why i don't think materia will kill off dungeons

[Xatsh]

iirc this is what they are aiming for.
The supposed "hardcore" will spend millions and millions to get the top notch gear. They are a minority.

The bigger group, the casuals/semi-hardcore will stick to normal materia/2slot materia and dungeon gear.

This is correct but this is their flaw.

The hardcores do not want the game to be all about sitting in uldah getting materia.

[DoctorMog]

This is correct but this is their flaw.

The hardcores do not want the game to be all about sitting in uldah getting materia.

Dear lord thank you.

This is exactly the point.

Why even have raids if there is no incentive to do them?


This is how it "should" work:

Crafted gear with no materia gives 80% of the stats of a normal raid item. This is the baseline.

Crafted gear, Socketed with:
1 materia = to 90% the stats of a normal raid item.
2 materia = same as a standard raid item
3 materia = 10% better than standard raid gear or = "strong" raid gear.
4 materia = 20% better than standard raid gear or = "very strong" raid gear.
5 materia = 25% better than raid gear, no raid item would be this good.
"Relic item".

In that order.

Crafted gear should supplement raid gear, and potentially be better when HQ'd and socketed several times. Not the way it is now.

[Volsung]

Dear lord thank you.

This is exactly the point.

Why even have raids if there is no incentive to do them?


This is how it "should" work:

Crafted gear with no materia gives 80% of the stats of a normal raid item
Socketed with 1 materia, it gives 90%
2 materia = same as raid gear
3 materia = 10% better than raid gear
4 materia = 20% better than raid gear
5 materia = 25% better than raid gear

I would be totally cool if it were balanced somewhat like this. I mean look at darkhold, why would you wear any of that gear vs a single tier 4 materia melded armor.

Which brings me to the next point, why is only the sentinel gear not ra/ex in the new raid contents? Seems to be a huge oversight.

So.... even if they cant get the balance correct, if they would at least allow us to socket 1 materia on ra/ex gear. This still keeps the crafters also in the loop as it would take crafted gear to make the materia.

Then the rich/lucky/hardcore (whatever the kids are calling them these days) can still make better gear with forbidden.

[Kiara]

Dear lord thank you.

This is exactly the point.

Why even have raids if there is no incentive to do them?


This is how it "should" work:

Crafted gear with no materia gives 80% of the stats of a normal raid item. This is the baseline.

Crafted gear, Socketed with:
1 materia = to 90% the stats of a normal raid item.
2 materia = same as a standard raid item
3 materia = 10% better than standard raid gear or = "strong" raid gear.
4 materia = 20% better than standard raid gear or = "very strong" raid gear.
5 materia = 25% better than raid gear, no raid item would be this good.
"Relic item".

In that order.

Crafted gear should supplement raid gear, and potentially be better when HQ'd and socketed several times. Not the way it is now.

Nice post DoctorMog.

I totally agree (and also agree with allowing Unique/Untradeable to be meldable, but at a Lower Percent Chance of Success).

A change like this would alleviate all of the problems, and give *balance* and *choices* to the player base. People are always asking for choices and this would be one of the most important / fundamental choices that affects the most amount of players.

With a system like what Mog and others are suggesting, it'd allow all types of players to enjoy and thrive:

* Not very good at raiding, or can't find enough people to conquer various Dungeons / NMs? You can work on getting Forbidden Materia Melded Gear. (We have this now.)

* Don't want to sit around in town to play the slot machine (Materia Melding) and want to earn rewards that are worthwhile and useful? Go Raid / Fight NMs for their drops that can be Meldable (or are balanced so that they're equal to Materia'd Gear in the way Mog describes it (above)).

It would also revitalize existing content (and future content) - like Dzemael Darkhold, like FNMs, etc. - since their drops would be worth going after.

And if they can be Multi-Melded (with a higher chance to blow up) that'd incentivize players to repeat that content as well, and have more activities than just "Latest Patch Primal Fight x 500 times."

More players would then be doing more activities, trying more content around Eorzea and not just all crowded to do the 1 or 2 new activities per Patch and then stopping play until next patch.

And this would still help Crafters since basic Materia Gear, and even 2 Materia Gear would still be very strong and useful. And some players prefer custom coloring their Gear, creating styles and sets that they like (and they can build out certain Stat Builds easier via Crafting (as we have now)). It just gives Adventurers more incentive and makes content more useful with greater longevity.

[Zantetsuken]

Dear lord thank you.

This is exactly the point.

Why even have raids if there is no incentive to do them?


This is how it "should" work:

Crafted gear with no materia gives 80% of the stats of a normal raid item. This is the baseline.

Crafted gear, Socketed with:
1 materia = to 90% the stats of a normal raid item.
2 materia = same as a standard raid item
3 materia = 10% better than standard raid gear or = "strong" raid gear.
4 materia = 20% better than standard raid gear or = "very strong" raid gear.
5 materia = 25% better than raid gear, no raid item would be this good.
"Relic item".

In that order.

Crafted gear should supplement raid gear, and potentially be better when HQ'd and socketed several times. Not the way it is now.

I disagree with this.

The problem is that your analysis all but omits the cost and difficulty in obtaining the items.

• Raid gear - Success rate = varies (5~30%), Failure Cost = Time
• Gear with 1 materia - Success = 100%, Failure Cost = N/A
• Gear with 2 materia - Success = ~35% Failure Cost = Item, 2x Materia, 2x Catalyst.
• Gear with 3 materia - Success = ~20% (total = 7%) Failure Cost = Item, 3x Materia, 3x Catalyst.
• Gear with 4 materia - Success = ~10% (total = 0.7%) Failure Cost = Item, 4x Materia, 4x Catalyst.
• Gear with 5 materia - Success= ~10% (total = 0.07%) Failure Cost = Item, 5x Materia, 5x Catalyst.

The chance of obtaining U/U items from dungeons is often less that of a 2x Materia item, but with repeated raids, that percentage gets closer and closer to 100%. Success in obtaining a raid item will ultimately cost nothing to the player other than time.

On the other hand, a 2x materia meld success will typically cost a player 3x items, 6x Materia and 6x Catalysts.

This cost alone is enough to balance U/U items as less powerful than 2x Materia items.