[TheDrunkenDwarf]

Talisker posted the following on the official forums today:

(bold added by me for emphasis on protective fighter specific references)

Balance is a funny word. As Brad said, it means so many things. In this thread alone you have discussed PvP balance, PvE Balance and Balance within a Job. So what is meant by balance? Let’s start from the beginning.

By now I expect most of you are familiar with our Job system. To explain again quickly, there are 4 jobs in Vanguard (and if you distill it down, in any MMO):

The Tank – Take damage, maintain control of the NPC as much as possible.

The Melee DPS – Deal damage and deal it fast. Help out with the protection if you are needed (although you are not nearly as effective as a tank).

Healer – Keep em alive so you can all go home. Buff and help us survive this encounter. You are also expected to lend in the melee and spell DPS.

Arcane DPS – You make things go boom. “Don’t get hit.” Get used to this phrase, your healers will be repeating it for as long as you play.

Sweet, done with that. Back to balance.

The idea is that all members of a Job will perform that job with roughly equal proficiency. All Tanks will mitigate roughly the same. All healers will have roughly the same healing power. Each class, within its job is balanced by the tenants of the job.

That is where we stop looking at balance as critically. We have taken great care (and a bunch of time) to ensure that the gameplay is different from tank to tank, from healer to healer. Adding these differences creates classes that may or may not appeal to your playstyle, but functionally is not at a deficit when compared to others. When you are looking for a Tank to fill your group, any tank can perform the duty of damage mitigation, but each will bring a bunch of other things to the table as well. You will probably have favorites, but that prejudice will not be based on tanking ability. There will certainly be times when a Warrior works a little better than a Dread Knight for X encounter, but that is not generally the case.

Honestly, that is the most alluring thing about the job system to me. I want to play a Protective Fighter – The choice is mine and has not been dictated to me by the creator of the game. I can choose any of the four and I know that I will always be needed anyplace that loot-carrying mobs hit players.