Suggestion to the Developer

[Enkidoh]

I really hope that they pull in the merit point system from FFXI. Maybe not an exact copy, but something similar. A system that allows you to further develop your character after you have hit the level cap beyond just getting new gear would be great. Being able to put extra points into stats or get new abilities would go a long way towards offering some customization.

It would be nice to have 3 or 4 abilities for each class to choose from. I think you could limit it to only being able to get 1 or 2 merit abilities, but make it so that each offers something desired in battle. Maybe make it so two tanks with two different merit abilities is actually preferred over two tanks with the same merit ability, for example. You have to eliminate the "illusion of choice" and offer actual choice.

^This. Although I hate to use FFXI as an example of an addition I'd like to see in ARR, it did work well as a compensatory way of allowing players to customize their character once they hit the level cap. In a way something similar is already in ARR, a la, item level, but it's horribly flawed and is just a means of 'gating' content without allowing customization - it's also used as a lazy way of being able to add new gear which is 'stronger' than previous equipment without having to actually think much about how balanced that gear is in terms of stat progression.

The ilevel system is my main and pretty much only thing I hate about ARR. Personally, I'd love it if the ilevel system was scrapped completely and a FFXI merit system was brought into the game instead, it would make end game based on skill like it should be instead of nothing but a gear-check.

[Musashidon]

You have to eliminate the "illusion of choice" and offer actual choice.

but there would be no actual choice there you would need both types of tanks to work so in the end once again you have no choice. the only way to remove choice is to make content so easy it doesn't matter what you chose you win.

[FraenirVolsung]

but there would be no actual choice there you would need both types of tanks to work so in the end once again you have no choice. the only way to remove choice is to make content so easy it doesn't matter what you chose you win.

Not necessarily. You as the player have the choice to select which abilities you want to use merit points on and which direction you want your character to go in. You always have the choice. You may start seeing party finder comments such as "Looking for MT with X, Y, or Z merit ability. OT has merit ability A, B, or C," but as long as each ability has value to a party you have free choice to choose your abilities however it suits you. And I stress that each ability would have to have equal value. It would be a balancing nightmare sure, but you would have choice if nothing else.

[Mixxy]

You know, there's a lot to be said for the 'illusion of choice'. If the illusion is good enough, people will be just as happy as if they had an actual choice (maybe more so). Unfortunately, FFXIV has neither real choice, nor even a passable illusion.

[juniglee]

My opinion is this would probably fall flat too.

To an extent, there is some level of customization. For example: a 20 STR/10 VIT melee DPS build. However, this never happens, because the moment one person finds the "optimal combination", then that becomes the standard.

It's going to be the same if a talent tree system, like in League of Legends, was ever introduced in this game to make players feel more individual - people will only pick the optimal talents for their roles, based on something like forum research, or theorycrafting.

You might end up being part of the 2% that might not follow the optimal build, but just like BiS is in current state, there is absolutely no need for optimization in any way. As long as all dungeon/raid/trial objectives are met, I don't really think people would worry about how you build.

If we're talking giving players different abilities...don't we already have the cross-class system for that? You only get to pick 5 skills. A few skills will be essential, like Mercy Stroke/Internal Release/Second Wind on a Dragoon, but for the last 2 slots, you have choice between Foresight, Featherfoot, Mantra and Bloodbath. But ultimately, I don't really think people will care which skills you picked for the last 2 slots (or arguably even the first 3 slots) as long as your DPS is acceptable, and all objectives are met for any content they attempt.

Heck, you could even remove your job crystal, and have 10 different cross-class skills to pick from. I don't play much PvP, but I've heard DPS Marauder was a thing there? Being able to cross skills like Raging Strikes, Blood for Blood, etc, which they would normally never be able to cross.

[Parodine]

I think something like the Sphere Grid would be nice, but it is unfortunately too late for character progression to be like that. They could add in a system like that for NPC companions (like Chocos?) if they ever wanted to bring those in like from FFXI.

[Orophin]

Merit system was only in FF11 because the dev team knew that they weren't going to raise the level cap anytime soon and wanted to give players a way to grow their characters.

Yoshi-P has made it pretty clear that level cap raises will usually accompany an expansion. I don't think this game will stagnate as far as character growth goes for 7 years like what happened in FF11.

[Akiza]

The third and most important problem is that it is about 4 or 5 years too late to use a fancy leveling system like those in FFXIV. It's far too late to change that when some players have been building their character on the current mechanic for over 3 years now.

On the other hand, if you are talking about some sort of talent tree system that works in tandem with the current leveling system, I believe there are very good reasons why SE chose not to include that sort of function in this game, and it's much better for it. In the end there is little or no customization in those systems. There's a right way to spec and there's "you gimped yourself".

The crytarium system will be more like a talent tree that is unlocked once players get 50 but look really cool.

[Awaterujin]

It is possible to design something that offers flexibility, like the Merit Point system from FFXI. For some job-specific categories, there were definitely the

right way to spec and there's "you gimped yourself"

but some of the jobs weren't as clear-cut, so players had a more split or even distribution of merit points: http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/gui...nsus/11/3.html

[Marael]

No thanks. I really disliked both of those leveling systems. I didn't really care for either of those games either, and frankly, the less I'm reminded of them in other games, the better.