Features that need some tweeking.

[Defias]

Disclaimer:
Most of these are my personal opinion. Just as a returning player, stating his observations.

Ok...so I've recently come back to FFXIV since some of my RL acquaintances have decided to play the game.

The game is still a hell of a lot of fun thankfully, and I'm overwhelmed with things to do. But...there are some systems that have become a letdown/disappointment, or that feel unnecessary.

1. Materia Melding
So I understand why the meld system is in its current state. SE wants to keep Crafters in the loop & make them a big part of the game, as some players choose to only craft.
However I feel like the meld system needs tweeking.
It's complicated to some extent and it really doesn't need to be.

To be blunt, Materia in this game is just Gems/Runes/Crystals/Glyphs.
You have an empty slot and you insert the item.
But we have to have a material just to slot them...then the player need to have a high enough craft or find another player to do the meld.

Current System-
Step 1:
So you have to harvest or buy the meld material. (Due to most server market prices...you're forced to harvest them yourself unless you are godly rich.)
Step 2:
Hunt down a Crafter to do the Meld (This takes longer than it sounds).
Step 3: Tip the Crafter. (Most Crafters charge WAY too much for this)

What it should be-
Step 1:
Insert Materia into empty slot.

Long story short: The current system forces folks to level crafts they don't want to level, because A LOT of people overcharge for a meld or don't have time for new/low level players.
Too many crafters view anything but high lvl melds as a waste of their time & a bane on their existence.
I understand that the meld is taking time out of their day & etc. But I should not have to pay 3000 per materia (Over the course of 12 melds each meld was around this price. Yes, no one else would spare the time. I only got maybe 5 of the 12 melds done.), my mats & everything.

That said I'm all for the Raid/Relic/God gear needing a crafter to perform a meld as even in Lore those are unique one of a kind items & it adds to their epic scale.

However, Materia for normal gear & dungeon gear should just be a simple put in slot & call it a day.
I just find it hard to believe our Characters can slay Dragons, Primals, and solve puzzles while getting beaten to a pulp. Yet we can't stick a orb into a slot?

2. Glamours
So I was SUPER excited to return and finally be able to get that custom look I found for my character. But its for lvl 50 only?!

So basically we have to beat the Main Storyline to unlock the ability to look unique...after we've played our part, and seen our cutscenes, and etc.
To be blunt, we can customize after the unique look would have done us any good.
But like the Dye system, why not let us access that earlier?

3. Crystal Shards
Can these seriously get an increase in how many harvest?
Crafting eats these up in moments, and harvesting them is absolutely no fun, it's like having your tooth pulled as you sit on a hot nail while a cat scratches a chalk board in the background.
While it's nice to be able to sell them and make 100k. I feel like the very fact they sell for an absurd amount proves my point.

Perhaps the Wards Gathering Classes get can become buffs and increase the yield to 3 or 5?
I'd take a npc that sells them outright about now.
I've yet to meet a single player who does not resent shard farming.

4. Dungeon Roulette
I love this feature. My only question...the roulette says: "Low Level Dungeon Roulette" but the lvl range of it is 10-47......
Shouldn't the lvl 30-45 dungeons be considered "Mid-Level Dungeon Roulette"?
With lvl 47+ being "High-Level Dungeon Roulette"?
May as well take out the "low-level" part of it otherwise.

5. Guildhest
I love these. Nice, short, sweet, and intuitive.
These should be repeatable every week like Challenges.

6. Retainer Companion
I already know the answer folks will give to this but I'll say it anyways...
Any chance we can one day free our Retainers of their shackles & have them accompany us into the field like our Chocobo?
I love the bird to death. But why not have more options?

That's all I have. Thanks for reading this far!

[Chasely]

Agree with most for this. Especially Melding, glamours and crystal shards.

[File2ish]

Not hitting every point, but yeah. Just quick.

Regarding materia: I don't think weapons would just have empty holes in them where materia goes, I think it's assumed the crafter makes the slot. And if that's not assumed, it needs to be worked in with a specific tool or something. It's one of the few things crafters are needed for, much of the stuff they can make is just for vanity purposes post Praetorium. They put a ton of time and money (for the former: especially if they farm their own mats. And for the latter: If they buy all their mats) into the job, it's only natural that you would compensate them. Besides, 3k isn't that much of a tip. Sure you possibly spent 60k+ on your materia, but it's just compensation for their time and possibly skill/luck (if overmelding), ya?

Dungeon roulette:
The low level dungeons are up to 47, Sastasha to Aurum Vale. You are restricted to level 49 in AV, not 50. So it's not a high level dungeon (because being i60+ in AV would be overkill for the place).

And Retainer Companion:
I would love to have my retainer as a companion, like the adventuring fellows in FFXI and path companion in 1.XX. I mean many of us have ours geared to the teeth, it's only natural we want to fight with them. Only problem is if we get to use our retainers as a companion it would probably make our Chocobo's completely obsolete and utterly useless (unless we get to have both out at the same time, which would be unlikely to happen).

[Edli]

The level dungeon roulette thing, it stands for ilv not char level. The ilv is the one players continuously progress in. Char LV is short in comparison.

[Lemuria]

1. The materia melding system is fine. Tipping the melder is optional in many cases, and while you may have come across some bad crafters who overcharge, many of us are more than happy to provide melding services free of charge since it costs us nothing but time.

2. Glamors are for any level, but all the 'good' stuff is level 50. The whole concept is stupid, in my opinion. they've made the recipes incredibly difficult either to craft, or get the ingredients for. They should've been more sympathetic to the players, and at least offered some other unique items at lower craft levels and lower item rarity. Sadly, the way things are going, everything is going to be a 3-star synthesis requiring godly rare items, and yes... I agree, it's retarded.

3. Shards. Praise be to Hydaelyn for giving us wards to enhance the yield, but a pox on the idiot who decided that they should only increase yield by 2 at level 50. 12 shards per node, 18 if you've got 700 GP and a +1 node. I use that up in about 2 syntheses. This needs some SERIOUS revision, but SE have basically ignored everything about gatherers and crafters. They're too focused on the 'what next' not on what came before. Don't expect them to revisit shard drops any time soon.

4. Dungeon roulette is fine. I get that its frustrating to be thrown into a Tam Tara at level 46, but it's designed to help the lower players get teammates for dungeons they need to do, not to help high levels level up. You get a daily bonus of XP which is very sizeable irrespective of what level you end up at, and a further XP bonus based on your level compared to the dungeon. It's as fair a system as it can be while still serving its original purpose.

5. Guildhest was a good idea... then it became incredibly tedious and uninteresting. The problem is there's very little variation, and no new guildhests have been added since the game released. It could do with a bit of reworking.

6. Well, FFXI had companions you could level up and equip so I wouldn't totally dismiss the idea. Though, don't expect AI on the level of a player. Game mobs are notoriously stupid, so it stands to reason that retainers in the field won't be much to celebrate either.

[Defias]

Going to quote multiple here...

File2ish

Regarding materia: I don't think weapons would just have empty holes in them where materia goes, I think it's assumed the crafter makes the slot. And if that's not assumed, it needs to be worked in with a specific tool or something. It's one of the few things crafters are needed for, much of the stuff they can make is just for vanity purposes post Praetorium. They put a ton of time and money (for the former: especially if they farm their own mats. And for the latter: If they buy all their mats) into the job, it's only natural that you would compensate them. Besides, 3k isn't that much of a tip. Sure you possibly spent 60k+ on your materia, but it's just compensation for their time and possibly skill/luck (if overmelding), ya?

That makes sense. I'm not against the high level/end game armors & weapons needing melds as they are suppose to be "relics" and "one of a kind" types of weapons.
I just feel that say crafted, bought, and GC gear should not have that limitation.
I just can't see someone crafting their own armor & deliberately not adding materia slots, and our Grand Companies want us to be as strong as possible so why leave slots out?

Lemuria

1. The materia melding system is fine. Tipping the melder is optional in many cases, and while you may have come across some bad crafters who overcharge, many of us are more than happy to provide melding services free of charge since it costs us nothing but time.

2. Glamors are for any level, but all the 'good' stuff is level 50. The whole concept is stupid, in my opinion. they've made the recipes incredibly difficult either to craft, or get the ingredients for. They should've been more sympathetic to the players, and at least offered some other unique items at lower craft levels and lower item rarity. Sadly, the way things are going, everything is going to be a 3-star synthesis requiring godly rare items, and yes... I agree, it's retarded.

3. Shards. Praise be to Hydaelyn for giving us wards to enhance the yield, but a pox on the idiot who decided that they should only increase yield by 2 at level 50. 12 shards per node, 18 if you've got 700 GP and a +1 node. I use that up in about 2 syntheses. This needs some SERIOUS revision, but SE have basically ignored everything about gatherers and crafters. They're too focused on the 'what next' not on what came before. Don't expect them to revisit shard drops any time soon.

4. Dungeon roulette is fine. I get that its frustrating to be thrown into a Tam Tara at level 46, but it's designed to help the lower players get teammates for dungeons they need to do, not to help high levels level up. You get a daily bonus of XP which is very sizeable irrespective of what level you end up at, and a further XP bonus based on your level compared to the dungeon. It's as fair a system as it can be while still serving its original purpose.

5. Guildhest was a good idea... then it became incredibly tedious and uninteresting. The problem is there's very little variation, and no new guildhests have been added since the game released. It could do with a bit of reworking.

6. Well, FFXI had companions you could level up and equip so I wouldn't totally dismiss the idea. Though, don't expect AI on the level of a player. Game mobs are notoriously stupid, so it stands to reason that retainers in the field won't be much to celebrate either.

1. I'm pretty sure I just have rotten luck. I just think regular gear should just be socketable. Leave the end game stuff for the crafters. They deserve a reward for going up to max crafter. I agree there. I just do not think they need to bother with lvl 10-45's begging for melds.
Even then...I feel like the Carbonized material is not necessary for melds. Maybe to "Overmeld" (First time I ever saw that term.)

2. Glamours in my personal opinion are a slap in the face. Reminds me of Adventure Time where they teased Fionna & Cake becoming real, and all the audience got was a crossed eyes rotting book that drooled & farted in your face constantly.
You must have a lvl 50 class to unlock the ability to do Glamours according to the official release notes...did I misread?
Then from what I've heard (and as you said) it is a royal pain in the backside to get them done.
That is just...as you so well put it. Retarded.

WoW did this with Transmog. A simpler but still not very effective way to let folks customize themselves.
I see no reason to why they can't just let us wear what we want in an appearance slot. Why does it have to be so complex?

3. We are in 100% agreement here. I wish SE would say "To the 7 hells with it." and just let us buy the shards off NPCs. (Yes, destroy the overpriced shard economy. Some shard stacks cost more than my real life house & car combined!)

4. I love the roulette. I did NOT know it was based off item level. Also I do not dislike the low level dungeons. I like queuing it to help lower level players specifically. I get more frustrated when I queue for it to do a quick easy dungeon & I get Stone Vigil or Dhzamel Hold.

5. I'm not saying AI needs to be super smart. Nor am I saying death to the Chocobo.
I just think the "OPTION" to use a custom made NPC would be awesome. I love my Choco.
(Laugh at me if you like but NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING pisses me off like when my Chocobo gets killed. It ruins my entire day. Only happened 3 times, and I resent it.)
I'm a mainly solo, RP from time to time, dungeon crawler type of player. So I would like the companionship.
Like we have multiple mounts, minions, why not companions? Give em the Carbuncle or Chocobo AI.

[Ashkendor]

2. Glamors are for any level, but all the 'good' stuff is level 50. The whole concept is stupid, in my opinion. they've made the recipes incredibly difficult either to craft, or get the ingredients for. They should've been more sympathetic to the players, and at least offered some other unique items at lower craft levels and lower item rarity. Sadly, the way things are going, everything is going to be a 3-star synthesis requiring godly rare items, and yes... I agree, it's retarded.

You can't even unlock the ability to use glamour prisms until you have your first level 50.

And yeah... I don't know why they keep making low level vanity gear into master craft fodder. :/

[Titor]

I agree with glamour. I wanted to glamour around level 30 or whatever level it was that I got the caster dunce cap at.

Also, it should be one prism per tier of armor/weapon (ltw, alc, wvr, whatever). Since all 5 grades of glamour prisms take the same items to craft, it is kind of just clunky to have 5 different prisms with different prices for the same items used to craft it. I craft my own prisms, and even then it is pretty annoying. If it was like one leather prism, or one cloth prism, that would be so much simpler for both the crafters and the buyers.

[SwashBuccaneer]

The shards mining/harvesting definitely needs to be addressed. 100% agreement there. The slap in the face is getting the buff that increases the yield by 2, but it costs almost all of your GP in the process. You don't even get good exp harvesting them, either.

And the glamour feature requiring level 50 is a pure "ARE YOU SHITTING ME???" moment.

[Nutz]

I agree with some of this. I don't personally have a problem with the way materia works, but that's probably because I could meld materia to gear while leveling up and generally choose not to because it makes such a small difference for the cost. At least they drastically reduced the variety in catalysts. Now it's just various grades of carbonized matter (and if you can gather yourself you don't even really need to worry about grade I or II) instead of having a different catalyst based on what type of materia you were using (kind of like the mess that is the glamour system).

Getting to 50 is pretty quick, and while I could see people using the glamour system before then, not so much in it's current state. It's probably not fair to defend their decision to make it level 50 on the basis that the system is such crap that you're almost doing people a favor by not letting them mess with it before then...

Crystal shards definitely need a boost. You can farm crystals 50% as fast as shards (using level 30 nodes where you get a single double yield node for shards and only 2 normal nodes for crystals) but no recipes actually require very many crystals, while most recipes require piles of shards. On top of that shards are level 1 regardless of the node so they can't help you level up.

I really wish they'd make the glamour system more sensible. If they still want the prisms and crafters involved, just make vanity slots like everyone wants, but require a prism to equip something in a vanity slot. Also, considering that the prices and effort are exactly the same regardless of the level of the prism, just reduce that to 1 prism per craft. That should fix the mess of juggling several tiers of prisms and allow people to use multi-slot gear for vanity.