My point with the system isn't for pre 50's. It's utterly useless once you hit Level 50. And I'm not going to put materia in gear if I'm not 50 because I don't need to. e.g. my Lvl 22 paladin can tank anything up to level 22 without the need for materia, so why invest in it. Spending the time to invest in materia at level 22 would just slow me down in my triumph to get another class to 50 and would be wasted time. I define a waste of time as being any activity that requires effort that I do not derrive joy from. And putting materia in gear (finding a melder) isn't something I enjoy so I jsut don't.

However at 50... If I could materia my gear to help me get through TItan HM a little more easily, I would, and I would pay a melder 100's of K to do it.