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.)