Well, if the intent is to let players repeat the fight repeatably for more and more earrings, then this fight has moved from the "incredibly stupid idea" category into the "idea SE will probably never implement" category for me, which means I not longer feel like replying would be a bad idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tanama
One argument I've had against upgrading the stats of certain items, beyond perhaps just scaling them up (like making Rajas, Tamas, and Sattva Ring scale up to +7 of their stat), is that you can only have one of them. For example, your non-augmented Divine Might II earrings would force players to choose between jobs because of how good the stats are. When you have to choose between options, you either find yourself losing the versatility of the job system or having a clearly best option.
Moving more back to the idea of being able to get multiples of these, you'd quickly clog your inventory with them, because you'd want as many of them for various macros as possible. This is more true of mage jobs then melee jobs, since stats tend to be situational, and your currently listed ones are no exception.
On this point, I feel that you have too many stat options, and some of them are somewhat overpowered, while others are just redundant.
One example that comes to mind is going as a Black Mage, and getting two of these earrings, and augmenting them as follows:
- Earring 1
- Magic Attack Bonus +10
- Magic Accuracy +10
- Fast Cast +10%
- Elemental magic casting time -8%
- Enhances "Elemental Seal" and reduces recast time
- Earring 2
- Magic Attack Bonus +10
- Magic Accuracy +10
- Fast Cast +10%
- Elemental magic casting time -8%
- Enhances "Light Arts" and "Dark Arts" effect
Wear both full time, BLM/SCH, pop Dark Arts, wear something that gives 4% Fast Cast, and enjoy capped casting speeds, better Magic Attack Bonus then Novio/Hectate's combo, with a super buffed nuke every three minutes (or less with merits), and massive amounts of magic accuracy all the time.
Sound broken yet?
Let's go through this list by list:
The most STR/DEX/AGI/VIT/INT/MND/CHR you see on any earring is currently +4. The most Attack you see on earrings currently is about +10, the most Ranged Attack you see is about +4, or +10 based on a latent that is up half the time, and the most Magic Attack Bonus you see is about +7. Accuracy, Ranged Accuracy, or Magic Accuracy you see on any one Earring currently is at +4. The most Evasion seen on an earring is +8.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tanama
Breaking these current maximums is a big deal, especially on an earring that will have other stats in one slot, that you can hold multiple of.
Keep in mind that SE still wants people to do other content, such as still fighting Jailer of Love for the Novio Earring, or at least occasionally support crafters, such as on the Ghillie Earring +1. Even the Moonshade Earring which you could only have one of didn't have as much Magic Attack Bonus as a Novio or even a Moldivite, and it is a level 90 earring. You also have people picking two of these stats as well, making it even more threatening to other content, and perhaps even balance.
If you want this earring to ever be a possibility, you'll have to cut these stats down to size.
Ever onward:
The same idea comes up here, and then some, but we also have to consider how these augments mash with the previous ones. Additionally, many of the stats are redundant, which will just lead to stacking for more and more oddly specific and inventory clogging combinations.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tanama
This list is really just way too long.
There are just so many of these stats that looking them all up for what their current maximums as the first step would be a waste of my time as well. Let's start with cutting a few of them out by eliminating redundancy.
The most obvious redundancy is that of Fast Cast +10% and "X magic casting time -8%". There is no reason to have any of the specific magic casting time reductions as long as Fast Cast is there, and considering they'd stack, that would lead to a dangerously high amount, especially for something that can be on both ears (see the example above).
Next comes combat skills. With the previous Attack/Accuracy stats, you'd just be stacking for the extra attack and accuracy, and +25 Accuracy and Attack in one ear slot seems pretty overpowered, and then you double it. You'd have to pick between one stat set or the other honestly, and given the assumption that they'd both be cut down to size, the Accuracy/Attack options seem more inventory friendly, whereas the cases to be made for skill boosts lie with H2H users and jobs trying to /SUB for a proc WS in Abyssea.
Magic skill has much the same problem when combined with Magic Accuracy, with some exceptions for skills that just need boosted for some effect, much like the situation with H2H.
I could really go on, but really, this just needs to be rewritten from scratch to be less redundant, and less overpowered.
Many of these are overpowered, with Cover, Overload, and Divine Seal looking like the only remotely reasonable ones. For example, one of the less powerful examples, moving Divine Seal to a three minute cast timer (and lol at the curing buff, but I suppose /WHM might need it since they don't get Divine Veil), would mean a White Mage could do AoE debuff removal every three minutes, which would be a pretty big deal for non-Yagrush owners. This isn't even remotely as big a deal as the big guns, Berserk, Hasso, Last Resort. I'd also like to point out that the BST one of being able to call pets from thin air is not very likely since SE views jug pet costs as part of playing BST.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tanama
Almost as important, adding this to the list just clogs inventory much, much more, especially when combining with the previous examples. Easiest way to remedy this would be to just make it be an effect that works on all jobs, and buffs the player. You can only have two of these be useful at any given time regardless, so why not just respect inventory space and have the buffs be always present?
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TL;DR: Only being able to make one of these would be a crime against the job system of FFXI. If multiples of these are able to be made, there are still many issues. Many of these buffs are absurdly overpowered, many are redundant, and the job buffs should be universal so less of these earrings are clogging inventory spaces everywhere.