[dev1017] Materia crafting system & Materia: A Matter of Mystery (08/26/2011)

[MeowyWowie]

Honestly, there's just way too many variables that come into play with this, many of which we don't have any concrete info about yet. Gil, stats, content design, success rates, drop rates, etc, etc. It literally affects every aspect of the game, and likewise it's very easy to overlook something seemingly insignificant yet which has the potential to break the game.

This has to be handled very cautiously because they have to make sure that the content they release is worth doing for everyone, while at the same time not making the rewards from it too OP. The purchasable equipment can't be too OP either when compared to the content-acruired equipment. They have to make sure that the game doesn't revolve entirely around gil. Those are among the most important aspects of it, but there's still more to it than that.

As I said earlier, I'm really not even going to bother to get into it until we have concrete info on all of these aspects. Unfortunately, this means that no matter how much info we are given through dev posts, there will always be more questions that follow. That's not to say that more info wouldn't be nice. But to really see what effect this will all have on the game as a whole is something we'll have to actually test and see firsthand.

I'll just say it again, I really hope they thought this entire system through and tested its effects on the game itself before releasing it. It's very likely that a small mistake has the potential to cripple certain aspects of the game.

[Chardrizard]

HQ gear can be obtained by purhasing it, which takes 0 skill at all. R/EX gear must be obtained through natural means, which usually involves skill.

Yea, either way, both systems will allow for wealthier players to gain the upper hand. But the former is more manipulative if you ask me, requiring 0 skill at all.

People are already buying Dzemael's gaers, so R/X doesnt stop wealthy players either.

[MeowyWowie]

People are already buying Dzemael's gaers, so R/X doesnt stop wealthy players either.

That's true, even my shell sells DH gear. But the buyers still have to attend the event to get it, and have to wait for certain times to actually have to opportunity to purchase them, not to mention they have to be lucky enough to have the gear drop for them. They can't just run to the Market Wards and purchase whatever they need.

And yes I know, HQ gear might not always be available for purchase either, but you can bet that the mats will be. You can't craft r/ex gear on the other hand.

[Medura]

Exactly... I don't feel like limiting myself in party or solo just so I can transform my gear later into materia. Going to have to buy all my materia cause of this >.< No idea why they just didnt use a simple universal currency that builds up as u fight which u can spend on any equipment to transform. Pug's are alrdy pretty horrid, imagine all the people that will run around in crappy gear in parties just so they can get materia from it :S

He said it wasnt random, meaning the best gear gives best materia, meaning people will do their best to obtain 10 of all the best gear :P And as thing gets destroyed, gil will dissappear, burn out!

I guess a end-game gear with 7 infused materia would go for 500 mill gil, then 200 mill of those would go to make another 7 infused one

This is a great idea from SE ^^

[MeowyWowie]

He said it wasnt random, meaning the best gear gives best materia, meaning people will do their best to obtain 10 of all the best gear :P And as thing gets destroyed, gil will dissappear, burn out!

I guess a end-game gear with 7 infused materia would go for 500 mill gil, then 200 mill of those would go to make another 7 infused one

This is a great idea from SE ^^

Gil won't disappear, just transferred between players. And the max materia per slot is 5, with 7 slots able to be enhanced (8 if you include shield).

[Coombah]

If you have gear that is 0%, the memories should become bad memories and thus become negative materia (eg. Enemy Lure).

Tanks would do it on purpose then ^^

[WintersMoondancer]

Success Rates for Forbidden Materia Craft
Success rates will be determined for forbidden materia craft, and success rates will differ based on whether two or three materia are infused. Whether or not the item to be infused with materia is HQ or not will also affect success rates. More powerful materia, such as tier IV, will have lower success rates, and the type of materia already infused will affect success rates as well. The system will calculate these success rates, and the rates will be displayed prior to beginning the infusion process.

I really like this option. This allows you to weigh in if the risk is worth the reward especially when dealing with items that may be harder to obtain, e.g. HQ items, since HQ items are going to be more difficult to obtain after the updates.

[Greed]

For those asking of you'd be able to put materia into Rare/Ex gear, I'm pretty sure they had mentioned before you can only socket things you have the skill to make. This is why Alchemist and Culinarians are out of the whole Materia system (Though I remember we argued that Alchemist "make" a dagger or two. We never got an answer, I believe).

If what I'm remembering here is correct, it stands to reason you can't put materia on them rares. I mean, what craft and level would it require?

The repair requirement, maybe...?

they don't make dagger
they upgrade dagger

[Estellios]

I think the only major issue of crafted gear being outright better than "rare" gear is in the case of weapons. For armor I was looking along the lines of say a Revolutionary's Bliaud vs. Vintage Robe (Looking only at Combat Stats):

Bliaud: INT+5, MND+5, PIE +5, Magic Acc +4, Parry +4

Robe: MP+57 MND +4

The Bliaud essentially has 3 more "Materia-like effects" on it over the robe. I'm guessing rare gear will be balanced so that It is more general purpose but better than what you could potentially get if you tried to make something similar with materia. You'd be able to make that vintage robe as good stat-wise or better than the Bliaud, but it would take a lot of time and luck. You'd need 3 materia attachments to make it comparable and a very risky 4th or 5th materia attemptto make it better. It also can be geared to be super specific (ie: instead of MND add more INT or Magic Potency to make a nuking piece). The balance would need to be that rare gear is powerful immediately and somewhat above the possibilities of materia, but it is not as "malleable" as crafted gear with materia set.

[Lionix]

Hence the quotation marks. Even though they very technically don't make it, they upgrade it, they are also the ones to repair it. If you need to have the skills to make an item in order to socket it, what level blacksmith do you think a Blinding Dagger will need? The Blacksmith Level 4 of the Bronze Dagger? The Blinding Dagger itself is Alchemist 14 to "make".

Though... Isn't this kind of out of topic?

Wanted to add: This is an argument nobody can win.
Materia Slotted > Rares:
"Rares are now useless, what's the point of doing a raid now??"

Rares > Materia Slotted:
"Materia is a pointless system, consumes time and money and I can just go do a raid with my shell."

How about, guys guys, listen, guys, how about
Listen, shut up, guys
Guys

How about we just do whichever we like and not use it if you don't like it? You can still turn a profit regardless. Opportunities for everyone.