Hi, this is Yoshida, the producer/director.
I plan on responding little by little, but let me start with this topic which I am a big fan of…^^;
This would mean that gladiators, conjurers, and thaumaturges will be able to add on an additional Materia. Unless it is "Materia that can only be equipped on shields and only affects shields," a gap will emerge. Yoshida has previously stated that he would like to incorporate PvP, and I would like PvP in a coliseum or similar venue. However, if this happens, wouldn’t the gap caused by additional Materia be too wide to overcome? Wouldn’t this upset the balance?
Let me start off by mentioning that there have been differences in locations for enchant systems in other MMOs that I used to play religiously. For example, classes with shields will be able to equip a one-handed weapon and shield, so they will have an extra location to equip Materia. However, for two-handed weapons, there will be more types of Materia with higher status boosts available for use, so we are working on balancing the total enhancement, rather than strictly the number of enhancements.
The balance between classes and jobs is being calculated with this in mind, so there will not be any significant gaps. (As you guessed, Materia for shields will be balanced so that they only benefit shield classes/jobs.)
The armory system is difficult to adjust, but we plan on adjusting one-handed weapons, two-handed weapons, and dual wielding swords once the battle system is revamped. However, differences between the weapons are inevitable, so we plan on working towards balancing classes/jobs with that in mind.
As such, from the beginning of Materia implementation, we plan on being careful about the balance between classes when adjusting effects and their limits.
In PvP, fighting with complete equality would be very boring. Recently, games are designed so that individuality exists in addition to player skills. Even in FPSs, skills grow based on the opponents kill count. In MMORPGs where multiple classes and jobs exist, each class/job has different abilities, attacking ranges, HP, and durability ratings based on these differences. Therefore players play with pride, developing their strategies and distributing skill points based on their jobs/classes. Balancing PvP is very difficult, but this is something that I enjoy, so I will do my best to maintain balance while implementing Materia.
…wow, that was a major digression.
As a PvPer myself, it makes me very happy that you guys have an interest in PvP
However, the grass is always greener on the other side.
Competitions of whose grass is greener may just be another aspect in the joys of PvPing. Just kidding…