State of the Game: The Problem with the Current Progression System

[Enkidoh]

The OP is misunderstanding the whole point of materia though, it is less about customizing stats on gear and more just yet another gilsink, in that by destroying gear when it converts to materia, you're taking that item out of the game and thus the economy (this is also why gear with even just a single spiritbond point becomes unsellable on the Market Board or untradable). It's clear SE does not want to change that so that is why there has been no real tweaks to the system since it's introduction.

As for implementing a Merit Point system for those at level cap, the whole reason FFXI had a Merit Point system is exactly because Hiromichi Tanaka stubbornly refused to level FFXI's level cap beyond 75, he was adamant at keeping it frozen at that point for years. Hence Merit Points were to compensate for that. Because FFXIV has a level cap increase by ten levels with every expansion (expect the next FFXIV expansion to raise our level to 80), a Merit Point system at this point would be redundant.

Maybe once we reach level 99 they might look into such a system. But until then, there is no need for it I'm afraid.