Quote Originally Posted by Amiantos View Post
Only issue with that is that they would end falling into a cookie cutter build such as when the cap was still 75 pretty much if you ran a rdm you were expected to put your merits into stuff like Slow II, Paralyze II and other debuffs.
Phalanx II or fail RDM...

I loved the merit system in FFXI though. It gave players some nice options, and let you truly customize yourself since it was impossible to have everything at once. Sure, sometimes some skills were expected of you, but this was generally rare unless the other available options were lacking in imagination. I know a LOT of Scholars who put tons of points in Sublimation for that slight MP boost, but I also know many who went to maximise their helix spell output, adding duration and potency.

Something like this could add a bit of spice to the otherwise mundane grind, and give players goals to work towards which weren't just another gear upgrade.

Then again, FFXI also had gear sidegrades, since equipment was a lot more varied and interesting than the boring and vanilla system employed in ARR.