Suggestion: Stand by Your Sword

[SHJcules]

(summary: around rank20, you pick your weapon of choice from your class Guild, and upgrade it with several different quests and trials to level it up along side your class/job. The main goal of this system is customization and progression, along with a feeling of attachment for your weapon)



Everyday people around Eorzea toss aside old weapons without hesitation as soon as they become obsolete, this disheartens me. "But it is just a piece of metal, who cares!" As true as that is, a large theme of XIV is weapons. They shape everything about us, our classes, our fighting styles, our game logo, our strengths and weaknesses, and how we fit into and contribute to groups. Yet I am no more attached to my sword than I am to my green undershirt.

With that in mind, I humbly request some consideration to a system similar to this: "Stand by Your Sword!" (I only say sword because I love GLA but the basic idea should morph pretty well into all classes/jobs and weapons.)

As for the system itself, if I had to relate it to something I would say Trial of the Magians from XI, only deeper, more robust, and more personal and specific to the classes/jobs. Using GLA as an example here; upon completing the r20 quest and getting a feel for your job, the Colosseum asks you to choose a weapon of choice for your base weapon: Dagger, Falchion, Short Sword, Long Sword, Wooden Spanker etc. Of course the truly devoted can pick more than one if they wish. And those with limited time or care for the class can ignore this feature completely. Upon picking your weapon, you can choose a multitude of quests/tasks/trials to undertake to strengthen it and morph it into your personal and ideal weapon. The rank requirement will gradually increase as well, so the weapon literally levels up with you if you stay vigilant to the trials. (Side Note: being able to rename the weapon along the way would be a pretty nice addition too!)

[Quest/Trial Ideas:]

-defeat a certain number of a specific enemy with weapon in hand (flans/elementals for elemental attack/defense upgrades, large enemies for attack upgrades, small fast enemies for speed upgrades, etc.)
-take a certain crafted weapon outside and wear it down to 0% durability somehow, then use it as a sacrificial item (perhaps the NPC puts an enchantment on it to make it untradable and increase rate of wear too)
-complete certain class quest for the corresponding upgrade you want to work on (ex: to get a strong elemental attack on your weapon you will need to clear a few CON quests, or for a slower stronger weapon complete some MRD story quests, PGL for a faster weapon and so on)
-collect and turn in a number of a specific item/currency (this one is vague and has lots of options. turning in enemy/NM drops, beastmen currency, crafted items, guild marks etc)

[Upgrade Ideas:]

-elemental attacks/ higher damage/changing and enhancing weapons damage property(slashing/piercing/blunt)/augment specific class+job abilities/ unlock new skills(this one might be too much..)/ latent abilities for just having weapon equipped (regen/protect/spikes)/ multiple attack properties/ more "materia" slots? and stuff like that

Pros: hundreds of hours of seemingly player made content/ something fun for new players to a class+job to mess around with/ something for dedicated r50s to go out and do on their favorite classes, since exp grinding isn't much of an option. Also for the r50s, once jobs are released it will be a great opportunity for them to experiment with the new specialization and still feel like they are working towards something/ can also be a gil sink and item sink and a use for all those random useless items some of us have saved through the months/ and the biggest pro in my eyes, a sense of accomplishment and progression

Cons: might marginalize weapon crafters (which I am!)/ could make people without the time to get their personal custom weapon feel gimp compared to others/ also it doesn't fit well into DoH and DoL tools, so people dedicated to those disciplines might feel left out

EDIT- additions copied from posts;
The idea could possible bleed over to DoL DoH, with just a little bit of dev magic and creativity. The upgrades probably wouldn't be as bountiful! but still definitely room for something. Like a leather-worker whoms only passion in life is making high quality subligars, they could take their knife along a path with increased HQ rate on pants or something. Gathering would be tricky, I don't gather myself so don't know the system at all, but I am sure there are plenty of possibilities to keep them involved

ex: @r20 you start with a rusty piece of metal that only resembles a Falchion. After a few quests and hitting r30 with it, the guild reforges it and it shapes a hilt and kind of has a blade. By r50 it resembles a true final fantasy weapon! and is toothed along the curved blade, yields a jeweled mysterious looking hilt with a guard, crazy transparency differences all over the place, and so on. Changing the aesthetics of the weapon based on the quest paths you choose would be great, but probably too complex (but I'd love if certain parts of the weapon changed colors to match the element property you chose, or a multi-hit weapon had two blades! etc) . But making like 4-5 different upgraded versions of each base weapon couldn't be too crazy of a task

[BlaiseLallaise]

I absolutely love this idea. I believe that a connection with one's weapon would make for a very interesting aspect toward play. As far as your cons go, marginalization of weapon crafters might not be so bad if your idea about breaking down some other weapon first required you acquire said weapon. And maybe the benefits of sacrificing said other weapon are small enough to give you the option to do so multiple times.

Also, I really don't see how the idea would be completely closed off to DoL and DoH classes. Instead of using your tool to kill, use it to create or gather. I'm sure the idea could work for them, too. Not often do I find an idea that I totally flip over. You deserve a cookie (and a serious consideration from the devs).

[tymora]

There was this Square RPG that has the weapons growing with your character. Can't remember what it is though. At certain points in time, you can "reforge" it for new improvements. Was it Secret of Mana?

[Reika]

There was this Square RPG that has the weapons growing with your character. Can't remember what it is though. At certain points in time, you can "reforge" it for new improvements. Was it Secret of Mana?

Tales of Destiny, was A game where your weapons (called swordians) had their owl levels. And they talked.

[BlaiseLallaise]

SoM certainly had that aspect to it. And with each weapon level, you could unleash a deadlier charge attack. I played the fool out of that game in my younger years.

[SHJcules]

I absolutely love this idea. I believe that a connection with one's weapon would make for a very interesting aspect toward play. As far as your cons go, marginalization of weapon crafters might not be so bad if your idea about breaking down some other weapon first required you acquire said weapon. And maybe the benefits of sacrificing said other weapon are small enough to give you the option to do so multiple times.

Also, I really don't see how the idea would be completely closed off to DoL and DoH classes. Instead of using your tool to kill, use it to create or gather. I'm sure the idea could work for them, too. Not often do I find an idea that I totally flip over. You deserve a cookie (and a serious consideration from the devs).

Thank you for the support, and the cookies, mainly the cookies And yeah I tried to think of ideas that would keep current equips and methods relevant, even if a large portion of the population would choose to go this route instead of using crafted weapons/NM drops. Going out and smashing enemies with a crafted weapon until it breaks (to release its "essence") seemed like a fun way to help ensure this

The idea could possible bleed over to DoL DoH, with just a little bit of dev magic and creativity. The upgrades probably wouldn't be as bountiful! but still definitely room for something. Like a leather-worker whoms only passion in life is making high quality subligars, they could take their knife along a path with increased HQ rate on pants or something. Gathering would be tricky, I don't gather myself so don't know the system at all, but I am sure there are plenty of possibilities to keep them involved

[SHJcules]

There was this Square RPG that has the weapons growing with your character. Can't remember what it is though. At certain points in time, you can "reforge" it for new improvements. Was it Secret of Mana?

I've never played that game (or simply don't remember, though I usually buy anything with the square logo haha) but sounds pretty fun! Even if you are bound to your base weapon from the start (not so much bound to it, just that a short sword will never turn into a wooden spanker sword, and long sword will always be a long sword) , it'd be cool if it still morphed along the way and was reforged at certain points.

Like @r20 you start with a rusty piece of metal that only resembles a Falchion. After a few quests and hitting r30 with it, the guild reforges it and it shapes a hilt and kind of has a blade. By r50 it resembles a true final fantasy weapon! and is toothed along the curved blade, yields a jeweled mysterious looking hilt with a guard, crazy transparency differences all over the place, and yeeauuhh. Changing the aesthetics of the weapon based on the quest paths you choose would be great, but probably too complex (but I'd love if certain parts of the weapon changed colors to match the element property you chose, or a multi-hit weapon had two blades! etc) . But making like 4-5 different upgraded versions of each base weapon couldn't be toooo crazy of a task

and now off to find a store that sells old ps1 games

[BlaiseLallaise]

...and now off to find a store that sells old ps1 games

If you're going out to look for Secret of Mana, I'll save you some trouble. You'll be more likely to find it in the Super Nintendo section.

[SHJcules]

If you're going out to look for Secret of Mana, I'll save you some trouble. You'll be more likely to find it in the Super Nintendo section.

lol, the Super Nintendo section. Awesome news for me, I think I will have to torrent this huge, possibly 25kb, file later

Also, I would not be totally adverse to my weapon speaking to me! He could have a little icon floating around, like the paper clip icon from old word programs. Slapping me with little tips and tricks.

Sword:"Jim! This guys weakness seems to be slashing and fire. Do work son!"
Me: "For True!?" engage Red Lotus Blaaadddde
(yes I would talk back to my sword..)

[SHJcules]

small bumb, for edit of OP

added summary
changed some things
copied in a few ideas

I am still curious how people would feel about having such a system in game I take all feedback with an open mind, and have no qualms over editing and changing OP with your suggestions

Of course if the materia system blows everyone away, I could see having both of these mechanics as being incredibly too complex