A solution to the Crafting/Gathering/Economy crisis.

[Gilthas]

I don't believe that making classes comparable to jobs is any kind of solution as you're just shifting the problem around or delaying it for a few more weeks.

If they want to make craftable i90 recipees, the Armoury system isn't what's stopping them. They could easily make them available for jobs.

Making classes competitive with jobs won't suddenly bring more "experimenting with cross-class skills", as the best skills for each role (tank, DPS, healer) are pretty obvious already.

The real solution to crafting is what you suggest at the end or your post:

B) Using a cursed-abjuration (FFXI) style system for high-level endgame gear (buy the crafted 'cursed' gear, use the abjuration dungeon/primal drop to 'uncurse' it).

Which has nothing to do with the the class/job system.

Though I'd add more things to fix crafting:

- all equipment should be meldable. Why on earth endgame dungeon drops can't be melded is simply beyond me (though you'd obviously have to adjust their stats to account for this).
- add new affixes to drops. Some of these new affixes should boost specific abilities. You see those abilities that no one uses because they're complete crap? Imagine if we had affixes on equipment that actually made these abilities desirable?
- some (if not all) endgame equipment should be convertible into materia.
- new materia should be added to the game. This new materia should have the above-mentioned new affixes and these new materia should only be obtainable by converting equipment that have those affixes. Some of the endgame drops that are now convertible should also give materia with special affixes.
- specific fix for potions: give each type of potion an individual timer. Make potion effects last longer, 15 seconds is simply too short, needs to be at least 30-60 seconds (can't be much more than that or they'll just be food).

I think these suggestions would do more for crafting, because at the very least it would be used for melding equipment.

Now, would all this lead to how in FFXI some pieces of equipment were worth millions? No. Because the only way to achieve something like that is to make endgame drops a hell of a lot more rare and have materials also be a lot more rare (or just make overmelding a lot more difficult). So should FFXIV implement something like this? In my opinion, no it shouldn't. I personally don't give a rat's ass if having all crafts at 50 doesn't make you millions of gil. These complaints about the "economy being in ruins" don't mean much to me. I do have a problem with crafting being virtually useless at endgame though. I just want that to be solved.

I say yes. Great idea. I am also sick and tried of looking at the same stuff

The only ways to prevent people from all looking the same:

- vanity slots (though I get the feeling that people won't be satisfied by this).
- making builds that require specific pieces of equipment (which would only last until the definitive builds are found and everyone flocked to those).
- making gear rare and take a very long time to acquire, a la FFXI (oh boy, the ****storm something like this would cause).

The only one that would truly fix the problem is the last one, and it wouldn't be a popular thing to implement (I'm completely against it).

Ran out of posts for the day:

Except they won't. It's been stated that by design, the devs want people to get the best drops from dungeons.

By moving endgame crafted gear to Class-exclusive, it neatly side-steps the issue. It allows the devs to have their cake, and us to eat some too.

As I stated in my OP, the devs had already started down this road in 1.x -- all the crafted iLvl70 weapons were Class-exclusive. Is it merely a coincidence that all the Class profile art and pics feature those crafted iLvl70 weapons in them?

I have no idea why the devs reversed course in ARR. But they need to go back.


A two-tiered system is what is needed, it fits the original design, it adds variety to gear and play-styles, and most importantly, it creates a real end-game market for crafters and gatherers into the future.

And it's been stated that by design that they want Jobs to be more powerful than classes too. So there's not going to be any i85/i90 class specific gear either.

If we're going to be making conjectures, lets try to actually solve the problem instead of just shifting it around.

[Zantetsuken]

I don't believe that making classes comparable to jobs is any kind of solution as you're just shifting the problem around or delaying it for a few more weeks.

If they want to make craftable i90 recipees, the Armoury system isn't what's stopping them. They could easily make them available for jobs.

Except they won't. It's been stated that by design, the devs want people to get the best drops from dungeons.

By moving endgame crafted gear to Class-exclusive, it neatly side-steps the issue. It allows the devs to have their cake, and us to eat some too.

As I stated in my OP, the devs had already started down this road in 1.x -- all the crafted iLvl70 weapons were Class-exclusive. Is it merely a coincidence that all the Class profile art and pics feature those crafted iLvl70 weapons in them?

I have no idea why the devs reversed course in ARR. But they need to go back.


A two-tiered system is what is needed, it fits the original design, it adds variety to gear and play-styles, and most importantly, it creates a real end-game market for crafters and gatherers into the future.

[Felis]

Except they won't. It's been stated that by design, the devs want people to get the best drops from dungeons.

Then it is about time that they start to nerf myth gear to ilevel 85. Or boost coil gear to ilevel 95