Variance in player skill is hurting FFXIV's itemization design.

[Khemorex]

i dont have anything against special stats . But u also have to see and not moan about when these stats would be made available for people who play at a slower pace after 6 months :P , because SE would have to design the next tier of raids with that powerfull special stats in mind :P ( unless someone is so selfish and wants to lock out the plebs from hard raids completely :P maybe those people missed the point that its just a game o.O )

or does someone from the raiders want to farm old content for a new member in the static group ? :P

i have raided like 5 years in eq2 :P , if i wanted to i could raid in here to and beat everything , but i don't have the patience anymore to deal with raging people and kiddos XD. Also it dose not surprise me that its hard to find raiding people when most of them dont see the static as a group of friends , but merely as a thing that's there so u can get your gear :P

[Brian_]

First, give us a glamour catalog. Once you've gotten a piece of gear, it unlocks its glamour via the catalog. Even if it's a limited catalog, that's fine.

Second, make raid gear convertible. The gear will convert into a materia carrying the unique property of the gear. The materia will have unique melding properties -- for example, it can only be melded onto a new type of materia slot. And, when removed, it is not destroyed. You might have to adjust SB rates so that raid content SBs raid gear much faster.

Third, make the materia purchasable and make it cost a sizeable amount of unlocked tomestones (I'm thinking 2000 tomestones for 1 materia). At the same time, keep unlocked tomestones relevant for other uses. Currently, the market for eso mats has exploded because so many people no longer have the eso to spare on them due to purchasing Umbrite. That way, while players playing catch-up with their tomestones are spending it on materia, the players who already have the relevant unique properties via converting old raid gear will be able to cash out in other ways. And, due to the glamour catalog, they will also still have the option to glamour the gear.

New players can catch up with a good amount of effort and content variety.

Old players still get rewarded with glamour and whatever benefits they get from being able to spend their tomestones freely.