Skill-Specific Gear

[Eagleheart]

No, it's entirely linear. I guess, lemme take another shot at this though.
EDIT: I feel like I near-literally repeated myself like three separate times during this @_@

And it is precisely because of the tightly-controlled environment that Dev Team is now doing a bit of backpedaling and saying "okay, so we're going to look at this."

Basically, if the Devs cannot think of a way to provide varied skill conditioning and tuning in their battle system, they are simply not spending enough time on it. Yes, I say this as an armchair general. I've played many MMOs. Balance was always difficult, and required tuning and re-tuning, and more re-tuning. Balance was never fully achieved, but neither was the attempt at diversification completely abandoned. Dev Team may be coming around on this, and I do hope so, because, at the end of the day, the stuff they have given out already simply isn't enough to keep the hardcore people at it. O.o Subs will come in waves with primary patches, and that's a danger that Yoshida has already remarked upon as well.

With regards to Coil Gear, it is largely unobtainable by the playerbase, so the illusion of choice, false or not, is even further dispelled. o_O The way Coil is structured prevents people from helping their friends along with it, unless they are part of a regular crew going once per week. The entry limitations mean that lots of people, a solid half-dozen from my own small LS, simply quit because they are weary of attempting to get through Coil with bickering, back-biting pickups. I realize that your point here is that the Coil gear is largely unimportant, because the choice is, again, minute in scope, but it is there. It's something. It is insufficient, but it is a start; a start that is screwed over by entry limitations, which is an (unrelated) social issue as well. @_@ So lacking Coil gear, having only Soldiery to do for the week, and (fairly or not) lots of people turning their nose up at Atma farming (which, honestly, I do not think is that bad - having spent many hours at it myself, make no mistake) the playerbase goes o.o "Eh. I'll be back for the next story missions, I guess" and books it.

They can't even work at spendy, high-end crafted stuff, because the crafted stuff is kept weak. o_O Also, there was not a single weapon for i90 in the "New Crafting Recipes." Yeah, thanks, Dev Team, I leveled Blacksmith so I could craft retainer bells. That is exactly what I had in mind when you showed me the shiny smithy, full of giant furnaces and smelted ingots, and spoke of crafting exquisite weapons. Unless I get to take that damn retainer bell into battle, I'm going to have to write this one down as poppycock.

...My little trip through the Valley of Embitterment aside, the situation with itemization is untenable. >.> Heavy-handed supervision is an understandable instinct, but as .38 Special once remarked, "if you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control."

Also, the removal of the elemental wheel was the single most annoying thing Yoshida's ever done. O_o Now I must gnaw my desk in anger at the bitter memory.

[Saccharin]

I like the idea of set bonuses like other games do but it leads to a case where the gear with the set bonus is the best no question and it leaves all other drops of the same tier deemed useless even if they have better itemisation.

[AlrikRouge]

They have already done set bonuses with lower level GC gear, and with the sanction granting and sanction item (again GC lower level gear and item). But yes, only affects main stats.

Maybe with the expansion (or sooner though doubtful) they could add such a thing (item or whatnot) that boosts job specific actions? Could still tie it in with GC to keep that theme going, but make it a tank/DPS/healer enhancement item, boosting tank/DPS/healer abilities (shorter CDs, stronger effects, more potent attacks, etc). But specifically affecting skills as opposed to stats (or really it would just be another fancy item aside from but no different than food).

[Moqi]

They could make skill-speficic gear that can be converted into skill-specific materia - to be infused in your relic weapon, if they worry everybody will have all of them at some point, although I don't mind, plenty of ways to restrict it.

[Renik]

None said set bonuses in the live letter, the question was about specific stats, not set bonuses, you need to have this clear before making assumptions.

[Eagleheart]

This topic requires additional exposition.

For what reason are relics at i80 purple? Can anyone tell me?

A weapon released down the road for crafting at i80 will have the same DMG rating as an i80 relic, and it will have the same statistic caps... the crafted will actually be a little better, because it will have materia slots that the purple i80 does not.

So, a white i80 will be superior to a purple i80. Likewise, blue and purple i100s are the very same thing. What point, the pretense of difference or rarity?

Typically, colored icons are used to denote an item of superior quality, with greater stats, special effects, or just generally boosted damage. None of that exists in XIV right now. Six months from now, when expansion is released and I am crafting 110 HQs to toss on the market boards, I will chuckle looking at how a white crafted HQ is actually exactly the same as a "rare" blue or purple 110.

It's kind of silly when you stop and think about it. O.o Not that I want crafted items to be pointless - so don't misunderstand that point, please and thanks - but that I am saying there is no effective difference between 'levels of rarity'.

An item with a level of rarity marked on it ought to exceed a standard item of that level. Nothing else makes sense. How far, how much? Up to Dev Team's interpretation, but the way things stand right now is completely nonsensical.

By golly, if you're going to make an item purple and shiny, let it be worth the purple and shiny.

And while you're at it, toss some rare materials into the next tier of Binding Coil, so I can try my hand at crafting a rare and shiny blue item.

[rhemi1]

So, what, tier set bonuses?

I'd be cool with that, actually. We need some more customization in this game, even if it's just illusion of choice.

[Naelle]

1.0 af gear had bonuses to job skills and a lot of those bonuses were too good to give up for more stats. I think that's what he's referring to when he says keeping them balanced.

[Eagleheart]

1.0 af gear had bonuses to job skills and a lot of those bonuses were too good to give up for more stats. I think that's what he's referring to when he says keeping them balanced.

Not asserted in that post. What was asserted was that specific choices in skill enhancements would become staples over others, an entirely valid, but different point.

It is then incumbent upon Dev Team to offer good choices to the players. Additionally, the stat system in 1.x was completely different from what we have now, and even doubling the potency of Dragonfire Dive would be not particularly game-breaking, as it is on a three minute recast. An addition of 240 potency over the span of three minutes is... very minor, in the grand scheme of things. Maybe awesome for speed runs for Mythos, elsewise just a fun little tidbit.

o.0 Still not furthering the case against improved itemization.

[Adrian74]

NO to improve the skills using gear... I'm already tired of gear progression...

YES to this idea: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...ills-or-traits.

(I thought I alread put this message here... Maybe got deleted or just got an error when puting it?... Uh, anyways)