Ifirit, how it could have been done better.

[Viridiana]

Okay, well, it seems like there's one main question we need to ask: Do we want the best gear to come from crafting or from raiding?

If it's not coming from crafting, what's the point in leveling crafts to the maximum level? You could have crafting provide the second-best gear, but demand for that will usually be lower than the demand for the best gear, naturally. Besides, that leaves the crafting classes kinda out of the loop on the end game. Sure, they have materia, but SE's already implied that they don't want high level crafters to be one-trick-ponies. That was half of the point behind adding in materia to start with. So, crafting classes need something more than materia, and, realistically, they want to be involved in the endgame. Yes, that might be a bit of a generalization, but I don't think there are many out there who actively want to not be involved in the endgame; that much I think I can say with confidence.

On the other hand, if it doesn't come from raiding, why raid? It could be said that the content itself is its own reward, but that would cut the lifetime of the content to days or weeks, not the months that SE needs between content patches. And that's assuming that people would even continue playing a game that gives no tangible reward for completing endgame content. Now, the typical reward for completing endgame content has become gear rewards. You can agree or disagree about whether this should be the case, but that doesn't change that it is the case.

So, that leaves us with a conundrum. How do you keep the crafting classes in on the action without having the raiders feel unrewarded? Well, the old system of NMs dropping items that crafters turn into unique gear kept both groups occupied. On the other hand, this opened up the possibility of people getting gear that they haven't done the content for. It kinda cheapens the sense of accomplishment if your reward can be bought for a few mil. Of course, the only way to keep the gear off of the wards would be to make it and the mat for it Untradeable, but then how do you get it to the crafter?

Now, then, there are two paths I'd like to see SE take for top-of-the-line gear, and both involve the mats being U/U. One would be to allow crafting through the trade window, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Almost certainly not before 2.0, and I'd say it's a stretch even then. The other option, which I find more likely, is for the best gear to be slotted U/U gear made from U/U mats. As in, the best gear would go to those with the time and patience to get both their DoW/DoM and their DoH up to the cap. Better still if they have the means to multi-slot their gear, which should be. . . interesting.

Anyways, this post wound up being longer than I expected, but I hope it inspires a bit of talk between the two sides.

[Rentahamster]

Okay, well, it seems like there's one main question we need to ask: Do we want the best gear to come from crafting or from raiding?

Both.


(damn this character limit)

[Bahn]

Okay, well, it seems like there's one main question we need to ask: Do we want the best gear to come from crafting or from raiding?

Both.


(damn this character limit)

That's also what I was thinking. Why does it have to be black and white? Why can't the best gear come from BOTH crafting and raiding so those who choose to go the DoW-only route or the DoH-only route don't get excluded? That would solve the conundrum Viridiana is posing.