Required Class/Rank failed - Can we have Optimal Rank and Favoured Class back?

[AdvancedWind]

Most MMO games I've ever played that have levels have always had level requirements for the gear. This is nothing new, and honestly most of the playerbase see's it s a normal thing.

Gods forfend FFXIV dare have a somewhat unique feature that, if well implemented, works well and makes sense within the context of a game that encourages players leveling multiple classes and changing between them. I know we're all sorta traumatized with the whole "trying to be different" issue from the original FFXIV, but throw me a bone here.

The Optimal system was functional, but it wasn't ideal. When you had a level 25 GLA running around in level 50 armor, then getting their face pounded in from a lack of defense, the problem was evident.

Since the patch, I have noticed a sizable increase in player survival and performance, all due to players now actually using gear for their level.

An "evident" problem with the player, IF the UI easily displayed the penalties. Again, not a problem of the system itself, same way a level 50 player wearing a level 25 required armor isn't a "problem of requiring levels for gear"; Clearly show the penalties, and any player with more than 2 brain cells won't do that, unless he simply doesn't care about the stats.

Also, I think crafters are doing a bit better now because people are actually buying more variety in gear because of this.

That's something I cannot deny nor confirm, seeing as I'm not a crafter myself.

The "favor system" doesn't work as well as designated gear because a) it's more confusing to newbies/less streamlined or easy to explain and b) it's harder to balance for the devs. Pretty much any gear that is worth a damn is going to be class locked, because it's easier for the dev team to balance how future gear will scale.

a) How hard can it be to grasp this simple concept: "Wear something below your optmal level, get weaker stats"? Put a simple tutorial about this, and as long as newcomers don't mash X when it pops up, they can understand .

b) I agree that more important gear should be class locked, but with the recipe revamp, pretty much EVERY gear is class required or downright useless. Is it really so hard to make a few general purpose pieces to be used when leveling multiple clases? We're (or, at least, myself) not talking about end game gear.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of looking at the wards, seeing five things that "favor" my class, and wondering what the hell I SHOULD be wearing. This applies more to DoH and DoL for me, but I have this problem with belts, shoes, and pants on my DoW and DoM classes. The "favor" system was confusing, and pointless to anybody who wants to wear gear that works for their class.

Grab the gear that gives better stats for your class / role...or is it too hard to see that between the belt with +5STR and the one with +5INT, the INT one is better for your mage? Does anyone really need to see a "Requires: Discipline of Magic" to know that?