Whats the point of AF and other drops if you can buy/craft better?

[Mamba]

I will probably get slaughtered for this but here we go...

I personally hate the materia system */gulp*
I hate that instead of wearing my awesome looking warrior AF I still have to change to the ugly Cobalt gear because I can add materia to it.
Same with my BLM body piece, I think it looks swheet but yet I can't really wear it if I am doing something meaningful.
I really wish everything in this game wasn't surrounded by materia so much... Everything needs to have triple melds or gtfo!
And spiritbond parties make me really frustrated too... you spend the whole evening grinding wolfs at natalan and you have a bagful of worthless materia to show for it, you don't even get merits for it or something lol.

Tbh I am sure this has been discussed before - Crafted gear shouldn't be better than drops.

YES, I am whining - now tell me that I should stop whining and tell me to stop playing if I don't like it and the sorts, I'll have my shield and sword ready for this fight
Buuuut, I am wondering, has there been any talk from the devs that they were going to add more unmeldable gear which was better than any gear with melds?

[bobbygunz]

Perhaps what you really hate is the fact that AF gear cannot be crafted/melded, or that good materia does not drop from dungeons/primals.

[Lum]

I agree the materia/rng system sucks and its a real downer when you cant wear the cool looking stuff. Well a nice cosmetic wardrobe system should fix that. Are we getting one of those in 2.0? Don't remember reading about that.

[Jocko]

I honestly, I really dislike a lot of the AF sets. They don't mesh with the overall aesthetic at all. The PLD gear looks like cheap plastic, the BLM stuff looks like that shitty cloth that makes up the average last minute Halloween costume, the DRG set just looks...well, silly. I understand they're supposed to be iconic, but ugh

[Kitfox]

The point of AF is easy-to-get entry-level gear. Some pieces are worth using over melded gear too, like the BLM AF body. Melded gear requires some investment but is usually the next step. Dungeon dropped gear (Darklight) is best-in-slot most of the time, not counting some super lucky multimelds.

So... dungeon drops are better than crafted items. Just not AF, which is like the bare minimum for gearing your job. There's not a whole lot of options added yet as far as dungeon drops go so I'm sure they'll be adding more. Most people opt for melded gear because it's soooo much easier to get than something like a full set of darklight.

[Soukyuu]

Well a nice cosmetic wardrobe system should fix that. Are we getting one of those in 2.0? Don't remember reading about that.

We're not: click.
The reason they gave us is a lame one anyway, since what we asked for included keeping class restrictions, which in turn doesn't make distinguishing classes harder.

[Quesse]

I don't really get it, the only reason I'm hearing is because drops look cooler.

I think its awesome really. It provides a path to great gear for different types of players. Some people don't care to party and do Ifrit/Mog/Garuda about 20 billion times. They can gather/craft/make gil and get some really nice comparable gear.

Its a fantastic compromise. I think people only whine about it because it breaks the whole status/caste system of having leet gearz come from drops only.

Honestly some of the best melds probably take just as much time and effort as killing ifrit endlessly. So what's the problem?

[rina_inverse]

AF was meant as the "uniform" for each job, so theres no point in making it meldable
And Kitfox was right, AF is there as a bonus, for new player, fresh from their first capped, ready to tackle the unlimited dungeon raid. I believe Yoshi-P mentioned this once

[Delsus]

I don't really get it, the only reason I'm hearing is because drops look cooler.

I think its awesome really. It provides a path to great gear for different types of players. Some people don't care to party and do Ifrit/Mog/Garuda about 20 billion times. They can gather/craft/make gil and get some really nice comparable gear.

Its a fantastic compromise. I think people only whine about it because it breaks the whole status/caste system of having leet gearz come from drops only.

Honestly some of the best melds probably take just as much time and effort as killing ifrit endlessly. So what's the problem?

I hate the fact melded gear beats almost all dungeon gear, tell me why do AV/CC/Primals if you can just farm/gather/craft your whole playtime and get better gear? This is a gear driven MMO better gear = better stats therefore you do your job better (as long as you know how to play your job) therefore if the better gear is from the wards with a few materia melded there is no reason to do the content.

FFXI had a very good way of doing this, leveling took a while (pre-abyssea) you needed new gear as you leveled and crafters made a good income, especially from HQ gear. Then when you got to 75 you would buy the entry level gear from the AH, then after some endgame runs you would start to get the better gear.

The problem in FFXIV has been that leveling is extremely fast, and to level efficiently all you needed was a new weapon whenever you could (see the naked/santa/bikini Ifrit runs) so people didn't mind if their armour was outdated, couple this with fast leveling where changing gear every 10 levels isn't worth it and crafters made little to no money, which is why the materia system came in, so people were blowing up loads of gear, they might not have crafts leveled so they have to buy gear just to blow up making the crafters loads of money. The problem is current endgame (yes for now it is endgame) obsolete as soon as it comes out because the high end double melds and triple melds beat the "new" gear.

The exception is the slots that no decent materia can be melded to (see head for DDs) and whilst darklight does beat the most common melds, it really isn't that hard to beat it with melds, I ran the numbers on the corselet set a while ago and I worked out to beat the pure stats of darklight it only takes mid level triple melds (I think it was high end tier 3 materia mostly) and there was the occasional tier 4 needed.

In ARR if this isn't sorted people will be complaining that to get some of the best gear available all they need to do is farm, farm and farm some more and people will quit over it. This is the only game I have played where crafted gear > endgame gear.

[Zantetsuken]

I don't really get it, the only reason I'm hearing is because drops look cooler.

I think its awesome really. It provides a path to great gear for different types of players. Some people don't care to party and do Ifrit/Mog/Garuda about 20 billion times. They can gather/craft/make gil and get some really nice comparable gear.

Its a fantastic compromise. I think people only whine about it because it breaks the whole status/caste system of having leet gearz come from drops only.

Honestly some of the best melds probably take just as much time and effort as killing ifrit endlessly. So what's the problem?

Well put!

I think the gear system in this game is fantastic. Between AF, Crafted/Melded, U/U Dungeon drops, GC, and quest gear, there is stuff for every style of play~ They each have their role and people can mix and match as they see fit.

Sure, 3x and 4x melded gear might be at the top of the list in some categories, but how many people out there have 4x melded STR hands compared to Darklight? I've seen far more Stardust Rods than I've ever seen 4x Tier IV INT melded lightning brands (which are still weaker).

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The OP has a point in stating that the AF is a bit OTT in design for its power. The current AF designs look like they should be used for upgraded stage II AF.

I would have liked to see the AF colors more muted, and the designs stripped down just a bit (re-add this stuff in when we eventually upgrade the AF)

ie.

• BLM - Colors: Slate blue with a brown hat (Vivi - FFIX) Model Adjustments: Remove the mask/eyepatch and feathers.
• DRG - Colors:: Dusty dark blue and less glossy. (Kain - FFIV) Model Adjustments: a bit Less spikey, no open midriff on Female version
• PLD - Colors: Less gold, reduce the 'chrome' effect on the metal parts, more blue accents (Cecil - FFIV) Model Adjustments: None
• WAR - Colors: More muted overall, Blacks to dark brown, change fur trim from white mink to brownish raccoon, remove chrome accents from horns, etc. Model Adjustments: None
• BRD - Colors: Change white trim to sage green, change base green to tan, replace gold accents with copper. Model Adjustments: none
• WHM - Colors: White to off-white, Red to dusty rose. Model Adjustments: None
• MNK - Colors: Mute Yellows. Model Adjustments: Remove decorative plates from hands and feet.

I think these changes would bring the look of AF more in line with similar powered gear for LVL 50 while still keeping the look FF iconic. As I said, I think the current colors and models are better suited for upgraded AF.


While I'm on the topic, has anyone from the dev team confirmed Visor/hood adjusting in ARR??