Colored gear with specific classes.

[Estellios]

Yeah I personally would give up stats for aesthetics since a bulk of the stats will be in materia and I'd be able to balance out by putting more of a certain type of materia to make up for it.

As Roaran said, if we can get more colors available with either duplicate stat spreads or more varied stat spreads (ie: have a Purple robe with the stats of the Green and a Blue robe with the stats of the Red, or have them be in-betweens), there should be something to make most people happy.

[trinta]

The reason that different colored equipment now offer different stats was because when making the item-related adjustments, the team changed it so you can easily differentiate stat differences by the color of the gear.

I understand that some people want dyes to just be an aesthetic-only option, and I'll be sure to pass that along to the dev. team along with other feedback.

This has to be one of the stupidest, laziest things I've ever heard of. Flame away, I don't care. Seriously, they wanted color-coded clone PCs? Very disappointing.

[Fensfield]

The reason that different colored equipment now offer different stats was because when making the item-related adjustments, the team changed it so you can easily differentiate stat differences by the color of the gear.

I understand that some people want dyes to just be an aesthetic-only option, and I'll be sure to pass that along to the dev. team along with other feedback.

Great. I hope they perceive that this as an unwanted change as a result, but either way thank you for finally giving us an answer Bayohne, and for forwarding our concerns to the developers. A lot of us - myself included - feel very strongly that colour should be purely an aesthetic concern, and I hope threads with similar opinions in the other language forums are seeing just as much attention.

I think this is great, so long as there are more colors to choose from. If people care more about aesthetics than stats, they should have no problem sacrificing stats for aesthetics.
The people who wan't both will never be satisfied so don't even bother.

That being said, yes, it's certainly true that I would be more than happy to sacrifice stats for aesthetic reasons - even if I do feel your last jab is unfairly dismissive and a bit rude.

However, to get back to the root of the thread, the real concern is not that the stats on certain items differ based on their colour. The real issue is that certain pieces of gear that are otherwise exactly the same are restricted to certain disciplines based on their colour.

It's all well and good telling us that if we're so worried about how our characters look we shouldn't worry about the stats, but that does not apply when the gear in question has different class-locks on it to other pieces of gear of the same type for no other reason than it being a different colour. IE: Shepherd's Tunic vs Green Shepherd's Tunic.

If nothing else, if you ask me, colour-based class-locking really, really needs to go.

Well, that and we need back all the colour options we had before, whatever the stats may be. Cutting back the number of colours is just plain miserable.

[Estellios]

It's all well and good telling us that if we're so worried about how our characters look we shouldn't worry about the stats, but that does not apply when the gear in question has different class-locks on it to other pieces of gear purely because of its colour.

If nothing else, if you ask me, colour-based class locking really, really needs to go.

Definitely! Only major issue I have =)

[Reabs]

The people who want both will never be satisfied so don't even bother.

Actually I want both and I would be quite satisfied if they just made it so that all colored gear had the same stat boost (And if were going by wanting to use the default color they could just add a "clear" dye that would just add the stat boost to the base item). Not only would this make dyeing not pointless (In the eyes of those who care only about stats) but it would also make all dye'd stats equivalent so the people who care about color can choose which color they want and not have to worry that someone (Elitists) are going to tell them every five seconds that there not in optimal gear.

[Dargoth_Draconia]

The reason that different colored equipment now offer different stats was because when making the item-related adjustments, the team changed it so you can easily differentiate stat differences by the color of the gear.

I understand that some people want dyes to just be an aesthetic-only option, and I'll be sure to pass that along to the dev. team along with other feedback.

I really like it the way it is. Adds something new and different to the game, plus not everyone looks exactly the same because they want their character to look cool.

[Razor]

I think that "some people" should more accurately represented as "many people" personally, just browsing the forums and talking to people in game the opinion on stat-color locked gear is overwhelmingly negative.

And yes, people who want "both" (i.e. stats and ascetics) CAN be very easily be pleased. Actually, they already added a system that will please us: Materia. We didn't want and don't need gear to be color coded on top of that. If we want to specialize the stats we can do so using the variety stat augmenting materia.

I really like it the way it is. Adds something new and different to the game, plus not everyone looks exactly the same because they want their character to look cool.

I don't understand. Please elaborate.

If I'm going to be tanking I wear Cobalt Cuirass set (Red). The Gladiator next to me is also wearing Cobalt Cuirass set (Red). So is every other gladiator who doesn't want to be laughed at for wearing the gimpy silver version.

If I want to be DDing on my PUG instead, guess what I wear? Oh... Red Ranger's Tunic because its better than the white one. Felt Trousers (Red) because they are better than the undyed ones. Cobalt Plated Jackboots (Red).. why? You guessed it! Because they are better than the undyed ones.

The point of the matter is that now everyone WILL look the same because while there is that slim percentage of people who will sacrifice stats over color, most people will not. I for one don't hate the color red persay, but I don't want to look like a fire engine. I'd much rather wear the silver one. But my logical side will prevail and I'm not going to spend money on second rate gear. It does not mean I will enjoy it. And last I checked, I was supposed to enjoy a video game..

[Estellios]

I don't think missing out on 4 Attack, 1 Accuracy, 2 Dex, and 3 Parry makes you completely gimp. Stats are in the several-hundreds now.

[Razor]

I don't think missing out on 4 Attack, 1 Accuracy, 2 Dex, and 3 Parry makes you completely gimp. Stats are in the several-hundreds now.

In the grand scheme of things, it may not. But still, if you're going to drop a healthy penny on a piece of gear, to me its only logical to buy the best you can get. It has never been uncommon for MMO players to go to outrageous lengths to get that extra point of stat.

[Kiara]

The reason that different colored equipment now offer different stats was because when making the item-related adjustments, the team changed it so you can easily differentiate stat differences by the color of the gear.

I understand that some people want dyes to just be an aesthetic-only option, and I'll be sure to pass that along to the dev. team along with other feedback.

Hi Bayohne,

Thanks for the reply and reasoning behind the Color-Locked System in 1.19.

I'm normally a proponent for unique Class-Specific Gear (like Artifact Armor (AF) from FF XI), but I agree with most people on this thread: There's no reason to make it unique based on Color alone.

I realize it's a cost-effective (arguably lazy) way to get some Class-Specific Gear out, but Color is one of the best things that we had in the original XIV. It allowed some customization for players for pure looks (everyone has a favorite color).

The ideal solution is having unique 3D Models for specific Stat Differences (maybe a certain Ribbon or the small facet looks), while allowing everyone to have Colors for aesthetics only.