Poll: Gear progression, horizontal or vertical?

[Allyrion]

Except that in your example the gear is NOT relevant forever, as you would be going into newer, harder content to raise the item levels. Which is what we do right now .. But without set bonuses to anchor us to old gear.
In such a world gear would be even more bland than it is now, because everyone would have one set, and one set only that just got a number buff every other patch.

I don't agree.
One set should be upgraded through various achievements and possibly reverted like how we'll be able to glamour any version of the relic.
It should be customizable in terms of looks as well as stats, with the augmented stats being more interesting than what we have now.
Most of the FF series and SE games don't even let you equip a full set, you add special effects aren't just bigger numbers through accessories.
There will always be BiS, but things like WoW's talent system shows you can still give empowerments that are balanced but contain play style differences.

One of the best parts of FFXIV is that you can play all the classes on one character.
You can change Jobs at any time (outside of combat) and you'll have different animations and gameplay.
Everything you accomplish is saved to that character and nothing is ever really lost.

That's what I want for gear. To be able to customize it a little, and the item level would increase through certain conditions.
If RNG is needed, maybe you have a chance for your gear to be powered up equal to what would've been the drop chance before.
There's much more fluidity and freedom there and nothing is ever lost.

It's very similar to the current system but the sets are consolidated and, thus, gear becomes an extension of your character (which is what I think it should be).
I don't really care for the whole wanting to kill this boss to get a new pair of pants that randomly appears in a chest.
It's conceptually different that you defeat a powerful enemy and your gear is empowered with that victory
The focus changes to empowering your character instead of basically going shopping in a raid.