[DEV Question] Why is this allowed?

[Serilda]

A much more serious issue, I think, is that the game allows jobs to equip inappropriate accessories. I suppose it's a thing so that folks learning new content can equip VIT accessories for the extra survivability - but I don't think they're often used that way.

I would say they're used a reasonable amount. VIT accessories are very much a thing in PVP, for example, and in certain PVP situations INT accessories on healers could be too. I remember when I was lowmanning something or other in Coil I used a few VIT accessories on my healer in PVE. Then there's glamour, where the colour might be different for different versions (or you may not want to keep every single variant in a set where you like an earring design just to keep it glamoured across jobs). Exploiting this feature to artificially boost your item level and force others to carry you is, of course, not acceptable - but I wouldn't want to lose the underlying flexibility in a game with so little flexibility in the first place.

Simpler solution: force everyone to clear some SSS trial to prove their DPS on that job is in the right ballpark before queueing in raid finder? They can still switch to stupid gear for the actual fight but hopefully those accidents don't happen enough to be crippling.

[Gunspec]

Player ilevel really needs to be the ilevel of the item multiplied by the weight of the item, then averaged out. But yeah, just another system put in the game by SE without considering how easy it is to manipulate the system in a harmful way.

[Llus]

This is actually becoming a bigger issue overall as people try to game the min-level requirements in order to spirit bond lower level HQ crafted gear or to cheat the system in order to progress through the story and get a free carry. I used to see people running dungeons spirit bonding crafting gear FFS!

[Pintsized]

This is actually becoming a bigger issue overall as people try to game the min-level requirements in order to spirit bond lower level HQ crafted gear or to cheat the system in order to progress through the story and get a free carry. I used to see people running dungeons spirit bonding crafting gear FFS!

So I'm cheating the system' if I'm wearing 250 crafted gear in DUNGEONS?

Really?

Ok.

[Oscura]

So I'm cheating the system' if I'm wearing 250 crafted gear in DUNGEONS?

Really?

Ok.

"Crafting" gear, not "crafted."

This was a pretty annoying problem in 2.x. Some people would join a dungeon with their entire right side as DoH/DoL gear so they could spiritbond and then break it down for the materia to make money or meld their DoH/DoL.

[Felis]

This is actually becoming a bigger issue overall as people try to game the min-level requirements in order to spirit bond lower level HQ crafted gear or to cheat the system in order to progress through the story and get a free carry. I used to see people running dungeons spirit bonding crafting gear FFS!

You don't get much spiritbound points if the content is much higher than the gears. That change came somwhere in 2.x ingame.

[Canadane]

[Dev Answer] Because that's how average numbers work.

[Shurrikhan]

[Dev Answer] Because that's how average numbers work.

That is how an average of a metric of varying real value works. They easily could, however, base the metric on consistent real value, which would weigh a weapon differently from, say, a ring.

That's my point, the gap is too much considering the cost of both those items.

Agreed. Or, alternatively, we should either be paying a bit more for weapons or a bit less for gear. In either case, we should be paying a roughly equal per-stat cost, just as ilvl should be stat-based. The only determiner after that should be how we weigh Defense.

[Callinon]

I might consider this complaint more valid if you hadn't also cleared the instance. You're talking about imposing strict restrictions on by-definition casual content.