Classes and Teachers

Since I finished off my time in Archet yesterday I decided to take a step back from LOTRO today. Instead, I decided to get a start on a character in FFXIV. While previously I’d leveled a couple of characters in LOTRO into their early 20s, I’ve never gotten very far in FFXIV. Don’t get me wrong, the game is interesting and fun but for some reason I don’t stick with it (probably because I keep switching between classes to see what the different jobs are like). I also don’t have much investment with FFXIV having played none of the other Final Fantasy titles while I have been familiar with Lord of the Rings for decades.

In any case, I jump into FFXIV today and start the process of character creation which I always find strange. Game, particularly MMOs place a lot of stress on a new player right off the bat by requiring them to pick a race and a class that they’re gonna be stuck with for 10s if not hundreds of hours – it’s really a daunting process…and one I hate. FFXIV makes things a bit easier so that’s nice.

I also read through the 4th chapter of Dune and meet some of the people that provide support for Paul during his time on the planet Caladan. Pretty soon the scene will shift to Arrakis and things will get really moving.

Jobs and Classes

In comparison to LOTRO there are seemingly a lot of decisions to be made when creating a character in FFXIV. This is certainly the case when contrasting with playing a Beorning since class and race are one and the same. In FFXIV there are decisions but many are not that significant at least as far as I can tell in the early days of playing. This stems from the idea that you can switch jobs/classes at pretty much any point in the game.

Imagine what WoW would be like if you could freely switch between a Priest and a Warrior, or what LOTRO would be like if you could swap between a Captain and a Rune Keeper whenever you wanted. I personally think this is a great idea. Why do games lock you in to your original picks you make when blindly starting a game? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to create a single character and be able to experience all the classes, try out all the abilities?

That’s what FFXIV offers and I think it’s great!

If I feel like being a tank today, I jump into a class that fulfills that job…if I want to heal, there’s another class I can switch to in order to perform that job. I love it! Sure, there are some minor differences among the races but for the most part it’s a cosmetic difference and has little impact on actual gameplay, but the job difference is significant.

There’s also a nameday decision and a guardian to pick. Each of these add some nice flavor to the game without impacting things much.

In fact, the biggest decision is probably your starting job since that determines the city you start in.

Teachers and Trainers

The next chapter of Dune doesn’t look at cities but starts to look at the people who surrounded Paul during his early years. The Atreides family had many support staff that worked with and trained Paul and they made sure he learned warfare, hand-to-hand combat, history, and the arts. The Duke wanted his son to be able to perform any job, but the primary role he laid out for his heir was to lead the family into the future.

To that end we meet Thufir Hawat who lectures Paul on the Fremen of Arrakis and the dangers of the planet and we also meet Gurney Halleck who spars with Paul testing his martial prowess. These two members of the Duke’s household are key to setting Paul up to become the man who very well may save the Atreides family.

While seemingly less information dense than the previous 3 chapters, this one still gets a solid Read rating for my taste.

Ramble 5 Badger 7| Classes and Teachers