To Square Enix, these are the reasons why I am currently unsubbed from the FF14.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

That's a fair analysis, but so what? If there's one thing I learned from Eureka, it's how much difference the downtime in a game like FFXI actually made to its enjoyment. FFXI was extremely obtuse and anti-player, yet people still loved it, and Eureka taps into a lot of the reason why that was the case. Why is that a bad thing? If it's designed to be fun, and it is fun, doesn't that make it well-designed?

The Magia board is a bit extraneous, but I don't know what design for that sort of thing would have actually worked well. The only thing I can think of would be to more heavily restrict how often you can change it, and I think that would have just made people mad. It doesn't really add anything to the content (except justifying a few quests), but I don't think it detracts either.

Considering the sheer number of players who AFK, I am hard pressed to call Eureka well-designed. Even should I choose to contribute, things die at some a breakneck pace, I often spam the same 3-5 buttons endlessly. What fun I have in Eureka comes from jumping into Discord chats or 'trolling' shout. The content itself is absolutely mindless.

I generally don't do a lot of penta-melding

How can you have an opinion on a system you do not actively participate in? As someone who does overmeld on crafters, gathers and combat jobs, I assure you, it feels absolutely dreadful. You have as little as a 5% chance to meld a single piece, thus you can spend over thirty minutes literally watching your gil blow out only to get nothing out of it. This says nothing of the sheer grind required to obtain higher level Craft and Gather materia—nevermind the abysmal Spiritbonding system. Good design does not have players screaming profusely at how unfair their luck is after blowing up 65 materia on a supposed 17% chance. There is no skill or effort involved. You click through menus, sacrifice a Lalafell and hope RNJesus doesn't hate you.

[KaldeaSahaline]

Here's the thing though, SE could conceivably design a PvP Chocobo-racing like the Mario Cart PvP mode. Almost everything is there for it. We have PvP maps, we have Chocobos, we have debuff "items". All that is needed is a way to allow the players to target each other on a PvP map and not be knocked off their mount. Heck... go one further and allow other mounts to be used as well, give every (non-cash shop) land mount their own specs for racing/pvp.

Oh I know they COULD. That's why I'm so frustrated. I'd be open to exploring other mounts in there, but keep specs as a choice not tied to the mount IMO. This way you can pick the one you want (aesthetically) without being beholden to specific kart style.

[Talraen]

How can you have an opinion on a system you do not actively participate in? As someone who does overmeld on crafters, gathers and combat jobs, I assure you, it feels absolutely dreadful...

Simple answer: I used to keep up with the bleeding edge of crafting in ARR, penta-melding and all. It was a lot harder (and more expensive) to get materia back then, too.

You're basically saying that the way you use the system - which you describe as feeling "dreadful" - is the only way to use the system. It isn't. Have you considered not using the system in a way that makes you miserable? I don't, and I quite like it.

[MomomiMomi]

Simple answer: I used to keep up with the bleeding edge of crafting in ARR, penta-melding and all. It was a lot harder (and more expensive) to get materia back then, too.

You're basically saying that the way you use the system - which you describe as feeling "dreadful" - is the only way to use the system. It isn't. Have you considered not using the system in a way that makes you miserable? I don't, and I quite like it.

There isn't another way to use the system if you want to get to the end result of being able to actually make use of the system: being able to craft or gather the top tier of items.

Again, what you're basically saying is "don't use the system." Which, to most people, generally translates to "thus, it's a bad system." That anyone would consciously and willingly choose not to do it is plenty evidence that it's bad.

[Talraen]

There isn't another way to use the system if you want to get to the end result of being able to actually make use of the system: being able to craft or gather the top tier of items.

Again, what you're basically saying is "don't use the system." Which, to most people, generally translates to "thus, it's a bad system."

That's true, if you want to be at the very top tier, you need to do a lot of melding. However the idea that you're not using the system if you're not at the top tier is ridiculous. I don't do savage or ultimate, does that mean I'm not using the combat system? The game isn't the sum of its least accessible parts.

If the only way to craft at all was to be at the very top, that would be a badly designed system because it would have no flexibility. But that's not "the system." I can do as little or as much with the crafting and materia system as I want to, and what I get out of it depends on what I put into it. That's the essence of good design. On my main, I level every crafting class in parallel, crafting HQ gear for myself every time it becomes available, do every leve, etc. On my alts, I level one craft at a time using vendor-purchased NQ gear and beast tribe quests and GC hand-ins. Those are two entirely different strategies, both completely viable for the goals I'm pursuing, and neither of which involves top tier crafting or gathering.

You have a very limited concept of what the game is. It's not the only valid interpretation. It's about the journey, not the destination.

The only way to craft at the top is to be at the top. There is no flexibility here. By your own logic, that's a badly designed system.

This is such a ridiculous misreading of what I said that I won't even waste one of my rapidly decreasing daily posts responding to it, lol. Who says crafting at the top is the only thing that exists? I craft for a variety of reasons, none of which involve or require being at the top. And I seem to be having more fun than you guys with it, which makes me think I must be doing something right. Maybe stop sabotaging yourselves with ridiculous purity requirements?

[Abelfei]

This was very well said. Alot of people with crafting and gathering are looking at the game through a pinhole.

[MomomiMomi]

If the only way to craft at all was to be at the very top, that would be a badly designed system because it would have no flexibility.

The only way to craft at the top is to be at the top. There is no flexibility here. By your own logic, that's a badly designed system.

This is such a ridiculous misreading of what I said that I won't even waste one of my rapidly decreasing daily posts responding to it, lol. Who says crafting at the top is the only thing that exists? I craft for a variety of reasons, none of which involve or require being at the top. And I seem to be having more fun than you guys with it, which makes me think I must be doing something right. Maybe stop sabotaging yourselves with ridiculous purity requirements?

I wasn't talking about your statement in general, but your argument of what makes a good system. You said that flexibility makes for a good system. But endgame crafting has no flexibility. To do it has requirements which must be met by making use of overmelding. There is no going around this. No flexibility. If you're using flexibility as a sign of a good system, then endgame crafting clearly lacks it and thus is a bad system. Endgame crafting and materia overmelding are inextricably linked as a system. If you're saying that no flexibility is bad, then what we have here is a bad system.

Logical conclusion: materia overmelding is a bad system.

[Remedi]

which is a problem of crafting in this game, everyone has the same recipes and the same ability to craft things, ye specialization exist, but it's no longer that prevalent and it's less restricted than before.

I mean why the mount is so easy to craft? It was too much having it requiring much higher stats and maybe requiring HQ to be crafted?

[Bourne_Endeavor]

You're basically saying that the way you use the system - which you describe as feeling "dreadful" - is the only way to use the system. It isn't. Have you considered not using the system in a way that makes you miserable? I don't, and I quite like it.

... this literally makes no sense. As Momo said, if a system is designed as a binary where you use it, thus feeling dreadful or don't and get nothing. It's a terribly flawed system. Should I want to craft current endgame items, I am required to overmeld. Yellow Scrip gear simply will not reach the minimum requirements, let alone HQ it.

On the combat side of things, I may not require overmelds. However that does not make the system well designed. A good system encourages the user to participate and perhaps get creative. Nothing of the sort exists with materia. You either overmeld for those extra stats or you don't. Should you choose the former, you'll be screaming at the game when it takes a stack of 99 Grade Vs and says, "fuck you."

[Remedi]

Tbh materia is a working system that requires an overhaul
Working because it does what it's meant to do
In need of an overhaul because overmelding in my opinion is not well designed, not involved and has a RNG that is irritating
I want not have this feeling of doing something BS when I overmeld anything (accessories are the worst)