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

[Caelum_Dragguell]

Since I'm on my way out of this game I may as well state how I felt about the state of raids since this thread now seems so dead set on arguing over small things rather than actual change.
As far as the Normal/Savage mode of raids goes... that's not an issue at all, it shouldn't be. I personally think that there should be a way for everyone to enjoy the same story, although maybe it could have been handled differently. What I DO see as the issue is the lack of a lasting reward for clearing the savage content.

Many people claim that simply clearing the content is reward enough... knowing that you were able to complete something thousands of others could not (or rather maybe they just didn't feel like doing it).

Many people feel the need to hassle each other, whether it be a more casual player making accusations on how a raider feels about things, or the other way around. I often see raiders ask more casual players why they even need the highest ilv gear when any content that they run doesn't even require it. I also see the more casual players ask raiders why THEY want to have items that have stats that are more unique.
These topics become quarrels and eventually before you know it, instead of tackling an important subject on how to make the game better, we instead attack each other personally and gain.... nothing from it.

So before I say what kind of reward should be added or could be added as incentive for clearing various hard content (which mind you does take tens (sometimes one hundred or hundreds) of hours and hours and hours and hours of commitment and organization and coordination with 7 other people or more) Can we just agree to disagree and instead focus on providing feedback and ideas for the developers to draw from rather than make them sift through post upon post of useless argument and personal attacks?

Back to the topic at hand:

I propose that the reward for clearing harder content is..... no singular type of thing. Gear sets and set bonuses/interesting stats should be implemented to spice up the game (no not horizontal progression although everyone seems to think this whenever the subject of even adding one more stat is mentioned) first and foremost, and obviously these things should be available in variations to everyone. The rewards for the hard won loot from Raids however should indeed have some unique aspects to it. Stats that are only found on raid earned gear or set bonuses unique to that tier of gear etc... On top of this Titles for each fight should be added (maybe) Titles were enough incentive to drive some to complete the brutally hard Second Coil of Bahamut: Savage. And lastly, I think more craftable gear and more items should be able to be made using items found in these raids. I just feel like it would be cool to find rare items in a raid and then go to a crafter (one that's heavily specialized) and have them forge it into something amazing.

As far as the current state of raid rewards go, the rewards last for maybe 3-6 months tops (this is being very generous) within obtaining them. I feel there has to be a way to alter the progression system so as to make it feel more worthwhile to do the hard raids in order to get that cool item that will help you later on.

My thoughts are that of an idealist and yes many of you will disagree with what I have to say and that's fine. However, I'd prefer that if someone disagree's that it is left at that and that another idea is posted without any sort of argument needing to start. Either that or build upon someone else's idea. Just agree to disagree instead of creating useless fluff for the dev's to sift through.

[loreleidiangelo]

I don't really mind the story being accessible to everyone, but new boss models/encounters for the Savage version should have pretty much been a given. Especially since large amounts of the mechanics are carried over from the normal version of the raid, just slightly re-done or made "more difficult". New gear designs should have also been included in the package, instead of just dyeable versions of the normal mode gear.

[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.