Materia and Repairing gear.

[Ferth]

I'm going to assume that not everyone is keen on gear damage. When the game launched the main reason we had the gear damage system was to give credence to crafters... to make them always be needed in some aspect.

In most games with item durability and repairing it's all handled by npcs as a way for money to be taken out of circulation, and while that is slowly becoming the role of item repairs in ffxiv, we still have to deal with a bloated system. (I.E.; too many different crafts, broad level ranges, etc.)

The new materia system looks like it will keep crafting in prominence. So maybe it's time to look into ways to adjust repairs as well?

My idea is to repeal the % durability loss and it's effect on the efficacy of our gear, instead replacing it with three different states for gear;

New: For never been equipped/used gear. Tradeable/salable.

Used: Once you equip and use a piece of gear it becomes used. In effect being bound to your character, it won't lose any efficacy, and it will start earning affinity for materia.

Refrubished: When someone no longer wants a piece of equipment they repair it, it retains the affinity earned toward materia, but now it can be traded/sold.

Granted this takes a big chunk of the gil sink out of repairing, (not to mention the death penalty for it.) but it makes gear alot less of a bear to deal with, only requiring repairs when we no longer want a given item.

The materia system will allow crafters to maintain a necessary role in the game, this repair system will allow people who don't want to craft to profit from the materia system.

[tymora]

I'm going to assume that not everyone is keen on gear damage.

That is a very big assumption.

only requiring repairs when we no longer want a given item.

While it may work for lower rank gear when people change equipment quickly, end-game gear pretty much only changes hands on a new patch. Maybe a piece or 2 every 3 months? The gil sink effect will completely crumble.

-> Might as well go back to FFXI's system where gear never degrades (1 state) following your logic.

[Ferth]

I didn't say I assumed everyone hates the repair system... are you claiming to love it?

Furthermore this repair system is fully dependent on the implementation of the materia system, which from what I have gathered from rep posts and translations from the dev team will be a system that turns older gear into materia after a certain period of use.

When this is implemented even end game users will start cycling through weapons with more frequency as they start crafting materia.

At the same time materia is coming out, there will also be introduction of airships and chocobos, not to mention the materia NPCs themselves. All of which will add more gil-sinks to the game.

I am not saying they have to implement my idea or I will quit. I am offering a rough suggestion based on a perceived dislike for the awkwardness of the current system. If you disagree that's fine. But I'm more interested in sparking debate on possible fixes to the repair system beyond the super glue fix we got in 1.18.

[tymora]

I didn't say I assumed everyone hates the repair system... are you claiming to love it?

Actually I want it to be more severe. As in, item will crumble to dust if left at 0% durability, but that's me.