1 Materia makes any crafted item better than any NM/Raid/Dungeon item. Why?

[Sigtyr]

Because that'd make sense. Or at least give said equipment a large buff.

Besides, crafters and their wares are still going to be in high demand, people are going to want to have a chance at getting themselves some high ranked materia, so they'll be replacing gear quite quickly.

Not to mention, why would you run a dungeon if you've already got gear better than what it provides?

[Sigmakan]

I agree with Doctor Mog and Eikiki.

There has to be some balance here: If Raid / Dungeon Gear is "the best," then why have Materia Crafted Gear? And the same with the current situation: If Materia Crafted Gear with just 1 Materia Added can make obsolete Raid / Dungeon Gear, why do the Dungeon (except for fun, which I don't mind)?

I think some solutions some of the forum veterans have offered in the past to balance this were things like:

• Allow Unique / Untradeable (Raid / Dungeon) Gear to have *1* Materia Attachable, to give some customization and allow it to be greater than Crafted 1 Materia Slotted Gear.

• Then, Crafted ~3, 4 or 5 Slotted Materia Gear would be the really rare (very hard to gain) "best" gear, but at least for the most part Raid / Dungeon Gear is still "the best for many" (unless they get lucky with Random Number Generator to get passed 3 Slotted Crafted Gear).

• Or have Dungeons / NMs drop Rare Parts that help make an Ultimate Gear (like the way it was with Dodore Wing or Uraeus Skin). This way, the Dungeon / Raid / NM still contributes to a long-term Goal and Crafters contribute as well.

Or maybe have Crafted Gear make one type of "best gear" (like one that's skewed for one type of Stat / Play Style) and have a Dungeon / NM drop another type of "best gear" (for another Stat / Play Style)?

It's a fine balance to have. I think traditionally we're used to seeing the Raid / Dungeon / NM be the source for "Best Gear" and Crafters have some stuff that's useful sometimes.

Is there an ideal solution for FF XIV?

Some great ideas here.

[Physic]

The solution would be to have dungeon gear (i.e. rare/ex) have a materia slot. I couldn't tell you why SE didn't do that.

because then while materia is valuable, the crafted gear is not.

IMO the best solutions
less rare ex drops, and have craftable items drop from hard dungeons for the best gear
rare ex drops have a seperate upgrade path
rare ex can get materia, but 1 less maximum, and the first try is 50%

or have them be equal to a single materia gear in stats. a bit tricky though because materias have ranges, and the best IV materia is pretty rare.

[Gathol]

Mainly what I want to see is crafted gear having the potential to be better. I was initially expecting this to be the result of a crafted item with 2+ materia being better than an NM drop. But I've yet to actually see the new NM stuff, so I really don't know what the stat difference is at the moment. Unless people are complaining new crafted gear is better than their old NM stuff -- in which case . . . what?

[Eekiki]

because then while materia is valuable, the crafted gear is not.

Duh...of course. I even said that before. >.<

Wrestling with Windows Deployment Services has ruined my brain for the day.

[Perrin_Aybarra]

SE giving the power to the crafters is a good thing. Why complain about it?
The raid gear is for those who don't know of any dedicated crafters and/ or just want to take part in a dungeon and kill a boss. It doesn't make the raids pointless at all.

if raids doesn't give any items worth the trouble, why you would go in there twice? You are missing a key point in player retainment, which is the base of MMOs, if your content is not repeatable and doesn't keep player addicted, then your MMO will fail.

[Murugan]

I agree with Doctor Mog and Eikiki.

There has to be some balance here: If Raid / Dungeon Gear is "the best," then why have Materia Crafted Gear? And the same with the current situation: If Materia Crafted Gear with just 1 Materia Added can make obsolete Raid / Dungeon Gear, why do the Dungeon (except for fun, which I don't mind)?

I think some solutions some of the forum veterans have offered in the past to balance this were things like:

• Allow Unique / Untradeable (Raid / Dungeon) Gear to have *1* Materia Attachable, to give some customization and allow it to be greater than Crafted 1 Materia Slotted Gear.

• Then, Crafted ~3, 4 or 5 Slotted Materia Gear would be the really rare (very hard to gain) "best" gear, but at least for the most part Raid / Dungeon Gear is still "the best for many" (unless they get lucky with Random Number Generator to get passed 3 Slotted Crafted Gear).

• Or have Dungeons / NMs drop Rare Parts that help make an Ultimate Gear (like the way it was with Dodore Wing or Uraeus Skin). This way, the Dungeon / Raid / NM still contributes to a long-term Goal and Crafters contribute as well.

Or maybe have Crafted Gear make one type of "best gear" (like one that's skewed for one type of Stat / Play Style) and have a Dungeon / NM drop another type of "best gear" (for another Stat / Play Style)?

It's a fine balance to have. I think traditionally we're used to seeing the Raid / Dungeon / NM be the source for "Best Gear" and Crafters have some stuff that's useful sometimes.

Is there an ideal solution for FF XIV?

This I believe would be the ideal solution. Also certain U/U gear should be better with one slot of materia than crafted equivalents with 4 (if it is that difficult to obtain).

[grandm]

if raids doesn't give any items worth the trouble, why you would go in there twice? You are missing a key point in player retainment, which is the base of MMOs, if your content is not repeatable and doesn't keep player addicted, then your MMO will fail.

just to play devils advocate. if crafter's can't craft the best gear why would they bother crafting any at all. going on that logic. and i should point out i'm not a crafter

[JackDaniels]

Unacceptable.

I lol'd

10char

[grandm]

just to play devils advocate. if crafter's can't craft the best gear why would they bother crafting any at all. going on that logic. and i should point out i'm not a crafter

what it really comes down to is DoW DoM/ DoH DoL. and it don't matter which side gets the best gear, the other side is always going to feel grieved