What Happened to Customization & Specialization?

[Dzian]

This. Customizable abilities in multiplayer games are either mandatory or worthless. There is no middle ground, and if you aren't using the agreed upon ideal set up, you are essentially harassing everyone you play with by holding them back.

That varies largely by how well the game is designed. And the content within said game works..

the easiest example would perhaps be your typical first person shooter or something. Where a simple change in environment can have a massive impact on your skills and choices.... your sniper rifle specced marksman character might not be to hot in an office block raid or something. But if that spills out onto the streets or rooftops suddenly he's in his element. Same can be said for the guy with the smg spec build might not be to great in the streets but the minute he gets indoors or in an enclosed area.

If you design the enviroments within the game well then it becomes incredibly difficult to have that one mandatory skill set or build set.. And then the choice is real it's not an illusion.

The same would be true in mmos if you built more diverse and varied environments you would again make it incredibly difficult to define must have skill sets or best in slot builds..

Ffxi for example the merit systems biggest fault wasn't in the customisation but the fact most mobs shared the same properties. 90% of mobs in the game for example were weak to either lightning or ice. That's the only reason those were the only 2 elements people put there merit points into. Had they done a better job with the environment then a bigger more choices for those merits would have been viable decisions.

The biggest problem xiv has in this regard is everything is dumbed down and over simplified. To the point where the only tactic is ever round it all up and aoe it down... And they're also very little variety in the environments themselves. Its incredibly one dimensional