new melding system. more casual? no thanks!

[Neasa]

I'm all for merging materias under a tier, because that crap got ridiculous. Half of a retainer was filled with materia. -.-;
I'm not sure how I feel about it being "easier" to meld, and neither should anyone else until we see the actual changes. Failing dozens of 40%+ melds was bullcrap, but those few awesome triple/quad melds usually made up for it in the end.

[EinSoFZ]

I complained all the time!

Why? Like, I genuinely want to hear that. From this thread I've gathered that too many think it's too much of gambling thing and less of a skill thing (since apparently, everything has to be about skill). The solution is the just make it easier to accomplish? I fail to see how handing us stuff on a platter is good for us in the long run.

Even if they offset content in ARR to balance this out, it's still an unnecessary move to me.

[Wolfie]

I'm all for merging materias under a tier, because that crap got ridiculous. Half of a retainer was filled with materia. -.-;
I'm not sure how I feel about it being "easier" to meld, and neither should anyone else until we see the actual changes. Failing dozens of 40%+ melds was bullcrap, but those few awesome triple/quad melds usually made up for it in the end.

You might be confusing relief after major frustration, with actual satisfaction.

[Reika]

Why? Like, I genuinely want to hear that. From this thread I've gathered that too many think it's too much of gambling thing and less of a skill thing (since apparently, everything has to be about skill). The solution is the just make it easier to accomplish? I fail to see how handing us stuff on a platter is good for us in the long run.

Even if they offset content in ARR to balance this out, it's still an unnecessary move to me.

Clicking a button never had any difficulty. Nothing soley reliant on a dice roll can be associated with difficulty :/ You get some warriors and white mages together, maybe a black mage, and you mindlessly blow up groups of monsters until your spiritbond guage fill, repeat for multiple sets, then you press convert. Thats never been hard.

They still need to change the rarity of some materia, eliminate the chance of getting grade II materia from high level equipment, and put in elements that make resistance materia useful.

[Colvin]

I think I would rather go ape-**** and be able to have a bunch of different melded materia than work 600 hours to get a single decent melded gear. I remember Materia like it was in FF7 and I had hoped it would be like that.

I thought it would be cool if they made it so you could even get cross abilities like melding a fire materia on to something and get a limited ability to use Fire. I know it is a tall order but the current system could work it. Even if Fire Materia was cheap and you meld it then get say, 2-3 uses it would have been cool.

[Colvin]

You might be confusing relief after major frustration, with actual satisfaction.

^This......

[Nanaya]

Never been a fan of luck being more important than hard work, and that is precisely what 1.0 was. The amount of materia I had was getting a little absurd also, it's a little crazy for Strength materia to take up five inventory spaces simply because my luck fluctuated from STR16, all the way up to 20.

A triple meld should indeed be a very high risk, however, the fact that it was purely, 100% luck is absurd in a game where pretty much everything is reliant on how good your equipment is. At best you could synth up a +1, for a meager 5% improvement, but when you meld, whether you're wearing incredible crafting gear, or totally naked, the result is the same. This is where I have issues. HQing a level 54 craft is not an easy task, but I've never complained about it, because I could directly influence my odds. Get better gear to craft with, streamline my five skills a little more, use food and guild synthesis support. Melding has none of this. Aside from HQ, they strip the process entirely out of your hands, and you sit there helpless as the explosion animation plays because your +1 is still only an abysmal 22% chance.

So I'm all for the "casual" version. Every single one of my really good pieces of melded gear were only a stroke of fortuitous luck, and my deep pockets of gil. There's nothing really to feel proud of from such a thing, as I basically brute forced my way to what I wanted with absolutely no finesse or skill involved.

[EinSoFZ]

Clicking a button never had any difficulty. Nothing soley reliant on a dice roll can be associated with difficulty :/ You get some warriors and white mages together, maybe a black mage, and you mindlessly blow up groups of monsters until your spiritbond guage fill, repeat for multiple sets, then you press convert. Thats never been hard.

They still need to change the rarity of some materia, eliminate the chance of getting grade II materia from high level equipment, and put in elements that make resistance materia useful.

As far as converting goes, I'd agree. It's just pressing a button after SB'ing to get a materia determined by RNG. So if it that you're talking about I'd guess we're on the same side.

My issue is with melding. It really shouldn't be easier to stick it in there multiple times than it is now...why should it be? So everyone can get great melded gear a whole lot easier? I just find no accomplishment in that.

[Reika]

As far as converting goes, I'd agree. It's just pressing a button after SB'ing to get a materia determined by RNG. So if it that you're talking about I'd guess we're on the same side.

My issue is with melding. It really shouldn't be easier to stick it in there multiple times than it is now...why should it be? So everyone can get great melded gear a whole lot easier? I just find no accomplishment in that.

Melding is still luck beyond the first materia, but the process stays the same. Select gear or materia, select materia melding, select gear or materia to meld to, press meld button. pass or fail dice roll.

Both SB and melding are RNG based. So you end up with RNG on top of RNG....

[Ryuko]

It honestly bothers me that some of the 'best in slot' pieces are materia'd gear. I don't care for materia'd gear too much, but if it's the best piece of gear I can get... I'd rather spend an obscene amount of money buying it from someone than go through the gamble myself.

I'm very bad at gambling. When I tried to make myself the double melded CNJ staff in order to start my relic quest, I gathered enough mats to make many staves. I ended up making eight. When I attempted to double meld them, I broke all eight. I could have bought a double melded staff for myself and a friend for the worth of those items. (In fact, my plan was to make extras for friends in the linkshell who didn't have the time to gather their own mats.) Then a friend used his mats to try to make me a staff because he's the one that blew up the first eight. He still refuses to tell me how many mats he went through before someone finally just bought me the staff at full retail.

What I would like to see is gear that requires more skill to get, and not just luck. I would like to see instances that are more punishing and difficult than our current raids, with a better drop rate on gear. Considering the new 24-person alliances, 'good drop gear' will be rarer simply because there will be so many people within one group getting it. I approve of this. Materia'd gear should be a good starting point, as something worth using when you first get into endgame, but I do not think it should ever be the 'best in slot'.

I would also like to see more gear crafted with rare items that drop from monsters. (Example: Dodore.)