It's nice to hear a relatively quick update on this previously discouraging matter, thank you. I think I'll feel more comfortable visiting Vana'diel now. I hope you haven’t had any ulcers!Originally Posted by Camate/Matsui
Some strong recommendations for you and your team summarized from the community. Please find this with good intentions:
Make sure R/M/E stay on top of all other weapons (and to be specific I mean base damage foremost). This is priority one. These items are a key legacy and the champions of FFXI, and should be until Vana'diel dies. This has been justified throughout the related R/M/E threads (and not just on this forum either). To sum a few popular rationales: most importantly they require the longest amount of time by far among any reward (cost). They also were always indicated to the players (by the FFXI team) be top tier, even after the game passed 75. Some players like the cool weapon model/art or the lore; others are after the unique effects these weapons offer. Many players posted ‘FFXI is not (insert other MMO title here)’, and that’s a good thing. There are too many reasons to list, but most R/M/E holders agree the first is I mentioned is enough alone.
Keep plans in place for future expansions to make priority one, stay priority one.
Make sure Empyrean, Coin [WoE], and Relic all gain the weapon skill unlock (in other words, not just the coin weapons).
Mythic owners (having already unlocked a weaponskill) should be considered to get an added perk, for example a merit-able option to enhance the Mythic WS (only if you obtained the weapon).
Do not introduce excessive additional ToM (such as killing 10,000 enemies). Any trial/quest should be reasonable and or none at all, there’s a lot of work put into R/M/E by the time they hit 95/99.
Consider giving owners of the 95 version of R/M/E a partial or complete damage increment, but not the added ATK/ACC (or in the case of the other jobs, +MACC,+MATK, etc) until 99.
Make sure the scale of weapons remains consistent among R/M/E. For example, you’re showing Burtgang with more damage than Excalibur (and I realize you were only showing those numbers as an example) but at 75 Excalibur was ahead, and then became even with Burtgang at 99. It would make most sense to at least keep them even for base damage (and yes I know Burtgang has more delay).
Know that these weapons are woven into the fabric of FFXI, and give you (Square Enix) a head start for new content: Dynamis, Abyssea, and ToAU are needed for these weapons, and open access to a lot of content opportunity for both these areas (such as making Sea II or Sky II) and for the weapons (special new upgrades or augments for R/M/E after SoA). This is more of a business reminder to help keep us players around longer: you have a ton of existing content that could be re-purposed into harder stuff.
Know that we love this game and that’s why we give this feedback
PS -I have many non-R/M/E fully upgraded ToM weapons completed (everything from 2-4 attack Greatsword to –PDT% sword). These took a lot of work, and it’d be sad to see them get replaced, but I don’t know if I’d trade one of my relics for 20 ToM weapons. Some gear get’s replaced, we're OK with that, just not R/M/E. I'm not saying trash standard ToM items either - because those are a great design option for casual players - just that there needs to be some priority.
--------- edit May 15,2013
Please also understand, that AH weapons are not a bad thing (a nice option for new players catching up with end content). They just should only ever be a close 2nd to R/M/E.