Materia system should be streamlined and based on FFVII.

[DarthTaru]

Am I the only one who feels like the materia system, while a welcomed addition to FFXIV, has been executed rather poorly? It's Brimstone, Brimstone +1, Brimstone +2, and Brimstone +3 all over again. Instead of producing materia from spiritbonded dated tarred voyager's belts, I feel like Materia should be something special.

What if each item in the game was given a certain number of materia slots like in FFVII, the meld system was abolished, and players would increase their capabilities through attaining materia via various different methods.

When it was announced that the materia system would be introduced to FFXIV I envisioned a sort of system similar to FFVII which I feel would make a lot more sense in an MMO. Imagine a system where some more common forms of materia (HP, for example) could be purchased from certain NPC's or taken from Valkurm Emperor tier NM's through out the game, while other more powerful Materia (Deathblow, Double Attack, Double cast, Ultima, etc) could be attained from HNM class mobs for endgame linkshells to outfit their DD's (or whatever classes) in the same way they would outfit them with uber weapons or body pieces, etc, in FFXI.

DRK's, for example, could first aim to acquire an incredible weapon, with incredible stats and five materia slots, and then set their sights on acquiring five boss shattering materias to turn themselves into the ultimate zerg machines. Materia drops in later endgame fights could give BLM's the ability to cast unique and devastating spells and acquiring them would come with the same level of excitement (for Mage and for linkshell) as Gaiters or a Novio.

This instead of going to the wards or turning a junk item into something decent (a mere stat) in a rather uneventful and uninspiring wolf camp party...

It seems to me that a system more similar to this (more similar to FFVII) would be a much more rewarding one, streamlined and simplified that made Materia more exciting, more unique, easier to build game balanced around, and less aimed towards filling our retainers and the market wards with junk.

I don't mean to add to the endless list of threads saying "I want this, I want that" but I had high hopes for the materia system and so far, while I take part in it as much as the next person, I find it to be rather lacking in its delivery and execution.

[UmJammerSully]

I certainly like the idea of unique, powerful materia coming from boss mobs, sure as hell beats doing spiritbond parties over and over and getting nothing but junk materia.

The one thing I can praise with the current materia system though is it gives crafters a lot more purpose.

[DarthTaru]

I certainly like the idea of unique, powerful materia coming from boss mobs, sure as hell beats doing spiritbond parties over and over and getting nothing but junk materia.

The one thing I can praise with the current materia system though is it gives crafters a lot more purpose.

It does but ultimately an MMO is about battle classes. I like that crafters have purpose but not at the over all expense of the game. The materia system IMO should not be the domain of the crafter. Crafters could still enjoy purpose by producing +1 items (perhaps that have an extra materia slot, 3 instead of 2 say) for battle classes to use before more rare weapon and armor drops are attained from HNMs, etc.

[Ilethius]

I too hoped for a ffvii type of materia system when it was announced to further your idea I think they should include the 'master' upgrade too where when the materia drops its at lvl 0 with base stats and as you win fights the lvl slowly increases to maximum at which point it has full stats you could twin it with the same type of materia to acheive a lvl 2 version with higher base stats etc etc. Make it so only un-levelled materia is sellable and give a decent chance at failing the lvl up but also keep the crafting part just increase the success rate on getting multiple materia on one piece of equipment.

[Jocko]

While I'm not sure of adjusting the current system to be like VII's, which would require quite the overhaul, I'm all for the inclusion of more unique types of materia, and ways to receive said materia. Even if they were to not drop directly from bosses, I would love if U/U boss drops could be converted into that unique materia. In example, as I've used before, Ifrit's Battleaxe being converted into the Ifrit's Rage materia, that when slotted into another weapon would allow it to proc fire damage, each additional one slotted upping the chance to do so. I feel like it would add a lot of customization to character building, as well as being a nifty way to keep old content relevant. Imagine slotting materia that lowered a weapon's delay, and then supplementing that with materia that allowed you to proc HP or MP regen?

I'm not sure how I feel about attaching skill to materia,I do think it would be nice to add skill enhancing materia, much like the AF pieces have. I would also love for elemental resistances to be worth a damn, perhaps having endgame ice themed areas, where creating an ice resistant set would actually be worthwhile

[ArkNova]

I like this idea a lot the only question I have is if by the grace of god materia worked this way in the future could you swap out materia or would it be infused into the gear?

[DarthTaru]

I like this idea a lot the only question I have is if by the grace of god materia worked this way in the future could you swap out materia or would it be infused into the gear?

If materia was rare, more unique, more specialized, attained from NM and HNM drops (as well as bought, etc), I would think it would be best for us to be allowed to swap materia in and out of materia slots. It would make more sense and since under this system our inventory, retainers and wards wouldn't be over flowing with it, I think that system would work well. If you had to kill Odin for a double-attack materia (and lvl it up as an above poster suggested and I agree with), it would be sort of silly to have it attached to a weapon forever, considering you could get better weapons as time goes on while the materia itself would maintain its importance. It would also be sort of dumb to blow it up trying to attach it forever to a triple meld (or whatever).

What I'm suggesting is basically VII's system implemented to the letter in FFXIV.

[Cthulhu]

Not a bad idea, but kinda counter to the whole purpose of the materia system. It's all about cycling out old gear so that people have a reason to get more armor.

Also for the people saying they want to see some unique materia coming from boss drops, isn't that already the case? Doesn't materia like evenflow and the sounds come from Ifrit's?

[DarthTaru]

I'd like to add that I think an VII system would make goals and character progression, etc, more focused. `I'm a Dark Knight. I want my linkshell to get me that triple attack materia, that haste materia, that whatever materia, and i'll be a monster because of it when my awesome scythe has all X amount of slots filled with X (specialized) materia.` Instead it's `I have triple meld strength gloves with 42 STR on them. Maybe i'll try and get more...`
The system as it exists now is sort of a snooze fest, IMO, that just congests the wards and server with so much variety of the same uninspiring materia.

Simplify, specialize, make less of, add materia slots, let us customize. Eliminate materia as a crafters gamble and make it focused, goal driven, progressive and... cool.

[nibelunc]

It would be 1000 times cooler if we have a tab in items named "Materia" or maybe in main menu and then we see a list of our Materias next to our equipment and are able to put materia in and out however and how often we want. Its just too complicated as it is. Who wants to keep those hundred things in his mind with everything he does in this game. Rar materia drops from bosses etc. would also be damn cool. Whats the problem with being able to put materia in and out when ever we want? It would be great if it was just a bit less confusing