[Idea/Suggestion] Improve the skills or traits.

[Gamemako]

I'm just saying I would like to see a way to advance my character past the gear treadmill

So, you want to get off the vertical progression treadmill and on the vertical progression treadmill. Cool beans.

[Mcshiggs]

So, you want to get off the vertical progression treadmill and on the vertical progression treadmill. Cool beans.

I never said replace the current system, add to the current system. I want a reason to play more than a couple hours a week that rewards me with something more than trivial/useless vanity items. If that is vertical progression, that's fine, that is another form of progression, and another reason to log on and do something.

[Kiliek]

I'd say go with something similar to Diablo's Rune system

You can "change" your job's skills based on what you need. For example, maybe PLD's Rage of Halone combo is changed so instead of increased Enmity, you get a small absorb effect.
This would be beneficial to a tank that might heavily out gear his other group members and has no need for extra threat - but instead could help out their healer that might be a bit under geared.
Tank having trouble w/ keeping Hate - lower damage output of Halone, but increases Additional Enmity (Yes I know that is called Shield Oath)
Two tanks but only one tank is really needed? Well - maybe that Enmity is swapped out for a DoT effect.

This would GREATLY change customization. Obviously would have different effects for other jobs - but you could change abilities so that your AOE damage is increased, or that SMN DoTs are weakened but are turned into normal spells (would help with trash pulls that mobs die before DoT's timer fully is utilized.

[Sylve]

I'd say go with something similar to Diablo's Rune system
-snip-.

This is pretty much what i was thinking, but with Materia. Perhaps we could leave the Stat Materia's as they are, and allow crafters to make special ones that change up how some skills work by applying the Materia to the Skill? I'm thinking something along the lines of TERA's Glyph system there. Though those are almost always just + power or reduced cooldowns.

[Gooner_iBluAirJGR]

I agree that we need some sideways progression. It just needs to not be in the form of straight up player power per hour spent grinding mobs in a little corner of the world. . .

Totally agree. Maybe job / class trainers could offer quests post lvl50 that offer different skill enhancements Maybe choose 5 out of 20 potential enhancements per class/job and can re-spec with myth tomes or something.

[OnyxStrife]

I'm all for revamping the skill system, the one we have seems so lazy. Cross class skills aren't a reason to not make a detailed system.

This is a Final Fantasy game with the most bland skill system ever, sound weird to you? So many interesting things can be done to make skill progression actually exist instead of getting the exact same abilities/traits as any other played using the same class/job as you. It's boring and it really needs to change.

[Adrian74]

The problem with this kind of system is that a longtime player gains a massive advantage over a newer player of the same level.
Example.
Player A plays since launch day. Gets first 50 Job and sticks with it for 1 year, gaining all the Merit/Bonus levels whatever you call it.
Player B Starts 9 months after launch, gets first 50 in 2 months playing every now and again, catches up to Player A's gear but does not have any of the Merit bonuses.

Player A will hold a significant advantage over the newer player, an advantage that would lead to parties and even FCs placing Merit restrictions on recruits.
That sort of advantage would be impossible for Player B to catch up to, nor even make up for with personal skill.
It gets especially ugly for PvP as well, should both players be interested in it.

Here is only a small idea for customization, to be more than only the gear at endgame after all, maybe not grinding or maybe yes, I don't care much but... Let's be realistic a little about it... I know Yoshida-san already stated that he doesn't like much the differences in a MMORPG between a player that can play a lot and a player that can't... (Personally, I can only play in weekends, my time between the week is a joke)...

You can't really pretend to fight that in a MMORPG because it is the pure essence of the MMORPGs, if you really pretend to smash the content like that, at the endgame everything will be so monotone as some people say, thus, they leave and all those things. You can't pretend to 'correct' that some people has more time than others for playing.... As for correct the time some people started there's only one effective way I know... Make new servers every three months, and don't allow people from other servers to trespass their char there. So, everyone would start a server at the same time with the same priviledges and the same conditions, at least in the joining time, everything will be like new.. And is a good felling, have to say, I experienced in another game starting four new servers, and whenever there was announced a new one, there I went.

But, still, regardless of that, It doesn't necessarily has to be like you say. It could still fitting Yoshida-san's idea, adding one of the famous caps. Just like the caps with the gear, you could do a cap for weekly obtain skill points or items for improve your skills... (Still, the idea of the caps in my opinion is wrong, you have the same problem, players that started before me have advantage over me because they already have better gear I'll need weeks or more to obtain... So.... Really are we dropping a good idea just because 'would make distinction between chars that play more or less'?

it was that way in FF XI and i never once saw a complaint

I'm glad to know about it!... I hope they think about doing something similar here!

That's really the best response you can come up with? Have you looked at the party finder lately? Can you imagine the immense clusterfuck the thing would be if another layer of vertical progression as OP suggests were added?

"i120+ PROs only must have cleared must show proof MUST HAVE ENHANCED SPIRITS WITHIN OR KICK no bads"

My shorter way to reply this is "It would be the players' fault, not game's." Because that's what's it. We can't really be dropping all the ideas just because we can imagine SOME people really asking for fancy requirements like that for their party.

So you fear more words, and words typed in capital letters? I'm just saying I would like to see a way to advance my character past the gear treadmill, something that rewards you for the time you spent on that character/job, I just think their reason for not doing it, upsetting people that don't even play the game right now is BS.

Totally agree with you, as I replied above, it is simply (with all respect) stupid to take care about what requirement some people would put in a party.... If I would be the one about to joina party that says to me "YOu need to have at least a 3s Silence duration with your bard" I'd probably just ignore them and search for another or make my own...And everything

I'm all for revamping the skill system, the one we have seems so lazy. Cross class skills aren't a reason to not make a detailed system.

This is a Final Fantasy game with the most bland skill system ever, sound weird to you? So many interesting things can be done to make skill progression actually exist instead of getting the exact same abilities/traits as any other played using the same class/job as you. It's boring and it really needs to change.

That's more or less the idea, sir! The method, grinding or not, doesn't matter. Skills can be upgraded, can become fun, different for each other, a choice, a selection of our preference... Not something static like it is right now.

[Zoeila]

they already have something similar here for pvp. you can spend pvp points to increase stats and purchase skills. its just a matter of making something similar for pve.

[Adrian74]

I'm sorry but I feel like this thread needs to be a little active, or at least have else more people reading it or either a response of the developer team.

That said, I use "revamp" skill here. (There are threads about butts and those, with all respect, meaningless things, for the game that are being revamped all the time... Why an idea that could expand the horizons of the game has to be doomed to oblivion?)

Another patch is coming, and I already asked in the letter of the producer if we will continue having that annoying gear progression instead of something else and.... More customizable. It would be awesome to choose how to improve our skills and which skills.

Why still limitating the game to the attributes and the gear? Why not expand the battle system giving us the option to upgrade our skills? If possible, something that can be obtained without doing coil all the time and those things, (such as the way you obtain Animus weapon, that you have to follow a different progression)

[Lithera]

I'm sure it's coming, but with a level cap increase in the not too distant future they're probably waiting. People are going to be jammed up enough around level 50 after the cap increase without being expected to "cap out merits" like FFXI. Better to do something like this when they hit a cap they're going to sit at for a while. Oh and these sysstems tend to have a cap so the "advantage" only lasts until the veteran hits caps and the new players makes up the ground. That's how it worked in FFXI.