Quote:
Originally Posted by
Reynhart
I'd say, first : Fun. And second, you're more likely to develop a connection with your character if you build it like you want. And less likely to quit a game where you connected with your character. And, for me, character progression is much more interesting that gear progression, because it's permanent. You don't have to start from scratch every 7 months.
Fun is subjective. I, personally, couldn't care less what my stats are, so long as they are optimal. Nonetheless, you are presuming a lot of horizontal progression's viability long term. Would you stay subbed if you could customize stats or abilities knowing full well that unless you attempted extreme primals or savage, such choices are completely meaningless? If you're already bored, how would a system with absolutely no impact change that?
Quote:
What's relevant to you might not be for someone else. Is Gold Saucer relevant ? Lords Of Verminion ? Are odd patches dungeons relevant, considering most people probably had better gear from the prior even patch ? Is a new tank or healer relevant for someone who only plays DPS ?
No, the system is irrelevant because it has no impact on content outside progression. You may be able to poke around with some builds, but content outside the aforementioned will die easily no matter what you do. Which has been my point. While it may be "fun", I sincerely doubt it will keep people's interest because it doesn't actually impact anything.
Quote:
By the time most groups really tackles Savage, the gear obtained would widely make up for PLD's lack of damage. And it was stupid in FFXI too. The shift in jobs changed every few months with constant adjustment, yet, once a job received its stigma, it would stay that way forever...
No, it didn't. PLD was largely ignored throughout all of Gordias, hence why physical damage fights and specific buffs happened. The community deemed it the worst tank and most raid groups prioritized WAR/DRK. Not all, of course-- there are always outliners. The point remains in high end raiding, you will be expected to optimize. In anything else? Who cares? It's all faceroll for the most part. If anything needs be changed, it's this.
Quote:
Then why every party composition is not exactly the same ?
...and the top players will love having so much theorycrafting to do to find the "best builds" :p
Because jobs have wholly unique rotations, animations and etc. Changing the specs on Unmend or Heavy Thrust are only going to influence numbers. If one job does languish behind (PLD, and to a lesser extent, MNK, in 3.0 to 3.2), they won't be anywhere near as frequent. Character builds inevitably come down to numbers. And once that theorycrafting has been ironed out, every Youtuber will recommend the "best" build. A prime example of this was STR tanking. Once a niche alternative for raiders. It eventually became the expected norm that people advised newer tanks, especially WARs, to learn. Could you still use VIT? Yep. Did people? Nope. The devs had to completely overhaul VIT just to make people use it again.
Quote:
If I could specialize my DRK in AoE and my WAR in single target, I'd use one for dungeons and one for raids. Someone else might do the opposite depending on the job they want to bring in a raid. If I'd use one job for training, I'd chose a safe build, and my "clear" job will aim for maximum efficiency...If a build offers a fun and special gimmick, I'd use it for fun when I solo, etc...
And once the aforementioned theorycrafting worked out x build brought the highest overall optimization? You'd see groups begin to demand that build more. Regardless, your fun basically means overhauling the entire game in an area I, personally, don't feel it struggles in. If they are going to shift to character builds, then the game itself needs to support that style of play. Being able to single target Unmend dungeon mobs for slightly higher DPS isn't interesting, at least not to me. I can already pull half the run and murder them all.