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FFXI and EQ are TOTALLY different styles of games
Very true, and EQ and EQ2 are quite different as well. Atmosphere and names aside, so far this isn't EQ, and no amount of EQ experience would prepare you to play this game any better than someone who's played FFXI for a year. If you believe these types of games are so hard that those extra years make a difference, no offense, but you're probably not very good. What those extra years can give you is a more mature and well-formed ethic; and EQ would certainly give you a more mature ethic than your average FFXI player, who's been raised on cushy console games and has a character who's named Sephiroth or Cloud with a number of x's tacked on the end. But that's another topic.
Now, SoE must have learned from the horrible imbalance they struggled with in EQ for years. Assuming they're not retarded and they do have a capacity to listen and learn, as well as innovate, you can deduce that there's a reason for the great number of hate managing abilities in this game.
If the Guardian gets fewer attack abilities, but more defense and taunts, then at some point he must become a better overall tank than the Brawler or Crusader. Otherwise, you have an underpowered class, and they've done the same thing they did with Warrior in EQ. I consider this highly unlikely, since they caught so much flak over that issue.
If Scouts have hate-reduction abilities, but keeping hate remains as easy as some here would indicate several levels down the line, then Scouts have useless abilities, and therefore are underpowered. That, and they can't hit hard enough to get a mob's attention... so what good are they? Don't think to yourself "group sneak"... please, if that was enough to make an entire job, they'd have one called "sneaker" who doesn't even get to use weapons.
If Mages can blast away with AE nukes, and yet a Brawler can keep a group of mobs off of him with nothing but Shout, then Mages are overpowered - another mistake SoE probably wants to avoid. And assuming Shout is no longer enough later on, you can't be flipping around in circles and individually grabbing the attention of several mobs with only 3 or 4 types of taunt, when 1 (shout) is already used, and there's more than a couple mobs to deal with. That's the recipe for Dead Wizard Kabob.
If melee jobs that cannot tank as well as a Guardian can't fill a non-tanking role in a party - that is, a role that does not involve getting hit AT ALL - then they're misconcieved. If you've got a good Guardian handy, and he can keep hate off of a nuke happy Wizard, why would the Bruiser be worried about how well he can take a hit at all? He better be able to dish it out, debuff the mob, or create powerful HO chain options as an alternative to tanking or off-tanking, or else he's entirely replacable by one of the abundant Scouts and Mages. If he can't tank like a Guardian ever, and he's useless in a party that already has a Guardian, he'll be LFG for decades. Conversely, he better be a good tank at least sometimes.
One big difference in this game that I personally find exciting is the concept that you're SUPPOSED to fight multiple mobs. This is refreshing coming from FFXI, where if your party can take 2 XP-worthy mobs at once, you are a total badass - otherwise, you're dead. It's just as refreshing in contrast to EQ, where Monks and Shadowknights became pull-splitting slaves(been there, hated it), and breaking mezzes was a constant problem in parties - usually pickup parties - where the Enchanter and the tanks/DD didn't work together well. Anyway, isn't there a "concentration" system in EQ2 that would prevent you from mezzing very many mobs? Haven't played a caster yet, but I've read about it.
Given the fact that you are meant to tackle mob groups, sometimes much more than 2, a guardian who can take hits from multiple mobs and keep their attention as well is a great asset.
I would hope Crusaders and Brawlers remain perfectly viable tanks in situations where, for instance, getting only 1 mob is easy, or where an Enchanter can mez any adds without much risk. If they do not remain viable as tanks, at least in some circumtances, then SoE has created too much polarity in the melee jobs, and duplicated the black-and-white group ethic of FFXI. We don't want this, do we? Having 5 people in a party and being stuck sitting around because you NEED a Guardian, specifically? Welcome to FFXI-2...
At the same time, I hope (and it would appear to be true) that Guardians can dish out resonable damage, directly or indirectly through buffs and debuffs, should they be charged with tanking in situations where split pulling and/or mezzing is easy. Though I can see Guardian as being a very specialized tank class, overspecializing them could exclude them from certain things. Why would you want a Guardian as your tank in some zone where single pulls are easy, if a Shadowknight could help you kill the mob faster without endangering himself or straining the healer?
That's my 2 plat. I don't do cp.
