Throw awat the iLv system, implement a PvE Rank system.

[Kirsi]

Titles for beating Twintania before 2.1, titles for beating Twintania before 2.2 (and none after since that will be the big nerf). Titles for clearing content pre-nerf are great.

Why does there need to be one for beating it before 2.1? There was no nerf to twintania in 2.1.

Not a fan of this to be honest. Missable stuff makes me panic (Yep, seasonal events I'm looking at you - side note: Are we getting those on a monthly basis now?) Especially when I have to go away for a month (work/vacation) and have to bully my brother into installing ARR and do those events for me >.> BUT at least they most likely will be repeatable the following year, if you happen to miss them the first time round. Unlike pre and post nerf achievements o_o;

This is why they should stop nerfing content and give the rest of the community time to learn and complete it at their own pace. Now that people know they need to clear it for t6 access more and more players have been making an effort to clear it. SE may have forgotten that t5 was down/broken for quite a while.

[Pence]

Well the ilvl to skill comparison has been greatly lessened since 2.1 came out. Before 2.1, being ilvl 90 generally meant you cleared a lot of coil and capped your weekly myths, both signs you put in a lot of time.

Now almost everyone is 85-90. My 5th job just hit 86 last night (4 are 90) and only bard is below 80. Point with that is that it's easy now. When 2.2 comes out ilvl will (for awhile) be a sign of skill and accomplishment, and then everyone will have it.
What we need are titles, visible titles, for actual accomplishments. Titles for beating Twintania before 2.1, titles for beating Twintania before 2.2 (and none after since that will be the big nerf). Titles for clearing content pre-nerf are great.

"SELLING PRE2.2 TWIN TITLE: 500k, DON'T BE CONSIDERED GIMP WHEN PATCH COMES"

[Lemon8or]

I'd prefer not having to grind the same contents over and over again just to show people I have skills. :/

[Enma]

I agree with OP, iLevel it's something that kills content through new patches and it has many other negative (?) side effects. There is a reason why Naoki Yoshida and his team chose this way (Mainly it's easier to design, and keep a good pace with future patches. We shouldn't forget that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has been rebuild in only 2 Years). I would like to expose my thoughts about it, but 1000 words aren't enough. :/

[Marxam]

they should implement a ping level instead of gear. The lower your level the more pro you are. /sarcasm Apart from the obvious excuse of people using lag as a way of compensating for skill, I think ilvl was implemented due to the end-game focus of this game. Its very hard to differentiate fresh 50's to seasoned ones, hence the ilvl.

[Cherie]

I agree that something other than ilvl would be good.

I mean, even without the incoming nerf, coil is still not very difficult. Sure, you might say it is, but say, compare it to old 8-bit Nintendo. That was some brutal stuff!

I have 2 Allagan weapons, but what does that really mean? I could have bought them really! I did not, but even so. I think most people that have "earned" them got them the usual way, as paying a huge sum of cash might be more "difficult" than just knocking over Twintania as most of the difficulty is just having some decent friends that are willing to wipe with you for a while on it.

But think about it, so many people have killed Twintania and not gotten a weapon for their main class yet. They are no less skilled than those who have, they are just less "lucky". So, therefore, it would be nice for them to have some meaningful metric on their character to say they beat it.

Really, showing that you have completed various content isn't a show of how "skilled" you are, actually it shows something else important.

It shows how much you persevere! And, actually, that is the only metric that I would suggest that we measure.

There are lots of people that we would probably pass on playing with if we had the chance. They might even be well geared. But what is the difference? They are just simply people who don't want to try and haven't completed much content because they are impatient and don't keep friends around because they are abrasive. I don't think we should punish those people, I just think we should reward the "team players" out there. After all, this is a multiplayer game and as such, those who would play well with others should be rewarded. Those who are impatient and spread discord shouldn't be punished, but I think there should be a system in place to reward them if they decide to contribute more to the community. Otherwise, we are just breeding trolls.

[Lurkios]

[...] and currently locks out a large group of players from doing any post-story content, [...]

It locks players out of content that their gear is inadequate for (read: even if they do play well, they won't be able to pull their weight), doing everyone else attempting that content a HUGE favor.

[Defmetal]

Well I'm definitely not a favor of the WoW style ilvl approach. The constant carrot-on-a-stick gear mentality that we're always reaching for another 10 item levels. Achievements are kind of like a PVE Level though (granted PVP is involved in those) but things that show progression over gear do exist in the game. The way achievements are is that well, it shows how many dungeons you've cleared, how many raids you've done (to a point), how much crafting you do, leveling you do, etc.

[Defmetal]

It locks players out of content that their gear is inadequate for (read: even if they do play well, they won't be able to pull their weight), doing everyone else attempting that content a HUGE favor.

Yes and with that, people can also just buy the gear they need. You can buy full ilvl 70 for like 500k (which you should have around 150k by the time you hit 50) and unlock all content. Or you can buy a few ilvl 70, do a couple dungeons, do your relic, and then suddenly you can do all content.

[Gamemako]

That being said, I don't know of anyone who would conflate iLvl to mean skill.

Open the party finder and you'll see them.