[dev1228] New stat point system; discussion, feedback, suggestions, etc.
Customization of stats to the degree that existed at launch was complete nonsense. Being able to change your STR from 20 to 150 and see (maybe) 15 points damage return was broken. New stat conversions, new gear, and new class norms for attributes has evened the playing field and made us value our progress more than ever.
I post this thread in fear of what will come with the revival of custom stats.
I hope that the developer's add a system similar to merit points, personally. I know, I know. This isn't FFXI, blah blah blah. And seeing as we are due for a cap raise within 12 months it seems silly to suggest such a system. But giving us stat points to allocate after every level ON TOP of the points that are already being distributed when we ding makes the system of progressing through levels unnecessarily complicated.
To me, it makes more sense to hold off on these customizable points until we reach the cap, whatever it may be. Doing this will not only give players at cap an incentive other than materia/primals to login and find a party, but it will also deepen our immersion with our characters. These points should remain static across all classes/jobs and should take the amount of experience needed to reach Lv.51 to earn. They should work on the exact same scaling system as FFXI's did, where each point is worth more than the last. A cap raise could just render us unable to earn more points until we reach said cap again, it doesn't necessarily have to restrict implimentation.
Stats should mean something. If a level 30 lancer is getting +4 str from leveling up to 31, then how does it make sense to allow him to spend 3 more points of his choice on str? Players will end up stacking a single stat until 50, and stats will be the same mishmash system they were before. It wont matter if you have +20 str or +20 attack power on your lance because you'll have so much str piled up it wont affect return at all.
I'm not saying that a system that allows allocation after every (or every few) levels cannot be balanced. But with the stats as they are now (fragile in their functionality), why convolute the system further?
And I admit, the idea of being able to farm 10 levels worth of exp on my conjurer and devote it all to +healing potency just sounds so cool that I had to suggest this on the forums.
tl;dr: Don't overdo custom stat allocation, keep the values small and make us care about our parameters. Wishing for a system similar to FFXI where all attributes (and certain skill augmentations) are available to Lv.50 players after earning a certain amount of experience points.