Dear SE, to kill some time...

[Rentahamster]

If Triple Triad were implemented exactly like it was in in FFVIII, would that be enough to get people to play it, collect rare cards, etc.? If Triple Triad was turned into a class, with its own set of skills and traits, would people have fun grinding it from 40 to 50 with the way things are set up now? What would a level 50 Card Master be able to do that a level 1 couldn't?

I don't think that it should be it's own class. You should get rank points for PVP, and general points earned for victories against the NPCs. There is no need for a grind to be associated with this game. Your over all PVP and NPC rankings are just for show and prestige.

Not to steal ideas from other MMOs but Vanguard did a couple of interesting things with their diplomacy card game. One of which I did enjoy was a bonuses granted to everyone in a particular area. So, if enough people played Triple Triad against the guards of Ul'dah and earned enough wins, a bonus would be granted to all players in the Thanalan area for the next few hours. Something akin to the Light Party bonus.

Or, FFXI's Conquest could be brought back in a way. Each week all the Triple Triad wins are tallied up: how many Triple Triad players from Gridania, Ul'dah and Limsa won their matches and the residences of that winning city receive some bonus. Reduced teleport costs throughout Thanalan, faster anima regeneration, increased drop rates in that region, etc.

That would be a good way to increase the depth of the game and its relevance to the game world, yes.