[dev1210] Why Not Merit Weaponskills ??

[Demonjustin]

Let's say, if you're playing another MMORPG with a talent tree you can pick between DD Paladin or tank Paladin. If you pick DD paladin your character will suck at PVE and but good at PVP, and vice versa, tank Paladin will be useful in PVE but suck at PVP. You don't get "full functionality" with talent tree.

Isn't that the same thing as FFXI merit point system? If you have STR DEX merit your character will shine on WAR when you're in a content that benefits WAR, but you won't shine as much on BLM in a content that benefits BLM. And vice versa, your BLM will shine in a content that needs magic burn and suck in a content that melee works.

Honestly there really isn't much difference between talent tree and merit point.

A talent tree is based on a job, not a character, merit points are character based. If I merit STR & DEX then all jobs get STR & DEX, the fact my WHM will never melee and my RDM is often neglected in that field doesn't change the fact that those are 2 highly vital stats for when I do melee and thus as such I have picked them for my entire character no matter what job I'm on. It's a large distinctive difference than what you're talking about, on the other hand if you want to compare that to job specific merits then that's one thing, but those are terrible as well as almost all of the categories are stuck with only a couple good choices and a bunch of bad ones which really takes away any chance of being unique without gimping yourself.

Lastly you have the job specific categories that are just flat out bad for some jobs and limit what the job itself can even do, for instance a RDM and a SCH/RDM can do almost the exact same in terms of enfeebling when it comes to both accuracy and potency. RDM gets an extremely small step ahead in both due to gear and Job Points but the only thing that lets RDM truly set itself apart from others in either are merits in 2 of 6 spells which still limits the job terribly. These are the ones that are most comparable to a skill tree and they are truly the worst kind in this game because it's the only thing that sets some jobs apart, while other jobs like MNK have only 2 real choices to begin with and if you don't pick those, you're gimping yourself.

[Afania]

A talent tree is based on a job, not a character, merit points are character based.

Talent tree is character based because you can only have 1 job/class in other MMO. Your class= your character. If you build your character that way it'd play that way in every content, which means no full functionality depending on what you do.

Honestly I don't see the difference - -.

[Demonjustin]

Honestly I don't see the difference - -.

Which is your problem. The fact you can't change your class in other games is part of the restrictive nature of other MMOs, part of the stand out features of FFXI is that it doesn't limit you in this way. This is why it's been said consistently that merit points limiting you is the antithesis of the game's nature, other games limit your character to 1 job, that 1 job to 1 path, that path to a certain set of skills and points, resulting in a unique character, but FFXI limits you in none of those ways except merits. This is the difference, and it's a very large one in the end. Put simply, you're comparing apples to oranges.

[PlumbGame]

Which is your problem. The fact you can't change your class in other games is part of the restrictive nature of other MMOs, part of the stand out features of FFXI is that it doesn't limit you in this way. This is why it's been said consistently that merit points limiting you is the antithesis of the game's nature, other games limit your character to 1 job, that 1 job to 1 path, that path to a certain set of skills and points, resulting in a unique character, but FFXI limits you in none of those ways except merits. This is the difference, and it's a very large one in the end. Put simply, you're comparing apples to oranges.

Also, that has been consistently pointed out, it doesn't.