Job/Merit points? (Idea)

[Khalithar]

Math destroys the idea of "choice" when it comes to MMORPGs and picking what would be considered the "best" option.

This statement is absolutely true and bears repeating. I think a lot people asking for more options forget this.

[Shurrikhan]

I'll take options, not more leveling. Give me a different "school" of archery, a different "aspect" of the dragoon, or different 'variations' of Heavy Thrust, etc., but I've no interest in leveling GL enough to cheese every jump in a particular fight, every pure offensive buff or damaging ability to maximum, support buffs for effect or duration, and my mitigation to where I'm swap-proofed, all just to get where I'm considered 'complete'.
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Only because of the quote above me, sorry Welsper:

Choice doesn't exactly exist when it comes to making your character stronger for your own goals. A clear and essentially set path is always going to exist when it comes to the numbers game. The only actual choice that does exist, however, is which set path you want to take. Math destroys the idea of "choice" when it comes to MMORPGs and picking what would be considered the "best" option.

Math doesn't destroy choices. Imbalance does. There are plenty of far more popular talent choices in WoW, for instance, that aren't mathematically optimal, simply because they have a reduced skill cap; it's harder for them to go wrong, attracting the less confident or more necessarily battlefield-attentive players. In many other cases the talents provide different playstyles while achieving near identical results in a variety of situations. That's well done. The only times they're lackluster talent-swap-tome-spenders are when, excused by the alleged "illusion of choice", they simply craft one specifically aligned talent for each situation (your single-target, your cleave, and your true AoE).

That said, 100% agree when it comes to this being pathed. I just think there can still be enough variance within those paths to feel diverse.

Having said all that though, I am for the idea of merits. While the choice thing that you're talking about and wanting is not a realistic possibility, the idea that we're not wasting our time doing things along the way (like killing mobs in a dungeon of any level), at least becomes rewarding in its own way.

I get the same pang of regret sometimes, but it really is pretty much mitigated by the fact that I'm doing those things for the tomes or the gear, and I'm getting exactly that. The only thing I might want more, really, is a half-decent conversion of capped exp gains to bonus exp, especially in particular settings (e.g. healing for 3 friends while they level their newfangled Ninjas (back in 2.4), and then swapping back to mine while someone else rotates into that role). I just really don't want to tap on an additional, somewhat ambiguous, layer of leveling to all our capped classes at this point.

[Savagelf]

what i see alot want for merit system here i my ideal on this first the merit system would allow you earn job traits. these job trait up to players. for example the dragoon could chosen thing do i want wyren as my pet or do i want more strength to my attack. for summoner this work as a way for the summoner to both gain more iges and strength they own iges i find need for ige glamour uneed but i find that one doesn't throw ige model that maybe glamoured but more as fact ige would grown stronger and your control over them allow you chosen ige glamour instead such iges would more skills areas that players want them have. for example the paladin could gain rez for merit of traits. this also may possible give the dev a way improve exsistes jobs.

[Orrias]

If the Merit System from FFXI were to be implemented in FFXIV, so as to halt mere player levels (i.e. straight up increase to a plethora of stats each level) and instead offer a means for players to select stats of their own choice to increase, then that may solve the sneaking problem of power-creep. However, people will eventually figure out what is mathematical/ theoretically 'optimal' and it'll be a case of everyone following suit in sheep-like fashion, irrespective of how minimal the difference would actually make to them, if even at all, in reality it actually did, making the artifice of the choices redundant, and overall superficial.

The problems with 'perceived choice' systems in FFXIV, such as the Merit System are:-
(1) Inter-Job balance vs. superficiality/ trivialisation of differences (i.e. situational or general standard builds, and how well balanced they are overall)
(2) Inter-Role balance (i.e. the 'take the class, not the player' dilemma).
(3) cross-role balance (e.g. Role encroachment).
(4) Overall balance, which would also encompass encounter balance, too.
(5) Would the grind (which presumably there'd be), be meaningful and perceived as on par with the typical raising of the level cap?