up, hopefully not losing interest since they are playing a class they don't want the entire time. Entering Ishgard requires context. The story line requires context. I don't think anyone is going to be up in arms about immersion if we let people have great swords, guns and tarot cards. You telling me no blacksmith in the whole of Eorzea ever looked at a one handed sword and went 'huh...what if I made this bigger...what if you needed *gasp* two hands? GENIUS!'.

Dear lvl 30 something Bard I might have 'forgotten' to heal in Copperbell, You deserved it. The tank asked you nicely to stop using sprint to run ahead and pull mobs. /I/ warned you after you ran into the first boss room and started the lock down timer while everyone else was still halfway down the tunnel. We should have let the spriggans eat you. We didn't but you continued to use sprint and run away before mobs were dead so that you could pull ahead of the tank. I forgot to heal you and they commended me for it. I hope there are many more forgetful healers in your future.

~That moment when the shrouded Yugiri meets an Au Ra Warrior of Light~ Shroud obscures vision so badly she never noticed the Warrior of Light is also an Au Ra.

You know...I never thought of that. As far as I know Au Ra are the one thing accessible from the get go however we don't know where they came from or how they fit into the story if at all. Even if they make a reason for their appearance it does mean that the warrior of light would have needed to be an Au Ra from the beginning. Though as I say this, there is a little nagging voice in the back of my mind saying we should just pray they decided to ignore this and allow us to at least be the race we want from the get go since the alternative is they lock that behind MSQ too.

DRG is also an Ishgardian thing, though. So I'm sure they could manage something for DRK. And the folks at the Observatorium are Astrologians, right? Really, the only problem one might be MCH - but if they had it as one of the Limsan flintlock-users adapting more Garlean tech (stolen off raided Garlean ships, maybe), then you don't have it tied to the expansion areas either. It could also maybe be you meet them while they are salvaging Garlean tech from somewhere. Help them fight off an ambush or something and from then on they meet you out at the tavern in the first town in Coerthas. Or maybe they are looking to outfit the keeps in Coerthas with artillery or something and call in an expert. Stick one of them out at Dragonhead. Lots of options really. I also like your idea. Maybe some ballsy flintlock guy (you know the ones they already have in the game below the marauders guild) is trying to make a new weapon using garlean tech. He succeeds (possibly blowing a hole in a wall somewhere) and one of the machinists comes to investigate what he has made. So many options aside from 'lets lock it behind the gates ha ha'.

I understand they are technically all from Ishgard etc but for example given the recent situation in Ishgard I don't think its unbelievable to imagine DK's could be sent to the gates etc as added protection. There could be an Astrologian out at the observatory tower thing whose name eludes me on some sort of pilgrimage or there to study some phenomenon etc. Seeing as you only need one of the class accessible to the player it would be pretty simple. I mean it seems these new classes are actually jobs. None of the other jobs have a 'guild'. They are one offs mostly, people you meet through certain circumstances that allow you to become like them.

I think that issue right there had been an issue with FFXIV for a while. Player communication is not their strong suit. They have a tendency to play things close to the chest. Sometimes it doesn't bother me but when they are asking me for money (well more than my monthly subscription) it does. The idea that square is not worried about new players is unlikely, as others have said, because as with all MMO's people wander between patches or sometimes permanently. No influx of new players is a death sentence and so even for that reason alone I personally don't want them alienating their new player base. I'd like to see FFXIV stick around for a long time and continue growing. They can't do that if they spend all their time sacrificing things to the gods of narrative. Agree 100% That is more or less how it seems like it should work. Put them out near Coerthas. I mean Ninja/Doma was not introduced until later in the story but any player with a 15 class and who gets up to 20 MSQ can become a rogue. It still means you need to level for a bit as another class but its not a several week commitment if not more (especially if you work etc). Also I couldn't find who mentioned this but for a game that is punishing alts, it seems foul play to then bring out a new race. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad. I've wanted an Au Ra since they announced them but even older players are left with the option of buying/using a fantasia they saved to morph a character they may be fond of after a year or more or suffer through the MSQ again. I like story. I read it the first time and aside from getting fed up with fetch quests and the very....strange tendency your character has of just sorta standing around being everyones errand boy until he is told to go do something great again, I enjoyed it. Mostly. Now I'm done. I still say they need to make it account wide. Complete the story once, done. The longer the MSQ gets the more of a chore it is to catch up a new character.

I don't mind going through the story. Ok. I mind. I hate it but I have done it four times now for the alts I wanted and would do it a 5th in a heart beat if I could be an Au Ra Astrologian. Its at least good experience pts/gil in some cases and by the time I reach 50 I feel like I know what I'm doing as that job. Going through the story as a place holder class just so I can then be forced to level 30-50 again as the class I wanted from the beginning is where I take issue. I'll put in the effort and as RPers I think most people here would too. However this set up is the equivalent of tying a cement block to a duck and saying the duck drowned because it was too lazy to put in the effort. (no ducks were harmed in the making of this comment)

The developers have already confirmed that the quest givers for the new jobs are in Ishgard. It was mentioned in a live letter or interview somewhere. I don't see them having enough time to relocate and adjust those questlines in the month remaining to them before HW drops. Does that suck for alts? Is it unfriendly as hell for roleplayers? Yes and yes. But wishing it were otherwise isn't going to make it so. I saw it on a wiki as well saying that the guilds were in Ishgard but I'm always iffy about trusting those. I don't doubt that its confirmed though. My issue with it is that yes it is unfriendly to alts but FFXIV has been from the start. Being a pain for roleplayers? I think we have all become accustomed to that in almost any MMO since we often the minority. A proud and fierce minority but a minority nonetheless. But it is also not great for new people who want to play the new jobs. They will need to level 1-50, meet item level requirements and complete the story which has become a novel at this point. After that they can get the quest and will then need to level 30-50 again to do the new content as the new class. If I could think of a benefit it wouldn't seem as odd. Wishing doesn't make it so but sitting quietly sends the message it is a good practice.

Agreed. I just don't understand it. Right now I'm just hoping being 30 of any class (since they have no 'base' class from what I've read) is enough and branch from there just like Warrior etc. If they do that and shove the quest giver out in Coerthas I'll be satisfied and it will keep new players from needing to level up to 50 plus do tons of story quests beyond that before getting to touch the new jobs. I've never played an MMO that brought out new jobs/classes with an expansion and then said you can't be them until you are almost max level anyway. The new classes start at 30 anyroad so it isn't as if the 35/40/45/50 etc job quests don't exist. I'm just still at a loss as to the reasoning aside from 'we can'. If they go through with locking the new classes/jobs behind level, item level /and/ main scenario progression then they are already essentially doing just that to any new player who want to be one of the three new jobs. Only you could probably actually grind item levels faster than you could grind out all that other stuff even if you click with vicious fury through every story quest. Don't get me wrong. I love what Yoshi has done. Obviously since I'm still paying monthly and I still preordered HW. But common sense has not always triumphed. Ex. Player housing, free company housing, segregating pvp by grand company, throwing guildhests in as part of the main scenario once you are already far beyond them being of benefit etc. Sometimes it feels as if they forget this is an MMO and not a single player RPG.

I understand wanting to walk new players through the game. But they should not be the /only/ consideration. I still feel like there should be some sort of link between your characters and once I level through the main story once, all alts are excused from it. The first time through, I enjoyed it. Now? This would be my third time and it starts to feel like I'm paying them to do something I end up hating. Which really...I wouldn't even mind redoing the story etc if I could do it as a new class. Hence why I have alts as it is. At least that way I feel I'm being educated and prepared for high level stuff, learning my class, rotation etc. Not the case if I'm forced to do it as a class that is just a place holder.

I'm just trying to get a feel for how disappointed I'm going to be if they do what all this sounds like. I've had an ongoing plan since the new healing class was announced. I made an alt, leveled him to 30 conjurer and held onto his Fantasia. Since I've been sitting pretty waiting for the expansion so I could fantasia him and pay for a name change and continue on as the new class. Is it 100% confirmed classes are gated by item level/main story? If so I mean....especially for anyone who rps and has an attachment to their main characters appearance etc, that means we won't be able to touch Au Ra or the new classes without suffering through the story and leveling process again as a class and race we don't want. That would be...idiotic frankly. Its like offering someone an omelet and then handing them a chicken. Oh sorry, you'll have to wait.

My thoughts exactly. Back when housing was first coming out, the only way my FC could dare afford it was for me to sell art. No one was hurt by it and everyone left happy. If you can't stop a bunch of people exploiting your game to make quick gil/keep people from selling ill begotten gil to the masses, why suddenly go after the people who are doing something relatively harmless? Especially when, lets face it, someone wants to sell their art they can go side step this whole bogus ruling and just offer 'commissions' and be contacted privately for details. Just seems pointless. Or perhaps it just bothers me that they seem to have told people it was fine, read a bunch of speculation posts asking for clarification and /then/ decided 'hey you know...that sounds legit, lets go with that'. Not bitter. No. No shade. [align=center]Xl0VXczqVtc [/align]

Name: Gil Grey World: Balmung Class/Job/Role: Rogue and Captain of the Arcadia(IC)/Ninja(OOC) Card: Judgement Reason for choice: As a former slave turned Captain of the very ship he was held upon, Gil is a perfect representation of renewal and new beginnings. Of course he also 'passed judgement' on the previous Captain with a kitchen knife at the age of nine so....hm. Gil has a strong love of the sea and sees her as a detached judge jury and executioner of all who dare to traverse her. He lives his life by her leave and believes that we each take responsibility for our actions the moment we bring them into the world and we had best be ready for the consequences. Unfortunately for most he is not all that fond of forgiveness. Tumblr: http://borntothesea.tumblr.com/ Images:

Ala Mhigan (Rhys Oathkeeper). He has had a long time association with the resistance though mostly through the carrying of documents etc from the fringes of occupied territory back to Little Ala Mhigo/the shroud.

*peeks out of box* Oh, its you. *goes back inside* Just kidding Nau. As of right now I'm not really opening up spots on a mass level. Fighting the heat here and working quite a bit but if you or anyone else is interested in this sort of thing you can PM me. If I've got the time (and the motivation) I'm still down to make the arts.

Updated both Wiki and this post to reflect new characters etc. As a bonus, I'm gonna store some doodles of IC things here. I'mma try to keep up with this better and perhaps update his wiki with current events/undertakings. Maybe. I'd start a journal but...Orum isn't much of diary keeper. [align=center][/align]

How can they see me! I threw the glitter! I mean-*clears throat* Of course. I've got a few more to wipe out and then I'll look at opening up again.

Wait, wait, was it artichokes or peac-oh screw it. *throws glitter and 'disappears'*

I'm glad you like it. You're in my sights next Twin. >

I don't mind at all Twin. I'll mark you down and just pm me when is a good time to come around game and find you.

Im fine doing things outside of ffxiv Twin. Just let me know.