Good job...

[LineageRazor]

Are you going to say all these thing contribute to RMT?

Well, technically, yeah; if there's an economy at all, that contributes to RMT. Not that you actually need an economy at all for RMT to exist - they'll find a way to make money regardless - but yeah, an economy contributes to RMT. That doesn't mean an economy shouldnt exist.

The OP makes a mistake in assuming that the brutal grind was intended by SE to thwart RMT. That's ridiculous - RMT THRIVE on brutal grinds. No, the brutal grind was intended to slow progression of regular players, not prevent RMT. Scarcity of materials and scarcity of Tier V materia means that crafters and gatherers are STILL typically not wearing best-in-slot, even after so many months have passed. THAT was what SE was aiming for, and they've succeeded.

Probably their biggest goof was making crafted combat class gear so ridiculously pointless. It's just as hard to make as crafter/gatherer pieces, but unlike fully-melded crafter pieces are far, FAR away from being best-in-slot.

[TechnoTechie]

Probably their biggest goof was making crafted combat class gear so ridiculously pointless. It's just as hard to make as crafter/gatherer pieces, but unlike fully-melded crafter pieces are far, FAR away from being best-in-slot.

Goof? Pretty sure they planned that. With the secondary stat nerf (you need almost 2-3 times MORE secondary stat points than at 50 to get the same value as a main stat point now), even crafted i200 left side gear pentamelded with Vs wouldn't be as good as i210 because of the lack of main stat for most dps classes. I'm pretty sure the lack of defense would be crippling for tanks too. Healers would be sacrificing healing potency (counter argument: you can meld det? no, it wouldn't be enough) in exchange for a slight bit of spellspeed or crit (if they even lacked that on their other BiS).

I distinctly remember the devs mentioning that they did not want people to be clearing current-highest-end content with crafted gear.

[LineageRazor]

Goof? Pretty sure they planned that.

The fact that it was planned (and I agree, yes, it was deliberate) doesn't mean that it wasn't a goof. I understand the desire in not making the gear endgame viable, and they succeeded in that goal - you could give the stuff away for free fully melded and folks STILL wouldn't wear it in Alexander (Savage). The goof was in making it so difficult to craft. The armor is as difficult to make as the i170 crafting pieces. While the crafting pieces are "endgame" from a crafting/gathering standpoint, the armor is far from "endgame" for combat classes.

The armor needs to be difficult enough to put together that folks will still have to think carefully about whether they want to shell out the gil or run dungeons for Esoterics, but not so difficult that only the wealthiest of crafting moguls can possibly afford it.

[TechnoTechie]

The armor is as difficult to make as the i170 crafting pieces. While the crafting pieces are "endgame" from a crafting/gathering standpoint, the armor is far from "endgame" for combat classes.

The armor needs to be difficult enough to put together that folks will still have to think carefully about whether they want to shell out the gil or run dungeons for Esoterics, but not so difficult that only the wealthiest of crafting moguls can possibly afford it.

I agree about the difficulty of mats, but again, I'm pretty sure they planned for crafted gear to be far from "endgame" for DoW/DoM. I don't know why they had to keep going with the stupid grade 2 dissolvents to add additional cost to those items though. The devs were probably also planning for the longterm: the price on favor mats will drop after all of the gatherers are farming favor mats after gearing themselves out, and then more crafters can get into the crafting gear market.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

The problem with that idea is that regardless of how easily you can obtain Favor hand in items, you are still limited to 9 Red Crafting Tokens per week. You won't see that restriction being eased up on unless you can find someone willing to sell the RCT items (odorless fat, etc.).

[Silverbane]

The problem with that idea is that regardless of how easily you can obtain Favor hand in items, you are still limited to 9 Red Crafting Tokens per week. You won't see that restriction being eased up on unless you can find someone willing to sell the RCT items (odorless fat, etc.).

I'll probably start doing that soon. Being able to split crafting upgrades with my wife means we will soon have less incentive to craft i170 items for ourselves and can move on to providing mats to others for a reasonable(?) price.

Might start this week; depends mainly on whether we decide to craft i170 body items for ourselves. We are focused on gearing BSM, CRP, LTW, WVR, and GSM to upgraded MHs & OHs. I might stockpile some resources for gearing other classes until I see what recipes 3.1 brings us, but I don't have much of a reason to upgrade those classes currently. And we don't know what gathering in the new airship adventures will need.

[TechnoTechie]

I'll probably start doing that soon. Being able to split crafting upgrades with my wife means we will soon have less incentive to craft i170 items for ourselves and can move on to providing mats to others for a reasonable(?) price.

Might start this week; depends mainly on whether we decide to craft i170 body items for ourselves. We are focused on gearing BSM, CRP, LTW, WVR, and GSM to upgraded MHs & OHs. I might stockpile some resources for gearing other classes until I see what recipes 3.1 brings us, but I don't have much of a reason to upgrade those classes currently. And we don't know what gathering in the new airship adventures will need.

exactly the kind of example I was looking for. Availability increases as people need them less (i.e. they're already done gearing, or they've geared to their goal until the next content patch)