Crafting in General - OMG Fix It

[Lahru_Hukurou]

I agree too

I couldn't agree more. I really like the name and hope that it doesn't change. Sometimes doing what some people in the community tell you to do isn't always the best thing for the game. Granted, if they did change the name, it won't ruin the game for me lol.

[Cleric]

Dear SE,

I am very glad to hear the words "Materia System". I think that, if done right, this can add a whole new dimension to the game. Very glad as well that everyone here seems to be enjoying the idea also.

I hope you guys can do a materia system for FFXIV as awesome as the one found in FFVII (albeit I am sure it will be fundamentally different than that one, given the fact that FFVII character abilities were all defined by materia, whereas in FFXIV we have classes/jobs).

I strongly suggest that you guys look into the possibility of "leveling materia" (as we did on FFVII). I have no love for grinding, don't get me wrong (although it is very fun sometimes), but the idea of having materia that has different levels and different effects for each level (even if it is just extra bonuses) is compelling and engaging. It would give everyone a renewed sense of purpose, seeking new and rare materia, leveling them, watching them reach MASTER status and then having them multiply (if I remember well, once a materia reached MASTER level in FFVII it "reproduced" and gave off a new level 1 materia of the same type). Maybe MASTER materia would give access to some nice new skills and enhancements, something to truly look forward to.

Being able to customize weapons and armor with materia that fits the situation adds a nice strategic dimension to game, one that is much needed as things are. Please make materia somehow swappable after it is added to the weapon/armor, that way we can build more strategies around the system. Also, having to buy the same weapon and other materia again just because I decided the materia combination I put there isn't what I want would be awful (same would happen when you upgrade weapon: you would lose all the materia that is "glued" to the previous weapon). Swapping and customizing materia on equipment (even if that requires a crafter) is a must for the system to be enjoyable.

With the leveling of materia we would also have to think about finding room in weapon/armor slots for the materia we want to work upon, even if it is not ideal in the combat situation. Maybe some will say "I don't want to spend endless nights grinding AP for 20.000 different materia", but I remember clearly the sense of accomplishment I had in FFVII when I my first materia reached MASTER level (of course it was a Cure materia hehe). I would very much like to feel that excitement again, to look forward to it. Hopefully others will feel the same way.

In closing, thank you for the wonderful news about the Materia System. I hope you guys can perfect the system soon and bring it to Eorzea!

Yours sincerely,
Valen

...Well said.

[Nexxus]

Materia sound cool as long as it is not "Evolith" system.

Materia should give some offensif skills (or buffs) on weapon, and defensif skill/buff on armor.

You can even make the whole new system abilities based on materia (and i think, it will be the principal interest of the game after that).

Notorious Monster could drop some Materia stronger than what you can get from craft, or armor/weapon that can socket more Materia.

If you make Materia the essence from gaïa... With this new ressource, we have à good reason that garlemard empire doesn't attack us.

[Shaydes]

...If you make Materia the essence from gaïa... With this new ressource, we have à good reason that garlemard empire doesn't attack us.

Or, all the more reason to.

As far as materia goes, I like the idea. I just hope that they allow us crafters to modify the armor meaningfully. Im sure that they will.

[origamikitsune]

Materia system <3. Please keep materia collection DoL. Please keep item modification with materia to DoH. If the DoM/DoW are getting NM drop gear that is only received by the NM, then the solution to keep it balanced is to keep modding that armor in the hands of DoH/DoL.

[Peregrine]

Materia system <3. Please keep materia collection DoL. Please keep item modification with materia to DoH. If the DoM/DoW are getting NM drop gear that is only received by the NM, then the solution to keep it balanced is to keep modding that armor in the hands of DoH/DoL.

The R50 NM gear has a lot of potential now to be heavily materia'd, especially since half my harley setup just got THA BOOT for endgame activities thanks to this R35 gear.

A nice balance would be that the R35 gear doesn't have materia slots, or only has one, while the R50 NM gear has 3 or 4.

Same kind of balance in FF7, really. You really had to earn those materia slots.

[Burn]

I'm glad to hear about the crafting changes because I just don't find crafting fun at all. I find it too random, tedious and extremely overcomplicated, you can tell that the developers got too cute with the system. I hope it is all streamlined down because the current system just doesn't make any sense. I don't like the fact I can go out and farm materials for 2-3 hours or even a week only to leave it in the hands of random factors. I don't even like the fact that items can still break, I thought it was a poor idea in FFXI as well.

Let me give a little background to provide a valid stance.

I was an avid crafter in FFXI, I was in a top LS on my server from 2004-2008. If you wanted anything top-end gear during those times including abjuration gear you more than likely came to someone in my LS to do it for you. I remember a ton of synths breaking for countless players after paying millions of gil for the materials, I remember some people even quitting the game after getting rare gear blown up due to randomness.

Breaking gear because "The game has it out for you" or the "Random number generator" isn't on your side is just poor design, we're not even that far into FF14 yet when we will start seeing gear that is really rare, maybe one/two/three people on the entire server will have it type of gear. I remember back then when salvage first came out I was getting materials to get my Morrigans Robe synthed. I spent that entire summer gathering materials, by fall I had enough Khroma ore from mining it and buying it with gil and it got down to synthing time. I remember 6 ore's blowing up when making the imperial wootz ingots, I wanted to quit the game right then and there, those ores were ridiculous to farm.

Lets not do the whole mumbo jumbo about moon-phases again, crazy hairbrained mechanic's, lets get it right, crafting should be fun, it shouldn't be frustrating. HQ items should be a ton better than NQ this time, this was a big issue in FFXI, small jumps between NQ/HQ.

The only random thing crafting should have is whether or not an item HQ's or not, level difference over the synth should play a bigger role in determining the chance for the HQ rate. Breaking synths and going "sorry buddy, you just lost 5+million gil" is just horrible design that is going to turn away completely new players in the modern MMO.

I understand people want this intricate crafting system that is complex but if the target audience is getting completely new faces to try out the game they're probably will quit as soon as they break their first few synths. I was talking to someone who is an avid MMO gamer, i was explaining the crafting system to her and when I mentioned how items can break she said she would never try this game out, the thought of spending a ton of time farming materials to have them blown up due to randomness just completely turned her away from the game.

When I want to craft, I want to craft, I don't want to jump through hoops at some mini-game only to get progress to 100% but durability is 0 to blow up. I really hope the new system is faster, less complicated. I don't even understand why there is stats that effect crafting, gathering. I just think it doesn't need all of that, all that did was confuse a lot of people and turn people off from the game way back in October. FFXIV can still have a deep crafting system without breaking synths, I was really let-down it made a comeback in FFXIV.

[zzapp]

Very well expressed, Burn - my sentiments exactly. Let's hope we see the revamp sooner than later.

[Neptune]

I agree too

I agree IF.. Materia gives us class abilities!! Do it!!!

[Jinko]

Agree with burn, time to take away the randomness SE, you want your user base to have fun with this game not punish them for trying.