[dev1017]Potential problems with item loss from failed materia synthesis

[Frein]

Apparently the current idea is to let people augment their gear with up to five pieces of materia, however, only the first one is safe while the rest are risky (progressively more so?) to attach.

For this thought experiment I am going to assume that HQ versions of top gear (think Crab Bow +3, etc) will remain rare and extremely expensive even past the item revisions.

Unless item rarities go through radical shifts, I expect the combination of rare gear and item loss to create significant problems. The problem is, of course, that those items are too rare and too expensive for risky materia ventures, which means people will more likely experiment with cheaper weapons, such as NQ ones or lower rank items, when they want to go for five materia augments. But can a Crab Bow +3 with one materia compete with a regular Crab Bow with five? We can't say for sure, but I'd say it is unlikely, yet I expect the materials for the HQ version to possibly be even hundreds of times as expensive.

Only those who are extremely far above the median wealth can afford to attempt augmenting very high quality gear. Successful augments further widen the gap between the haves and have-nots, while non-successful ones cause very painful losses. The variance is simply too great and the risk/reward ratio so bad that only people who simply cannot come up with an alternate use for their money can afford it.

It reminds me of the equipment enchantment system of Ragnarok Online where you could end up with unbelievably rare item combinations* and have them vanish into thin air when your entirely luck based, risky enchantment attempt went wrong. This system was not fun and only a miniscule fraction of the player base could afford to put these items together, let alone multiples as insurance in case it blew up on you.

*HQ version of a rare drop attached with one or several extremely rare cards plus the several expensive ores needed for the enchantment process with the risk for failure increasing with each attempt past a certain enchantment level.