So 3.1 came, and I was really excited to see that SE was adding a whole slew of new cards along with (blessedly!) increased drop rates for a lot of pre-existing cards. As somebody who's played Triple Triad since Final Fantasy 8 back when I was growing up, these changes excited me greatly! All of those modifications, along with the new Gold Saucer achievement book, made me genuinely hope that we'd be seeing a new breath of life into what's otherwise a pretty dead, neglected minigame.

When Triple Triad was first announced, I was thrilled at the idea. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be able to play it with other people, and now FF14 would finally enable that! However, the Triple Triad scene is a barren wasteland, nobody ever wants to play or has any cards, and tournaments are nothing but scummy win trading for platinum packs.

So I was thinking, what exactly needs to happen in order to make Triple Triad actually relevant in FF14? And the answer came pretty quickly! Simple! Make it more like it as in FF8! In Final Fantasy 8 you could break down excess cards for useful items and spells! In many cases, it made the 'draw grind' that so many people hate FF8 for nearly trivial, and gave you many of the best spells in the game for free!

What does that mean for FF14? Well, what if we could break Triple Triad cards down into crafting materials? It could act somewhat like de-syntheses, where the rarity of the card being broken down impacts the loot table that it draws from. For instance, you have a FAR greater chance of getting expensive, ultra-rare materials from a 5* card than you do a 1*.

For the sake of game balance, I think it would be for the best if these crafting materials remained exclusively for glamour, but think of the possibilities! I know for certain that *I* wouldn't mind grinding a few (... dozen) TT cards if it meant I got a snazzy Squall or Seifer cosplay costume for my efforts. . Not to mention that this also helps crafters out too, since obviously these outfits can be sold for HUGE prices, since they'll obviously be in demand. I don't craft myself, but I hear they've been hurting lately...

What do you think? Personally, I think it's a fantastic way to take one of my favorite Final Fantasy past times, and make it into a fun, rewarding experience that brings more of the community on board! Who knows? Maybe those taverns would actually see some use on non-RP servers!