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

[HyoMinPark]

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.

If you want to do end-game crafting/gathering, the only way to do it is by pentamelding (in addition to meeting specialist requirements if you are working with a specialist recipe, or possessing Folklore books for Legendary nodes); scrip gear is generally not enough to meet the minimums, especially if you opt to not pentameld accessories and off-hands. If you don’t want to pentameld, then you have to wait roughly 2 patches to get the next tier of DoH/DoL gear to either craft older-tier/obsolete gear or to gather older-tier/potentially obsolete materials. And even then, the new gear is likely to require at least guaranteed melds to meet the minimum requirements of the craft/gathering node, which are now obsolete. You won’t be able to meet the requirements for new recipes/nodes without pentamelding. There is not “other way” to use the melding system if you want to do current-tier crafting or gathering. You either use it and suffer the 5% RNG on that last Control V materia (7% if it’s a Grade IV!), or don’t use it at all and are unable to make relevant gear/gather relevant items.

For combat, no, you are not generally required to pentameld unless you are wanting to push as much personal potential as possible. However, saying “well, you don’t have to use the system that way” is still a poor defense of a poorly designed system.

[Okamimaru]

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.

They DID make a Mario kart style game already... Chocobo Racing on the ps1... Squall and bahamut were unlockable racers.... It was fun...

[Vstarstruck]

If you want to do end-game crafting/gathering, the only way to do it is by pentamelding (in addition to meeting specialist requirements if you are working with a specialist recipe, or possessing Folklore books for Legendary nodes); scrip gear is generally not enough to meet the minimums, especially if you opt to not pentameld accessories and off-hands. If you don’t want to pentameld, then you have to wait roughly 2 patches to get the next tier of DoH/DoL gear to either craft older-tier/obsolete gear or to gather older-tier/potentially obsolete materials. And even then, the new gear is likely to require at least guaranteed melds to meet the minimum requirements of the craft/gathering node, which are now obsolete. You won’t be able to meet the requirements for new recipes/nodes without pentamelding. There is not “other way” to use the melding system if you want to do current-tier crafting or gathering. You either use it and suffer the 5% RNG on that last Control V materia (7% if it’s a Grade IV!), or don’t use it at all and are unable to make relevant gear/gather relevant items.

For combat, no, you are not generally required to pentameld unless you are wanting to push as much personal potential as possible. However, saying “well, you don’t have to use the system that way” is still a poor defense of a poorly designed system.

Small correction here, gathering doesn't need that much melding, i never understood why gathering access is so low in comparison to crafting. just get some 330 yellow script gear, meld some gp to make sure ya got 700 or more and ya good to go, maybe even spend some reds overmelding some IV materia.

To your point though, I do agree the melding system is poor, same with the stat point things they get rid of, just illusion of choice at attempting to put a poor excuse of a gil sink in the game. Have to give them some credit though, at least it is not locked out like it was in ARR, yikes.

But yeah tredmill is real, no different then tomestomes, same clone progression as hw (ARR it was fluctuating a bit as master books came in much later and "new" at the time.

[HyoMinPark]

Small correction here, gathering doesn't need that much melding, i never understood why gathering access is so low in comparison to crafting. just get some 330 yellow script gear, meld some gp to make sure ya got 700 or more and ya good to go, maybe even spend some reds overmelding some IV materia.

To your point though, I do agree the melding system is poor, same with the stat point things they get rid of, just illusion of choice at attempting to put a poor excuse of a gil sink in the game. Have to give them some credit though, at least it is not locked out like it was in ARR, yikes.

But yeah tredmill is real, no different then tomestomes, same clone progression as hw (ARR it was fluctuating a bit as master books came in much later and "new" at the time.

If you want to gather HQ, you have to have 1350 Perception to get the new items HQ. Putting all Grade VI Perception materia in just the guaranteed melds, plus the company buff (+10), plus HQ Jhammel Mossouka, you will not meet the Perception requirements to gather HQ mats. You also will have no guaranteed slots for GP to reach the 700, because the augmented yellow scrip gear is not enough to push you to the 700 GP you’re quoting. With the yellow scrip gear, there is no way to play with your stats, so you would still have to overmeld in the accessories to meet the stats that you want.

[Vstarstruck]

If you want to gather HQ, you have to have 1350 Perception to get the new items HQ. Putting all Grade VI Perception materia in just the guaranteed melds, plus the company buff (+10), plus HQ Jhammel Mossouka, you will not meet the Perception requirements to gather HQ mats. You also will have no guaranteed slots for GP to reach the 700, because the augmented yellow scrip gear is not enough to push you to the 700 GP you’re quoting. With the yellow scrip gear, there is no way to play with your stats, so you would still have to overmeld in the accessories to meet the stats that you want.

depends on the economy i suppose if that is worth caring about (HQ results), was thinking about the last series, opps. I found it interesting once, hearing one of my discord contacts talking about how the last time it was worth caring about was in 3.4, that patch, gathering was hugely inflated for a full day, then still sold well 2-4 days after, a week after only one was still worth targeting. Crafting however lasted for months (where it was worth doing) Much better then SB where gathering died within hours and crafting endgame died within 1-3 days.

For me though I stayed away from endgame crafting but knew of it, as I did other things with my SO. Though sometimes it cam be amusing hearing someone from a deflated server talk about things. What is the general idea on your server? Like I know you have massive botting but when a new gathering material comes out with new endgame crafts, how long do they last where they are hugely inflated to still worth putting the time worth doing? do undercut bots undercut too much after a while and stick to a devalued price ? how long does that take to happen?

[Talraen]

If you want to do end-game crafting/gathering, the only way to do it is by pentamelding (in addition to meeting specialist requirements if you are working with a specialist recipe, or possessing Folklore books for Legendary nodes); scrip gear is generally not enough to meet the minimums, especially if you opt to not pentameld accessories and off-hands. If you don’t want to pentameld, then you have to wait roughly 2 patches to get the next tier of DoH/DoL gear to either craft older-tier/obsolete gear or to gather older-tier/potentially obsolete materials. And even then, the new gear is likely to require at least guaranteed melds to meet the minimum requirements of the craft/gathering node, which are now obsolete. You won’t be able to meet the requirements for new recipes/nodes without pentamelding. There is not “other way” to use the melding system if you want to do current-tier crafting or gathering. You either use it and suffer the 5% RNG on that last Control V materia (7% if it’s a Grade IV!), or don’t use it at all and are unable to make relevant gear/gather relevant items.

For combat, no, you are not generally required to pentameld unless you are wanting to push as much personal potential as possible. However, saying “well, you don’t have to use the system that way” is still a poor defense of a poorly designed system.

Three points. First, no one has to do end game crafting or gathering. It's a choice, and it's a valid choice to not make.

Second, you don't need to pentameld to do anything, because as you pointed out, you can just wait a few patches. This will likely remain true forever. (Sure, whatever the last content update in the history of FFXIV is may require pentamelding, but unless the game dies suddenly I expect it will eventually be easy to get a crafting set good enough for even the highest-tier crafts. But hey, worst-case scenario, my point is incorrect for a single set of items that doesn't exist yet and likely won't for years.)

Third, "the way I choose to use the system is bad" is a poor criticism of a system. If anything, what you're arguing is that the top-tier crafting system is badly designed. And frankly I wouldn't argue with you. But I was asked if the materia system was well-designed, and the materia system is a whole lot more than just the top-tier crafting system.