Is this stupid or utter genius?

[neo_sporin]

So I was thinking about how people kept complaining about the license board and how by end game everyone is a clone. Would it have been a better or worse system if for every license(or every other) you buy for a character, you have to choose a license for that character to never be able to get. Given this would only be possible if the license board was much bigger, it would make it so each person could only have half or 1/3 the total licenses avialble. This way people with the hard hitting equipment might have to give up mostly magic. Or you would have to seriously choose a weapon type early game for the person and make it so they could never use any other type.

[Tavrobel]

I like clones. If they do the job, then they ALL do the job.

[Nominus Experse]

It may have been good, or bad. On one hand, people love to customize their characters, if even they are essentially going to all become clones in the end. And on the other hand, it adds a level of strategy and increases the difficulty and thought of the game when you have to plan your characters.

But really, more than anything, I think the vast majority of people enjoy not having to plan their characters and instead focus on the other areas of the game.

And of those that enjoy making god characters, well, they need such customization...

[Zeromus_X]

Your characters won't become godlike clones until after you've beat the game and have actually started doing sidequests. xD It's just like the Sphere Grid in FFX (though that gave the characters more defined 'Jobs', while the License Board gives you the freedom of full customization).

The license board gives you great customization to your characters, instead of going on predefined paths, you can set them down a path of your choice. Why complain about being overpowered/ there isn't enough variety if you're the person going out of their way for gratuitous leveling? I let my party stick to the paths they were on, to define what characters did what jobs effectively. I'm not even going to think about making them teh uber godliness until (well, if) I start doing the crazy elite hunts/bonus espers and such (where having a variety of abilities for your gambits so you don't get slaughtered would actually be somewhat necessary).

[Setharion]

I actually am for more restrictions on skills...the whole fact that my team can be clones really just takes away from any sort of identity other than their name and look.

It would be like watching Lord of the Rings and seeing Gandalf pickup a bow and arrow and do what Legolas can do with it, or a great axe, or aragorn running into a field and using the same magic as Gandalf...it takes away from true identity when everyone can be the same.

I just like set classes, now it would of been cool to choose different types for those classes like.

Penelo, Fran and Ashe...they could of been set casters with perhaps choice of either white magic, black, time, a slight mix, and then choice of weapons like daggers, guns and staves. And armor light and mystic...i think that would of given plenty of choices yet still holding somewhat of an identity to the characters.

Then take the guys, give vaan and bashe persay a selection of swords, axe, ninja sword, pole etc...but let the limits be there. Perhaps you could make a slight Paladin type out of them, but i just dont like that my main tank could also cast end game black magic...just takes away from the uniqueness that *is* classes.

This is my only gripe with the game, i love it other than that. I am addicted to it. But i think there could of been ways to do it other than letting everyone be the same thing by end game.

The fact Penelo could run around with a huge axe and then cast black magic and be a white mage and fire a bow and wear heavy armor etc...just kind of ruins the seperation, and same goes for other members.

Im sure some love total customizing, but i do for one hope they go back to a more resticted base of classes that you can tweak but not create clones.

Edit: Or you would have to seriously choose a weapon type early game for the person and make it so they could never use any other type.

Yea I like that idea too, alot of games do it that way and it makes it more special or important to thoroughly think what weapons you want to wield. I would of loved that.

Being everything is what killed Asherons Call for me too in my stint of a year there, everyone was the same...Mr. Caster running by could pull out the clubber axe and tank just like any other tank, just doesnt give any true importance to the character or class.

[Angi-Kaiser]

It just takes self dicipline when customising your characters. If you give everyone the same stats, then of course theyre going to be clones. If you want the grils to be specific spellcasters with certain wepons, and the guys to be paladins/wariors with other certain wepons, then make them that way. I like the fact that the saystem gives you the freedom to makes those choices. Those who want a super army of characters whose only diferences are their character model, and perhaps their quickenings, can have them. Those who want their characters set into specific roles can make them that way. This way, no one is really forced to have character types they don't want.

[Ashley Schovitz]

It may have been good, or bad. On one hand, people love to customize their characters, if even they are essentially going to all become clones in the end. And on the other hand, it adds a level of strategy and increases the difficulty and thought of the game when you have to plan your characters.

But really, more than anything, I think the vast majority of people enjoy not having to plan their characters and instead focus on the other areas of the game.

And of those that enjoy making god characters, well, they need such customization...

Yeah that's how I feel eventhough I like diversity better, FFXIi's battle system and character growth isn't the problem, but realluy, nah I don't want to get started on it again.

[LazarCotoron]

It's interesting that's how you feel, but then you are talking about how it works at the very end of the game.

I'm... just past Mt. Bur-Omisace, and my characters have all fallen into distinct roles that they are obviously better at than the others, and this is, unabashedly in most circumstances, in SPITE of my trying to make them nearly identical, at least in terms of the upper license board.

It took me by surprise, but Vaan is by leaps and bounds my best caster-nearly by double the power of my other two caster-oriented characters. And Vaan is using a proper weapon as opposed to a caster weapon.

To say that you CAN make your characters exactly the same is an accurate statement. Try it some time and see how hard it actually is.

[Slothy]

I still don't see where this complaint comes from. It's more than easy enough to set people on seperate paths by not buying them all the same licenses. In fact, the only place my characters have a lot of overlap is with the augment section of the board. I've set out very well defined roles for everyone, and I have no intention of deviating from them until after I beat the game and go for the more elite hunts and Espers as Zeromus said. Honestly, I think this system works far better than the character development systems in games like FFVII or VIII. In those it was far too easy to make everyone a clone and exploit the fact that everyone could do everything. In this game, you can make everyone a clone, but the amount of level grinding required to do it early on is anything but easy and borders on the absurd quite frankly.

[Omni-Odin]

License Board = One of the Best systems ever

[Lynx]

everyone still has there own quickenings and the summons help keep them form being clones. i would like it better if every character had there own set of abilities though.

[Tavrobel]

The only variable is animations, since Quickenings do the same damage base.

Summons don't really count, since they are so not useful.

[Setharion]

I think a game like Oblivion is great for open ended skill building, but even at that you kind of are limited to a degree.

I understand people take views these days that more is better, but i think some things need to stay the same to keep character and definement.

I think the license board could be great for their own set of skills, it wouldnt take away from anything...it would just eliminate the idea that your tank could also be a top level black magic caster and vice versa. That imho is not a bad thing at all.

Im just the kind of gamer that tries to identify with characters in games and i like that seperation of classes, makes it more realistic. I think of it as real life jobs, in game thats their jobs...not everyone is going to be able to do everything the next guy can do. It all just makes more sense to me even though its a game, it just as i said makes it feel more unique to bust out your big time caster when tanks need help instead of busting out a big time spell with your tank if hes hurtin.

[VengefulRonin]

I still don't see where this complaint comes from. It's more than easy enough to set people on seperate paths by not buying them all the same licenses. In fact, the only place my characters have a lot of overlap is with the augment section of the board. I've set out very well defined roles for everyone, and I have no intention of deviating from them until after I beat the game and go for the more elite hunts and Espers as Zeromus said. Honestly, I think this system works far better than the character development systems in games like FFVII or VIII. In those it was far too easy to make everyone a clone and exploit the fact that everyone could do everything. In this game, you can make everyone a clone, but the amount of level grinding required to do it early on is anything but easy and borders on the absurd quite frankly.

Agreed. I dont know why everyone is complaining about being able to make people the same. If you dont want them to be the same, then dont make them that way. Its easy enough to say "i want vaan to use katanas when they become available, and for now he will use daggers." And i'm too lazy to make everyone powerhouses. I do make sure everyone knows white and black magics though, to make things a little easier on me, but only fran knows time magics.

[LazarCotoron]

It just shows you that you can please some of the people some of the time, but it's a fools errand to try to please all of the people all of the time.

Even if they are the same, though... Let's think about this for a moment. Is it unreasonable for a REAL person to be talented at many different things? Is it unreasonable for an untalented person to be dedicated to training hard to be good at many different things?

Is that honestly so unreasonable?