So, this Scrip system...

What are your thoughts on it?

For those who aren't aware, here's a quick bit of info:

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Originally Posted by Bayohne

A new system called “Scrip” will be added in 3.0. Up until now, Disciples of the Land and Hand had to meld their gear if they wanted to partake in high-level gathering and crafting. However, with the “Scrip” system, you will be able to trade them for new gear. Therefore, Disciples of the Land and Hand will no longer be forced to meld their gear. Players who wish to stay ahead of the pack will still be able to meld their gear. Those who meld their gear will be able to craft faster than those who collect gear through the “Scrip” system. The main point of this system was to offer multiple ways to upgrade gear.

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It sounds like materia melding might be a thing of the past, at least for the average crafter. Experts will still gain an advantage, especially with the new T5 materia being added somewhere down the line.

For my part, I think this is a very bold and wise move from SE. It levels the otherwise rocky playing field a little bit, giving casual players a chance to get their 3-4 star crafts without spending millions of gil on materia. At the same time though, it rewards those who go the extra mile by having distinct advantages over casual crafters.

With this and the planned specialist system, things are going to be quite interesting when Heavensward arrives.

I think it's nice they're putting in some variety in gearing.. At the same time, it makes me wonder how trivialized crafting will become.. Imagine if..

Specialist, no cross class skills, with scrip gear can make highest tier with ease.. let's just say 4 stars.. Specialist with scrip gear makes 4 stars with relative ease (that's what they're shooting for right?)

Then a specialist, WITH all the other classes leveled up. WITH materia melded gear.. That's 2 distinct upgrades over the crafter mentioned above, how trivial will it become for this guy? Will there be any sort of challenge for him? Any RNG that can result in him getting a nq? I feel like if that's the case, this person should be able to hq the item without even using hasty touch.. kind of like how 4 star crafters make 2 star items now.

Not a huge concern though, 4 star crafting is already pretty much 95%+ hq anyway.. just curious how the difficulty will pan out in 3.0

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Originally Posted by GenJoe

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Crafting is already trivial. They make glamours, housing furniture, niche combat gear, pets and BiS crafting/gathering gear. So the soul purpose of a crafter is to make gear for crafters and gathers... Yea I would say that's pretty trivial.

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Originally Posted by Sibyll

Crafting is already trivial. They make glamours, housing furniture, niche combat gear, pets and BiS crafting/gathering gear. So the soul purpose of a crafter is to make gear for crafters and gathers... Yea I would say that's pretty trivial.

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Yes, but there's still a slight chance to nq 3 or 4 star items if RNG is not in your favor.. Earlier, I failed PbP twice, RS 4 times.. HT 3 times.. didn't have enough for the finisher so had to bait Good after hitting GS to get enough for Byregots.. on 10 stacks.. That kind of RNG is what makes crafting interesting I think.

But say, someone with melded gear + specialization + all the cross class skills is crafting something from his specialized craft, it would be like 4 star crafter making a 2 star item.. like I said, not a huge concern. I'm just genuinly curious.

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Originally Posted by GenJoe

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I think RNG can be interesting, but the type they have implemented is not. When you are given all the tools to handle the RNG that is thrown at you and the challenge is knowing how to adapt to that RNG, that's fine. However, if you aren't getting Good procs or get bad RNG on your hasty touches, and then fail your Reclaim you really can't do anything there. To me that isn't something that tests skill. It's lottery.

Just to reiterate, RNG is fine, but binary success/fail RNG is not a very interesting mechanic.

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Originally Posted by Sibyll

Just to reiterate, RNG is fine, but binary success/fail RNG is not a very interesting mechanic.

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Agreed, current system of RNG can be combated.. with good rotation and foresight and high volume, but that can only go so far. I wouldn't be surprised if 90% of the 4 star crafters have very similar if not the exact same methodology about crafting. So there's little variation. I personally wouldn't mind if they made crafting a little more interesting, put a few more mechanics in. Maybe have 3 bars instead of 2. Third could be something like quantity bar for the base level mats.

I have a feeling we'll be seeing more difficult recipes in the future which make use of the specialist system. I suspect that those recipes will also be far easier to HQ as a melded crafter than unmelded, to maintain balance. As mentioned in the post, their intention is to give advantages to players who do meld while still giving access to the recipes for those other crafters.

At the moment, it's highly gated. You can't even come close to 4-star crafting without a single meld, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out alongside the level cap rise.

What do you think this will do to the materia market?

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Originally Posted by Sadana

What do you think this will do to the materia market?

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If, as SE has indicated, there will still be meldable equipment that is superior when fully melded, I'd say this will to jack-all to the materia market.

After all, crafters already have "casual" gear options available in the form of the gear available through 2-star token trade-ins, so it's no surprise for me that SE plans to add high-level casual options as well. The current token trade-in armors are better than fully-melded ilvl 55 crafted armor, but worse than fully melded ilvl 60 crafted armor.

Unfortunately, the need is still there for melded accessories and/or off-hand before you'll be able to manage 4-star crafts. Perhaps this is the new gear that's planned through scrip? Right-side accessories and off-hand to match the trade-in left-side armors we already have, and thus fully remove the need for melding for casual crafters?

Specifically with what we know about the system? Nothing the materia will have a huge boost with tier 5s and the carbon required for it. The AF pieces will be sought out and people will meld them up to get into the next tier of crafting. The scripts might have crafting materials inside them to remove the "poetics" materials so if those materials are required for the next crafting sets then comes the trade of time and difficulty. Also Is it possible to craft hq the new sets with out the script gear? But overall it is going to balance out more then battle will. But how drastic the changes are and what we will have to actually do for scripts capped/uncapped will really determine because people that are already omni crafters will level everything and choose the best 3 spec abilites to produce what they want.