Element system needs changes?

[Sandpark]

So before I go into Frozen Content, I wear my ice resistance gear and switch to my fire damage gear. Then my gameplay is EXACTLY THE SAME AS NOW except I am carrying around super specialized gear/hotbars that only work for some content. Oh no, the next boss is a fire boss! Now I have to equip my fire resistance gear and my ice hotbar! Then play the game EXACTLY THE SAME AS NOW except I have blue glow effects instead of red.

That's some depth we've added here.

Would a element system be more task or data intensive? Yes.
Would a element system be a well received system for all players? No, as this thread shows.

Would it add depth or would gameplay be the same as now as you say?
Well depth in this case is requiring thought, preparation, and thoughtful use.

A fireman wears fire resistance gear when entering burning buildings and water/chemicals that are designed to put fires out or control them.
If he wore a gasoline soaked suit or used gasoline to put out fires, he is less likely to survive.
He has to decide where is the best place to keep the fire under control.

Is he a genious? Who knows, but he did get some schooling on how to maximize his potential in situations.
I am sure if he could wear a scuba diving set and put out fires with peanut butter in all circumstances, he would do it because it is easier.
But nature doesn't work like that, it is not designed to work like clockwork and obey man.

It didn't work 'beautifully' in XI (though it could have). All that actually happened was for some reason almost all mobs were weak to thunder and/ or blizzard, which worked out well for BLMs because those were the 2 strongest elements anyway (I think in the past few years they normalized things though). Melee just used the water/ ice skillchains while leveling, and then the light or dark skillchains after 75. For skillchains it was a bit more interesting. For casting, and I have played BLM heavily in both games, it was no more interesting. Really XIV is more interesting for BLM endgame because you do a lot more than concentrate madly at the screen waiting for the boss to do something that you need to stun immediately. On the damage side, level 60 BLM is way more interesting than BLM was in XI. Sure you had a ton more spells, but you'd never use most of them and mostly just sat around casting the same spell forever or waiting to stun (or mass sleep things in dynamis).

In any case, they're vastly different games and without some sort of toggle to just change fire spells into whatever other element for the exact same effect (and what would be the point in that?) BLM would be neutered by an elemental resist system. If it wasn't then the system would be too mild to matter (or everything is weak/neutral to fire or extremely weak to ice).

Now you make a point here. It could have worked out beautifully, but they homgenized characteristics of enemies too much and made certain skillchains/magic burst more better in most situations, it was poorly tuned on the global scale.

Most modern mmos are trying to make you focus more on what's happening on the screen versus watching ui/menus to respond to what you see on the fly.

That is where the action mmo is headed, and what they are getting famous for.Maybe XI endgame mage was heavily tuned towards stunning, sleeping, or 1-4 spells but that was design oversight in global properties, not a flaw in the mechanics. Skillchains and bursting required more party synergy and thoughtful cast had the game been tuned right.

http://ffxiclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Element
http://ffxiclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Weather
http://ffxiclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Skillchains
http://ffxiclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Burst
http://ffxiclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Role_of_the_Elements

Square already has an idea how to do elemental stuff. They tied the elements together in crafting, battle, enemies, and the environment.
Was it perfect? By all means no. But the groundwork is layed if they wanted to bring it here and make it better in this game, to fix it's flaws.

Can it add tedium or extra studying? Yeah.

Does it add depth, complexity, or meta? You bet your bottom.

Probably won't happen though because most people playing this game seem to want things straightforward and strictly respectful of their time rather than delving into systems that complicate things.