Materia System Fine or in need of an overhaul ?

[Ripples]

So before I get started I'd first like to say that this is more getting an idea of how everyone else feels about this rather than openly bashing something.

So I tried to get a steel chainmail to hold 2 materia just for the hell of it as I wanted to try out multi melding as I just got my augmented melder and here's what happened.

I put in one Vitality materia Rank 1 with +3 Vit into the armor. No issue's cause the first one is 100% chance to go in. The second one I tried to put in was a Rank 2 Vit materia with +7 Vit and I only had a 27% chance for it to go in.

Now this put me off quite a bit but this was for testing so what the hell right? Well... BOOM! everything gone just like that. Now this again was for testing so I could care less about it but this is where it got to me.


~ 2 materia of the same type ( I heard you get a bonus for that )
~ Rank 1 then a Rank 2 supposedly also gets a bonus for being in order
~ Both are fairly low level and still had a horrible rate

Now I'm more than willing to accept that I may or may not have done something wrong and I know that luck plays a rather large role in melding materia but does it seem to anyone that the failure rates on melding are a hair excessive?

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it the point that it's supposed to be challenging yet rewarding for those who complete it? As far as I can tell almost if not nobody has gotten 5 rank 4 materia in any gear and with these rates never will and even then just getting 3 materia in sounds like hell and then some.


What's worse is if you fail you don't just lose the materia you were trying to meld which in the higher tiers can get expensive, no you lose ALL of it flat out. I'd call this a money sink but frankly I'd rather have a level 99 goblin rob me at knife point, it'd be cheaper in the long run.

Even AION wasn't this bad, if you blew up your enchanting stone you lost the stone and the last enchantment but that was it. I heard they even implemented some items you could buy to increase your chances of succeeding. Here it seems hopeless.

So trying to look at this logically, taking the maximum potential in to account vs the millions of gil, time and items required to get crafted gear that would compete or pass dungeon gear, to me at least it seems like there's no point in bothering with materia at all.

Let's face it assuming you have a good link could you not run CC or AV and grab some Darklight gear or something similar? I know some people will agree with me and some won't and I accept that but to me it doesn't seem like the materia system is worth anything at this point save for maybe belt melds.


Anyway I'm looking for feedback so what's everyone else think about the current system and does anyone have any suggested changes that could be made to make it more user friendly?

[Raldo]

The content is balanced to characters with only single-melded gear. If you choose to go outside that boundary to become more powerful, expect to pay the price.

[Masamune1004]

You don't need double melded gear for anything, this is the content for the people who can spend 10 million like it's pocket change. The fact that the relic quest only requires a double melded weapon shows us this.

[tymora]

As far as I can tell almost if not nobody has gotten 5 rank 4 materia in any gear and with these rates never will and even then just getting 3 materia in sounds like hell and then some.

Don't think anyone bothered trying...haha...It is already 1 in 100 to make a t4 triple.

[Grey-Fox]

Even with doublemelding you can get some crazy stat, let alone triple or quadruple which would probably beat a relic. Imho the rates are fine.

[Ksenia]

It's pretty status quo, MMO RnG. Right, wrong, I'm not surprised.

[Alzelia]

I just wish I didn't need a retainer solely for all my materia

[Roaran]

You touched on one issue that I think deserves it's own topic so I will only briefly mention it here. The ease with which comparable Unique and Untradeable gear is obtained diminishes the value of all crafted and melded gear of both comparable and superior quality. When given the choice to either do dungeons for a week or so or spend several million gil for similar quality equipment, most people will simply take the dungeon gear.

Now, the purpose of the Materia System was not to enhance gameplay whatsoever - it merely gives players the ability to spend lots of time 'improving' their character; the real purpose of materia is purely destruction. To eliminate equipment by both conversion into materia and by loss through the melding process itself. When you frame your view of the materia system, it is quite ingenious.

However, the degree to which this system is effective is, in part, related to how much it is used. Unique Untradeable gear, especially the superior quality pieces, directly diminish the use of the materia system as a whole. By giving such an easy alternative, it becomes quite obvious that the pursuit of multi-melded gear is a fool's task.

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As for the rate of successful melds, I think it is important to recognize that it is an arbitrary decision what % is adequate. I think the best measure of how often melds should succeed should be in proportion to the actual benefits that are granted. If someone with 5x melded gear in all available slots is 5x as powerful; there should be a steep price to pay. But supposing they are only 1.25x as powerful, very few will pay very steep prices to even attempt such melds.

There is also another factor, as I alluded to before; the amount of destruction the materia system introduces is based upon these rates of success. The developers have to introduce an arbitrary amount of 'wanted destruction' that fits their vision of how much gear should be in demand.

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My suggestion would be to:
Modify dungeon gear by allowing them to all be converted into materia (could introduce rare materia or simply have dungeon gear provide higher probability of high grade materia) and melded. There would be little need for this gear to be Unique or Untradeable at this point, as those who run dungeons multiple times would have a great advantage in obtaining the most melds for their equipment; and, thus they can be distinguished from others by their superior melded equipment.

At this point, we could have materials be dropped from bosses instead of gear. This would allow groups of players to make HQ dungeon equipment with multiple pieces of materia attached as well. The materials from these dungeons and also the materials obtained from outside dungeons could be incorporated into recipes and even into future recipes which would then keep dungeons relevant.

[Altena]

The point that is often ignored regarding materia (as Roaran said) is the destruction. Sure you spend a lot of gil, but I am sure you have made a lot of gil selling armor on the market that people have gone to their buddy to blow up for them. People cry about breaking gear due to melds, but truthfully it's what makes the economy continue to cycle.

If the gear was not lost, you would only ever need 1 piece of weapon / armor. This drastically reduces the amount of gear that crafters are able to sell. This then proceeds to impact those who farm stuff like fleece and raptor skin to supply these crafters, and it just works down the chain. Less items destroyed means less items made, less items made means less materials required, people continue to farm? You will see a huge decline in prices for top end gear and materials, as the economy will face an oversupply in materials or gear. The only real gil making opportunity if this were the case are for chefs, alchemists or spiritbonders.

The main positive out of the current materia system is it keeps the economy from flowing. Besides that, if gear didn't break, or the materia success rates were higher~ those that put in the time would have nothing to show for it aside from a huge stack of gil that they have nothing to use it on. Yes, materia melded gear will 9 times out of 10 give a higher bonus to gear that is obtained from a dungeon - unless you cannot meld an ideal stat to that slot (such as feet).

In fact the only thing I would change would be some of the options for melds on certain pieces. Being stuck with HP or Evasion on a damage dealer class on feet forces us to go to unique/untradable gear is just one example. I would prefer to see some base stats being shared over 2-3 possible slots. While I am all for having rare, untradable items in the game (such as DL), I am also a big fan of being able to "meld" (no pun intended) your character in the way you want. If that means choosing a pair of Felt Bracers over Darklight Bracers (for looks) then so be it! Materia encourages less "clones" and a little more unique appearances.