my favorite answer there was this:
Q16: In the previous broadcast, you mentioned that the materia system would be largely changing, but could you tell us some details on this?
A16: The equipment in A Realm Reborn will have sockets, and you will be able to place materia into these sockets without failure. We are calling any attempts to add further materia beyond the set number of sockets "forbidden," (what we referred to as multiple melding) but if you fail at this in A Realm Reborn you will not lose your equipment. We will also be addressing this so imbalances do not arise with gear that has been melded with multiple materia in version 1.0. We will let you know further information as we move toward release.
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This is basically what many people were asking for and then some. Equipment to have set sockets, but they added the ability to still go beyond that with a chance of failing, with no equipment loss. A much better materia system. Much better than simply raising the meld rates.
