The Problems of Job Systems

by Jared 

I read with interest the editiorial "The Splendor of Job Class Systems", by Josh Davis. While I don't deny that FF5 and FFT were good games, I have several problems with Job systems, particularly when it comes to how they affect the characters:

First, don't classes, or "jobs", require a specific amount of training and knowledge on the part of the person who has this class? I find it bizarre that someone can simply drop everything they know about their job, and switch to a new personality. I find it strange how in FFT people can change their life professions (and with it, all the knowledge that comes with it) as if they change socks.

Second, job systems can become far more complicated than is necessary. I gave FFT a pass because of Professor Daravon's complicated (and dare I say it, tedious) explanations of the job system. Most pen and paper RPG systems don't have the level of complexity, and they cover a far greater spectrum than a console game. I believe that job systems can become hopelessly complicated, as in the cases of FFT and FF8, and become more trouble than they're worth.

Tying into my previous point, I really do not demand this much choice in my characters. While some is good (like in Star Ocean 2, or Final Fantasy IX), job systems take it to a ridiculous point, making you define everything about the characters, including what they can equip, except their favorite types of pizza. I generally have more important things to worry about that a bunch of minor details such as those.

Perhaps most importantly, the job system robs characters of their individuality. When characters have their unique points, like in SO2, it adds a dimension of personality and characterization to them that job-system characters usually don't have. I hate it when anyone can do anything-the characters lose what makes them special, and, unless the player specifically forces them into different professions, the characters lose their uniqueness. One of the best things about FFIX was the unique abilities each character possessed, that no one else could have. This added an excellent dimension to them, even beyond the excellent character development.

Jared, Lord of the Cruel Summer.