Idea: Merit system

[Nalien]

However FF14 is trying to pull in a wide audience so it has to have different types of content for different players.

See, the problem is I don't think that's true. We don't have a lot of different types of content, we have two types of content; Raiding, and everything else. Aside from 5 instances per patch cycle (4 Savage Raids + Ultimate), the rest of the game is just tuned to such an absurdly casual level. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with having casual content, just that I wish there was either some middle ground (there is a distinct lack of mid-tier content with any real purpose) or simply more hardcore content. Having i470 solely for 5 instances really doesn't cut it IMO.

Again, Relics are my solution over something like Merits. Problem is Relics are consistently delayed and increasingly dumbed down to such an utterly meaningless level...

I don't mind that as long as they're kept separate.

What would you say to one piece of content that brings various pieces of content together? My ideal Relic quest is probably something like that... I'd like a process where you upgrade the weapon off the expansions Trials, Deep Dungeon, Treasure Map Dungeon, 24 man Raid, Normal mode Raid, etc. Something that says "Here's all the content we've added, go do it".

And I do think Relic is good if it's useful (but still stick to the item level progression and not give additional abilities), but as you've said, it's been pushed back so long these days that it's mainly there for cosmetics.

Ah, to clarify; I don't want to see abilities on Relic weapons. Well... Not exactly anyway... As I said earlier, I think the Eurekan Effect they added to the tail end of the Eurekan weapons was actually a really good idea (wish it was there from the start). That concept has a lot of potential to add interesting stats and mechanics to Relics, without threatening game balance. The Eureka weapon is by far the best weapon to use in Eureka because of that stat, but that doesn't mean it's the best weapon to use in raiding. If we get more Eureka style content (although if we do, I hope it isn't the only process for the Relic like Eureka was), I think it would be interesting to actually put abilities on the weapons (rather than the Logos system), they could just be Eurekan Effect abilities that only apply in that content. Perfect solution, really. It would make the weapon far more interesting than the "Oh it has more substats I don't care about" we normally get.

Heck, stats like that don't even need to be limited to Relics and combat content. Take Gold Saucer gear as an example. Purely cosmetic stuff, right? But why? Why not have "Increases the chance of winning Triple Triad cards" on a piece of equipment? "Increase Race Chocobo EXP"? "Increase Minion Drop Rate"? They could easily have gear obtained from anywhere, with interesting stats that have purpose, that have zero impact on combat balance. How excited do you think people would be to obtain something like an "Increase Mount Drop Rate" piece of gear? So much they could do with such concepts, but instead we're limited to effectively the same sets of gear ad nauseum.

If you can't tell, I'm a fan of items like the Thief's Glove from classic Final Fantasy games. That I'm more excited when I find a piece of gear like that in an old RPG from the 90s, than I am about any of the gear in this modern MMORPG, is exactly why I have issues with itemization in this game. I want that excitement here, but it's an itch that is unscratched even in most modern RPGs...