Variance in player skill is hurting FFXIV's itemization design.

[Brian_]

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From a recent interview with Yoshida:

http://gamerescape.com/2016/06/17/e3...naoki-yoshida/

Question: With items, Heavensward is interesting with the diversity in how they look like weapons and equipment. We’re still seeing items however that only have marginal upgrades. Have you given any thought or concerns to diversifying items from a gameplay standpoint like changing how your abilities work or anything like that?

Yoshida: If there were specific items that had that boost or an added ability, we would want a situation where that item needs to be hard to obtain by farming or making the drop rate extremely low and that’s not really productive either. In this game we have people of all skill levels. Different players have the freedom to choose which content they want to play and so the development team wants to make it so that no matter how each player plays the game, they can still end up at the same strength and be on an equal playing field. That’s what we keep in mind when deciding the strength of an item. Adding anything special like stats or abilities on weapons is quite dangerous and so we avoid that kind of situation.

As a preface, I have always been of the mentality that people should be free to do as they wish and act within their individual rights to enjoy the game. But, as they say, “your right to swing your arms ends just where the other man’s nose begins.”

In the quote from Yoshida, he is essentially saying that because they must cater to a common denominator, that we cannot have gear with unique and interesting effects. He's saying that despite playing the game in different ways with varying skill, that we should be able to reach the same potential. He's implying that because certain people cannot clear certain content for lack of effort or interest, that he cannot give the content rewards that create an imbalance in character potential.

I'd argue that no matter which direction you go, one side will be hurt. The overarching and unfortunate point comes down to which side you leave behind. And, I'm fully willing to leave behind a certain portion of this player-base if that means we can get more interesting itemization. I sincerely do not think the lack of a certain item will ever hurt a player's experience of the game enough for it to cost you a subscription. On the other hand, boring itemization and the generic gear treadmill has already cost SE at least a few of my friends.

Also, I don't think it's impossible to create a system that features more interesting itemization but doesn't compromise our ability to be selective with the content we challenge or the way we enjoy the game. The common description of World of Warcraft is that they're good at stealing ideas and refining them. In how they've described their new growing weapon system, they've basically ripped off FFXIV's relic weapons and made it into a system that accomplishes varied itemization with content freedom. Think about it -- what if gear in this game accumulated experience from any content we did (PvP, dungeons, raids, etc.) and unlocked unique traits that we could use? What if through the accumulation of tome-stones (which you can obviously get from various content) we could purchase materia that changed our skills when melded?

[Xiozen]

This is an interesting point from "both sides of the aisle". However, the way I see it is simple. The stats placed on the weapon/armor (item) to determine its strength and effectiveness is extremely standard and basic...compared to the "possibility" of adding items that allow a deeper level of customization. This topic was already addressed pre-2.0, and the answer was relatively the same in terms of the direction the director wished to go. FFXI, it always seems to come back to that MMO, has a deeper, more meaningful, variety of items to use in unique and creative ways, which to me adds a certain level of customization which would be a BENEFIT to FFXIV.

I strongly believe that...not because of some random guesswork, but because this template has been played out before, in another long running MMO... the flip-side (and I find it difficult to accept that it would not be player-accepted) is that the devs would have to work a lot harder to balance out these types of items, as oppose to simply flipping Spell Speed, VIT, STR, Skill Speed and Critical Hit/Accuracy on items.

At this late stage it's wishful thinking at it's finest.

[Teraluna]

It's a business, aimed at maximum widespread appeal. That is all.

[Nalien]

I'd argue catering to the lowest common denominator is worse for the longevity of the game... Itemization in this game is shallow, and while that makes it very accessible, there is only so much time one can spend splashing about in a puddle... People who want to swim will move on to games with depth, and the people who SE are catering to here will just get bored eventually... I've certainly completely lost interest in gearing up in this game, and that's the core of the games progression... There is enough content besides that to keep me interested, but I certainly give zero f*cks about gear these days... Wish that was limited to itemization, too, but it isn't... Dungeons and raids just regurgitate the same template over and over... Thankfully we have something like Palace of the Dead on the way, though I shouldn't get my hopes up... Still, looks far more interesting than any of the current dungeons or raids, and with an independent progression system they can actually test some deeper itemization with it... Depending how they work it, I can see it quickly replacing 90% of the rest of the game IMO, and if that's the case I hope the majority agrees with me and Yoshida can actually see how much more popular content with some depth is... By all means, cater to casuals, but exclusively doing that is a fools game... You have a shallow end and a deep end, nobody wants to stick around in the shallow end forever... People will either grow to want something more, or they'll move to a new puddle...

Of course, it wouldn't be a thread on gear/itemization without me linking this ol' gal...

[Kallera]

"People cannot have nice things because the nice thing will be deemed absolutely needed."

"welcome to vertical progression..."

"go play ffxi."

unfortunately, introducing it now is going to cause tension. among new players and old.

[Glasya]

^It wouldn't hurt to add novel gameplay elements gradually, over time.
You could start with something innocuous like set bonuses, which already exist in the game on Grand Company gear. Today maybe it's "Equip >3 (tomestone gear) for +20 DET" tomorrow it could be something more substantial like procs/ability modifiers; in the end it's never too late to overhaul mediocre gameplay, and FFXIV 1.0 can serve as a testament to that. But CHANGE HINGES ON THE DEVELOPERS WILLINGNESS TO ENACT IT, and that is the hurdle we're currently stumbling on.

[Venur]

that he cannot give the content rewards that create an imbalance in character potential.

Personaly I'm glad they think that way. Everquest and WoW went the other way around and it feel bad to be unable to have your entire toolkit because your not clearing high end raid content.

Sure raider get the best stats items because they need it in order to progress. But nobody should be given only a part of its class toolkit/gameplay due to a loot.

Everquest 2 made it a little different by making epics (class weapon that had a major skill/spell ) beeing completable by none raider. Raider had a weapon version with betther stats but the spell given was the same.

[FinaSel]

Although they don't have an added ability or anything like that (that I know of. Haven't finished the final upgrade yet), anima weapons have that appearance that sets them apart...cosmetically, from other weapons.

And they require a lot of effort and dedication which most casual players just don't have.
So players who want that something special do have the opportunity to get a very nice weapon. And because of the amount of work it takes, it won't be acquired by, I believe, the majority of the community (at least not until it's nerfed and its power becomes obsolete anyway).

But because the anima weapon is not overpowered or have some unique ability that separates players in terms of skill, the game still retains balance.

People can go that extra mile to get that something special without creating a skill rift between players. I have a feeling this is one of the purposes of the anima weapons.

[Rhaja]

I just want gear set bonuses, even if we keep the boring stats =;[

[bass9020]

Instead of the system being gear related why not make it class/job related? Im thinking about FFIXs system of gems and slotting different unique traits depending on the situation. This would alleviate the keeping of old gear which Yoshi is terrified of and it would mean everyone could benefit from this since people who don't clear high end raids wouldn't need the gear that had said special traits/stats. The system could work the same but maybe using something like clear materia mixed with something else which then would fuse to the trait/stat and they can be switched at will except in combat.