Just like FFXI, make all Artifact armor wearable by all classes

[Floortank]

FFXI has a massive amount of gear overlap between Jobs, including weapon sharing and sometimes even relic sharing. It's a different game where aesthetic isn't the last thing you have to separate Jobs.

FFXIV's jobs are becoming mechanically less distinct from each other over time and the ice gets thinner if everyone can wear your artifact gear.

For people who have never played FFXI, imagine being WAR, but you can swap off great axe to great sword and get a different set of weaponskills and thus a different stat priority for gear and a somewhat different priority (in some cases) of ability usage. WAR could swap between all kinds of weapons, and weapons could have niche abilities and stats that change how a Job is played or what it could do.

The difference between a DRK with a "good" great sword and a DRK with maxed out Absorb HP and a fully upgraded great axe from ambuscade is big, and it has a markedly different playstyle.

FFXI plays slower than XIV, so more of the visual emphasis is on combat stances, casting animations, and distinct weaponskills. You don't get a flurry of 32 different ability and OGCD animations chained back to back.

If the DRK is wearing a strange outfit, he is still visibly holding a weapon DRK is recognized for using, still doing DRK's unique casting animations, still using the unique racial battle stances for that weapon. He's still a DRK. But in XIV, you don't see any of that, you just see how they look when they're standing still--at the beginning of a duty, or in town. The gameplay of FFXIV is too frenetic to catch more than just the allusion of equipment details in battle.

So a DRK in DRG AF would just look like a DRG most of the time. All you'd see is the spikes or the helmet, which are the most eye-catching things about the DRG... but it's on a DRK. Or on a WHM. Yuck.

[ty_taurus]

Immersion isn't my argument at all. That ship has sailed a LONG LONG time ago. One person even joked about my monk glamour. I said, "I keep losing the roll on this armor" and someone in party said "oh so that's why your naked" lol.

My argument is finding enjoyment in knowing there are just a few things here and there that remain unique and exclusive to the class I've chosen to play. I've always enjoyed those little special items that only my class could wear.

To some, they don't care about this whatsoever and their desire to use said items on other classes trumps this. But for others like myself, in a game with tons of glamor options already, having a few special appearances reserved here and there are nice and motivating.

If what you're looking for is having something that's exclusive, then go after hard-to-obtain titles, minions, and mounts. You know what's more exclusive than artifact gear? The Necromancer title. Complete the fishing log. Collect old artifact weapons or the crafter/gatherer arms. Those are ways to show off exclusivity through gameplay, rather than telling players what they are and aren't' allowed to wear because of the playstyles they enjoy.

[ZephyrMenodora]

If what you're looking for is having something that's exclusive, then go after hard-to-obtain titles, minions, and mounts. You know what's more exclusive than artifact gear? The Necromancer title. Complete the fishing log. Collect old artifact weapons or the crafter/gatherer arms. Those are ways to show off exclusivity through gameplay, rather than telling players what they are and aren't' allowed to wear because of the playstyles they enjoy.

None of those are exclusive to being on a certain class (aside from artifact weapons). Not even the tank mounts which I assume you can then summon on any of your classes. Not a solution to the issue I'm bringing up. I'm talking about class/job exclusivity, not generalized difficult to acquire or rarity items.

[Atelier-Bagur]

FFXI has a massive amount of gear overlap between Jobs, including weapon sharing and sometimes even relic sharing. It's a different game where aesthetic isn't the last thing you have to separate Jobs.

FFXIV's jobs are becoming mechanically less distinct from each other over time and the ice gets thinner if everyone can wear your artifact gear.

For people who have never played FFXI, imagine being WAR, but you can swap off great axe to great sword and get a different set of weaponskills and thus a different stat priority for gear and a somewhat different priority (in some cases) of ability usage. WAR could swap between all kinds of weapons, and weapons could have niche abilities and stats that change how a Job is played or what it could do.

The difference between a DRK with a "good" great sword and a DRK with maxed out Absorb HP and a fully upgraded great axe from ambuscade is big, and it has a markedly different playstyle.

FFXI plays slower than XIV, so more of the visual emphasis is on combat stances, casting animations, and distinct weaponskills. You don't get a flurry of 32 different ability and OGCD animations chained back to back.

If the DRK is wearing a strange outfit, he is still visibly holding a weapon DRK is recognized for using, still doing DRK's unique casting animations, still using the unique racial battle stances for that weapon. He's still a DRK. But in XIV, you don't see any of that, you just see how they look when they're standing still--at the beginning of a duty, or in town. The gameplay of FFXIV is too frenetic to catch more than just the allusion of equipment details in battle.

So a DRK in DRG AF would just look like a DRG most of the time. All you'd see is the spikes or the helmet, which are the most eye-catching things about the DRG... but it's on a DRK. Or on a WHM. Yuck.

Honestly part of me wishes FFXIV went with the FFXI/Dragon Quest X route combat wise and just be a fast paced, turn-based system where such things would give way to allow more job uniqueness and freedom. But I know that people hate turn-based combat so it would never happen.

[ty_taurus]

None of those are exclusive to being on a certain class (aside from artifact weapons). Not even the tank mounts which I assume you can then summon on any of your classes. Not a solution to the issue I'm bringing up. I'm talking about class/job exclusivity, not generalized difficult to acquire or rarity items.

Why does it have to be class-based? And of all the exclusive aspects that exist, isn't that like the lowest form of prestige really? It's not very hard to unlock a job and level it. And even so, wouldn't the freedom of being able to wear that gear on any job feel like an even greater form of prestige? If you got MCH up to level 90, then being able to wear that armor on any job shows to other players that you've gotten MCH up to 90. And the part about relic weapons is class based as well anyway. Is that not enough?

[ZephyrMenodora]

Why does it have to be class-based? And of all the exclusive aspects that exist, isn't that like the lowest form of prestige really? It's not very hard to unlock a job and level it. And even so, wouldn't the freedom of being able to wear that gear on any job feel like an even greater form of prestige? If you got MCH up to level 90, then being able to wear that armor on any job shows to other players that you've gotten MCH up to 90. And the part about relic weapons is class based as well anyway. Is that not enough?

I didn't say it was about how challenging it is to acquire. I'm someone who just enjoys collecting class-specific sets and gear. I've done this since EverQuest in the 90s with class-specific sets and often those didn't even have unique cosmetics at all since the number of apperances on armors was very limited.

I think FFXIV has a TON of glamour options and having class-enjoyers get one exclusive set every 2-year expansion to look forward to and collect isn't all that much to ask for. As others said, there is very little class-fantasy protected at this point and these class-specific uniforms is about all we have left.

[ty_taurus]

I didn't say it was about how challenging it is to acquire. I'm someone who just enjoys collecting class-specific sets and gear. I've done this since EverQuest in the 90s with class-specific sets and often those didn't even have unique cosmetics at all since the number of apperances on armors was very limited.

I think FFXIV has a TON of glamour options and having class-enjoyers get one exclusive set every 2-year expansion to look forward to and collect isn't all that much to ask for. As others said, there is very little class-fantasy protected at this point and these class-specific uniforms is about all we have left.

Why aren't relic weapons enough? There are several per job for most jobs also, and collecting them is a much more rewarding process than collecting artifact gear.

[ZephyrMenodora]

Why aren't relic weapons enough? There are several per job for most jobs also, and collecting them is a much more rewarding process than collecting artifact gear.

Why aren't the 100s of other glamor options you have available enough for you? Or, if you need to be seen in a job-specific uniform, swapping to that job?

[ty_taurus]

Why aren't the 100s of other glamor options you have available enough for you? Or, if you need to be seen in a job-specific uniform, swapping to that job?

Because maybe that one headpiece is the perfect one someone wants to wear. Why shouldn't they be allowed to? Because it would make someone else they don't know upset seeing a non-DNC wear DNC's ribbon? That's just silly. Dupes exist kind of, but the entire point of a glamour system is to allow players to customize the character they want to. If we constantly have to make exceptions, then what even is the point?

[Gemina]

Ah yes, because they've never gone back on things that they've said in the past.

And how many times has that happened? Do you have all the receipts? Yoshi says a lot, and I do mean a lot of things. This request in particular goes all the way back to ARR. The odds are very much not in your favor.

Stop focusing on what you can't have, and work towards what you can. Probably some of the best advice ever given to me. Oh, and this isn't FFXI