Job-Specific Materia Slots

Not sure if this subject's been discussed before but here goes.

People in the past have expressed a desire for stats in 1.x to be brought back (I never played that version, but I've seen YouTube clips that give me an idea of what they're talking about). I'm wondering if SE can pull this off without creating an "X materia or GTFO" situation that had plagued FFXI (so-and-so HNM weapon/5-hit SAM gear/etc. or GTFO).

Job-specific materia, along with special armor slots, would certainly add some diversity to the game (provided the Excel brigade can be prevented from determining one "efficient" choice as they've done in the past) and would address the issue of jobs not having their own identities. The problem appears to lie with said number-crunchers who seem determined to strip the fun out of every game with their spreasheets.

I'm not really a number cruncher, but I do enjoy using my brain and thinking to figure out problems. I'm sorry you don't enjoy using your brain.

There will always be a statistically-best gearset no matter what they introduce. Job-specific items, gear, materia, stories, etc. only help to define and immerse the player into their job and I, for one, am all for anything and everything we can get like this. But, don't act like other people control the fun you have inside the game just because some people like to look at things other than the bright colors and shiny objects.

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Originally Posted by Klamor

There will always be a statistically-best gearset no matter what they introduce.

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yeah the excel brigade(lol) will always find a way because MMORPG's at their very core is a game of numbers and will always involve some form of math to make things work.

at the very least the introduction of job specific materia slots that would alter a job's functionality would give us more diversity in playstyle (and make things more interesting imo) but there will always be that one build who will be better than the other/s... unless the difference is so minimal that the builds are within 3~5% of each other then it'd work without people being alienated for not having the BiS Build that brings 5% more dps

Even then, it would only appeal to those Hardcore raiders and such who demand perfection and nothing less. For normal or average people, I'd like to say we would have fun with our builds as long as it doesn't seriously gimp us. Say if a healer had a choice in materia that increased healing potency vs lower mp cost of healing.

Here's an example that might illustrate where I'd like to see this idea go:

Summoner materia--
1) Improves on egi performance (Damage Up +x%, Haste +x%)
2) Increases duration of DoT spells (+15~20 seconds, for example)
3) Doubles potency of damage spells (Deathflare, Painflare, Ruin)

Any one of these types of materia would be desirable, so I'd limit such a slot to one per weapon.

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Originally Posted by Hayward

Here's an example that might illustrate where I'd like to see this idea go:

Summoner materia--
1) Improves on egi performance (Damage Up +x%, Haste +x%)
2) Increases duration of DoT spells (+15~20 seconds, for example)
3) Doubles potency of damage spells (Deathflare, Painflare, Ruin)

Any one of these types of materia would be desirable, so I'd limit such a slot to one per weapon.

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I loved that sort of thing in FFXI, but that said I think Yoshida said something about that a while back but don't remember what. Personally like I said I enjoyed it in 11 and I was quite a bit more hardcore back then, but I think I actually prefer the system we have now. I will meet you halfway though and say I would like post-lv50 passive traits added.

Stats aren't just some gimmick to make your character feel unique, they are hard numbers that are designed as a mode of progression to maximize performance of your job. Stop trying to vilify the players merely doing what the game is designed for and thinking that just because they have the viewset that people should follow these obvious end values to be at their best that they are oppressing you or others wanting to feel special. You want to go against the grain? Then do it, but don't pretend as though you're not hindering yourself, and certainly don't try and circumvent your knowing you're not doing your best by trying to pin it on the players working with what the game provides.

Fancy materia mechanics will do nothing to help provide identity to jobs either, their existence can only accentuate what is set in stone by the devs. And even that is severely limited due to the stiff framework the jobs themselves operate under. There just doesn't exist enough wiggle room with how the game is designed.

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Originally Posted by Klamor

I'm not really a number cruncher, but I do enjoy using my brain and thinking to figure out problems. I'm sorry you don't enjoy using your brain.

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Pretty much this, as long as there's a difference, even minuscule, people will try to figure out the best option. Optimizing stats, rotations and strategies are the reasons why some of the best players/groups out there outperform the average players/groups by a significant margin. I find optimizing stuffs to perform better so much fun, and imo not trying to perform better is just disrespectful if you play with other people, especially if you do end game contents.

Which is why skill trees fail to, it's an illusion of choice. Sure you might have 50 different ways to design your character but unless you use the 2/3 that are approved by the player-base as a whole you will be deemed gimp and alienated from content.

It's hard to create both skill customization and balance because no matter how you may try to balance it out, that ability to actually choose what you want will never be there because it's the masses that decide what's acceptable.

With that said, I think the only way you can ever have the idea of customization working in content is if it's set away from PVE content as a whole and put into it's own concept/one that's already existing, aka Deep Dungeon content like Palace of the Dead. I would enjoy seeing 4.0 Deep Dungeon offer a level of customization for players to be able to experiment with different 4 member party setups that don't rely on tank/support/dps to survive but rather any job using a combination of their customization opens to allow them to play any role within the Deep Dungeon.

I would do this as a small pool of traits that you attach/detach on your job stone.