Quote Originally Posted by Asiaine View Post
-- Number Crunching: It can be interesting or even fun to optimize for numbers. However, do we want a game where that is necessary? So far, every Final Fantasy game I played did not care if I optimized for equipment/skills/whatever. I would either win or loose. If I loose, get something better. If I win, then I'm good enough to carry on to the next adventure. FF is not a combat simulator. It's a story telling game where children save the world from evil do-ers.
That's essentially saying that the game does care for optimized gear/skill/etc. If you can't win, then you need to improve until you can. Obviously, better gear should equal better performance. If it doesn't, then it's a player issue. The issue is that most people can't distinguish between a bad player or bad gear based on the numbers alone. I myself would much rather group with a good player who has bad gear, than a bad player that has good gear. The good player will eventually become great, but the bad one will still just be bad.

I'd certainly hope people want a game where it's necessary to optimize for numbers, otherwise you'd be able to wear anything to kill anything, completely negating the need to ever progress in the game. Lots of games follow "Kill mob > get gear > kill harder mob > get better gear > kill hardest mob > get best gear", and MMOs are typically not all that different.