Why aren't there Action / Trait oriented Materia I've been playing for a month now and character variation and customization have been on my mind since day one.

Even with the Armoury system, attribute distribution, and materia - character customization feels limited. I think a good solution to this problem is to make materia drops that have Actions or Traits embedded into them. Playing around with builds and collecting new Actions and Traits may also keep veteran players busy while they wait for Updates.