Materia Changes in 3.2:

[RiceisNice]

And suddenly you have a balancing nightmare on your hands. And that groups WILL demand you to have very specific materia melded to your gear to be considered for a group, even low-tier groups (since stats like these can be game-changing, unlike the secondary stats we have now).

As interesting as it seems, it will not bring variety at all, with one stat set being the most powerful and the only one people will consider for any even semi-serious content.

People are already doing that with sub stats anyway despite how inconsequential it is to your gameplay. At least with different stats, you can feel some form of empowerment from gear. Also balancing nightmare, it's not like the developers are that incompetent to make something astoundingly op compared to everything else that's available.

Plus people are excluding people from groups for the silliest reasons in the first place, having different substats wouldn't be anything new in that regard.

[Kaurie]

And suddenly you have a balancing nightmare on your hands. And that groups WILL demand you to have very specific materia melded to your gear to be considered for a group, even low-tier groups (since stats like these can be game-changing, unlike the secondary stats we have now).

As interesting as it seems, it will not bring variety at all, with one stat set being the most powerful and the only one people will consider for any even semi-serious content.

I agree, having to balance things is why games like Starcraft were so unsuccessful.

Devs would be best to remove stats all together and simply give each job 1 stat called "Main Stat". Would make balancing much easier and people will be less likely to be blocked out of parties for being idiots or incompetent.

[CyrilLucifer]

Balance is never, ever, ever, under any circumstance, an excuse to limit customization in terms of MMOs.

Many MMOs have succeeded in balancing classes and equipment with much greater customization than XIV in gear and personal abilities. There is no reason why XIV can't do the same. Saying otherwise is essentially selling the devs short.

[Belhi]

Balance is a very good excuse as screwed up balance can break the game. You think people complaining about content now? Imagine what its like if their favoured class was clearly at a disadvantage or a 'required' materia for their class was difficult to get or could only be acquired through content they hated doing. People in this thread are complaining about doing Diadem for just normal Materia and there are alternatives to that.

That's not to say they cant include a lot more customisation in this game. However they have to take their time and be very careful they don't break the game doing it. Many MMOs do have far more customisation than FF14 while maintaining reasonable balance but those MMO rarely implement those customisation systems without a very long testing and balancing period. Even then a lot of them fall into the trap of their customisation ending up having only 1 or 2 viable builds and the rest being a waste.

Consider how long they too to rebalance the AST. It wasn't cause they were ignoring it. It's cause they were being very careful not to swing from one side to the other with it. Small changes can make huge impacts on the game.

And hell no to multiple gear sets. I hate having to do that, particularly in a game with ANY vertical progression.

I hope for more customisation but if your impatient and they decide to rush then don't be surprised if we have a complete mess. This Materia change is a small one but it is one. Small steps are better than none.

[Tilgung]

Balance is never, ever, ever, under any circumstance, an excuse to limit customization in terms of MMOs.

Many MMOs have succeeded in balancing classes and equipment with much greater customization than XIV in gear and personal abilities. There is no reason why XIV can't do the same. Saying otherwise is essentially selling the devs short.

Do you want to give examples? I can't think of a single MMO I've played where there wasn't massive disparity where x class/skill tree was so inferior it was completely shat on by the community. And then in an effort to fix that, another class fell into the slot instead.

XI for example, despite it's long lifespan, still has balance issues. White Mage, Geomancer, Dancer, Blue Mage, Black Mage or Paladin with a both of your relic shields are top tier. Samurai, Thief, Corsair, Beastmaster, Summoner, Bard and Scholar are passable. The other nine jobs are considered trash and the best of them can only compete with mid tier players in the best jobs with the absolute best gear sets available to them.

XIV's the only game that has it's act together as far as job balance is concerned. Bard was sorta too good initially, Warrior was lagging behind initially, in 2.4 Dragoon was in a bad place, but they've fixed all of those issues.

I want more customization, but I don't want it if it's going to destroy XIV's amazing class balance.

[Kurogaea]

*Cough* Diadem *Cough*

Unless your grinding for lvl 5 materia, diadem items are kinda on the cheap side now. use to sell wind silk for like 500 till the prices dropped to like 100k and less. :/

[CosmicKirby]

Imagine what its like if their favoured class was clearly at a disadvantage or a 'required' materia for their class was difficult to get or could only be acquired through content they hated doing.

MCH says hi. Being out picked 3 to 1 by their only slot competition ( BRD).

Even with so few stats and variance their balance is still mediocre at best.

[ServerCollaps]

95% of players don't raid regardless of gear. A whole bunch of ya can't do more than 500 dps no matter how good your gear is. And the content is tuned so low it could prob be beaten with half your gear missing. I don't see how this will effect anything.

this so much

[Gamer3427]

OP. There is plenty of ways to make gil right now even if you don't craft or gather. Just from running a few dungeons at level 60 you'll be getting tens of thousands of gil. If running content like that constantly to make money isn't enough for you, go out and kill enemies for loot drops. Still pure combat without being a gatherer or crafter, and some of the more expensive materials on the MB are ones you get from killing annoying monsters over and over again for material drops. Or if all else fails, go run FATEs constantly for hours on end. You get a nice bit of gil from them to begin with, and all the Grand Company Seals that you get as well can be traded for items that can be sold on the MB for a decent price. Or if THAT'S not good enough for you, farm tomestones and use those to buy the rare materials from the vendors. I know that before the Relics came out I was nearly capped on Law so I blew what I had on a material that I sold on the MB for about 300k if I recall correctly. OR IF THAT FAILS, start a sell party for EX primals. While I don't support sell parties in the least, that is still yet another way that you could make gil without crafting or gathering. OR IF THAT ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU, then you can always just farm EX Primals for materials. King Mog's Whiskers are selling for about three million right now on my server, (and selling fairly quickly), which is more than I make from gathering normally in a few weeks unless I'm making an actual effort to make gil. Then there's also the option to simply use your Ventures wisely and level your two free retainers that you have access to to level 60 and let them gather items to sell. Just off of my main retainer I make about 10-20k a day from doing one 18h venture, and she's an Arcanist not a gatherer....

You're complaining that it's nearly impossible for pure combat players to make a decent amount of gil, but I just listed eight very viable methods for making money in game that doesn't require a crafter or gatherer class at all. Yea, you won't be making money as quickly as a dedicated crafter or gatherer, but what would be the point of even playing as those classes to begin with if they didn't allow for making money at a faster rate or saving you from spending money?

From reading a few of the other comments in this thread, as well as a few of your own, it becomes readily apparent that you're not complaining about the cost of materia as much as you're complaining that people who diversify how they play the game have more options than people who only play one part of the game. There are benefits to focusing only on combat of course, such as, (hopefully), improving your skills in general allowing you to preform better in content when compared to players who haven't practiced as much, or the fact that you'll be more familiar with enemy patterns. It's only fair that the people who craft or gather likewise have their own benefits in the form of more gil and easier access to crafting and gathering items. What's more is that it's not like these people have put any less time into the game than you have. In fact, most people who have the same level of equipment as you do, but who also have at least one crafting or gathering class leveled, have put more time into the game than you have......

EDIT: I guess part of my point is that the OP's reasoning and claims even on the first page alone are insulting in many regards. As is, even if you don't actively try to make money from crafting or gathering items for profit, it's stupidly easy to make gil in this game. I know that on an average night of just doing roulettes or leveling dungeon runs, I walk away with about 50k from a few hours worth of runs, before we even begin to count in anything I make from my retainers selling stuff or their ventures.....

[Zojha]

Yea, you won't be making money as quickly as a dedicated crafter or gatherer, but what would be the point of even playing as those classes to begin with if they didn't allow for making money at a faster rate or saving you from spending money?

Yeah, what would be the point of even playing combat classes if they didn't allow for making money at a faster rate or saving you from spending money?

Oh wait...

Fun yet sad fact: The only reason crafting and gathering are profitable is because most people don't like doing them. Imagine just for one moment everyone would gather and craft as they play their combat classes. No profit possible. Not only would there be next to no demand since everyone crafts and gathers, the supply would be immense.

As such, getting money is not "the point" of playing these classes, it's the natural result of people not enjoying them.