MrHappy interview with Yoshi-p (Raid boss tiers, set bonuses)

[Bourne_Endeavor]

That would be the reason they have resisted putting them in so far (with the exception of GC gear).

Personally, I suspect that if they do go this route, initially it will just be stuff like "wear 2 pieces, get 10 Determination; wear 4 pieces, get 15 crit". It won't be for at least an expansion or two before we start seeing the really unique, powerful effects, like "wear 8 pieces, get 'Effect: 50% chance to parry all attacks from the front for 50% damage reduction'; or wear 10 pieces, get 'Effect: Fire IV and Blizzard IV can now be cast outside of Enochian'" type of stuff. I'm sure others can come up with other effects of power that would put the gear in the "have it or don't log in" category.

Hopefully, they will be better, but I more or less agree. If set bonuses are added in Stormblood, I see it being more of a trial attempt. If it does lead to further exclusion, doesn't really change the landscape or causes friction between non-raiders and raiders, I could see them quickly abandoning it. On the other hand, it may be a nice way of allowing raiders to keep their previous tiered gear and still prog the next raid. That does hurt the crafted market though. Ahh, so many things to balance. I don't envy them lol.

[ToasterMan]

Hopefully, they will be better, but I more or less agree. If set bonuses are added in Stormblood, I see it being more of a trial attempt. If it does lead to further exclusion, doesn't really change the landscape or causes friction between non-raiders and raiders, I could see them quickly abandoning it. On the other hand, it may be a nice way of allowing raiders to keep their previous tiered gear and still prog the next raid. That does hurt the crafted market though. Ahh, so many things to balance. I don't envy them lol.

You just have to look at how the player base treats WHM and PLD to get a general idea of what could happen. I'm open to trying this but I don't have high hopes.