Am I dense?

[Onisake]

i think the concept of diminishing returns is so abstract the average player wouldnt even consider this and as such i dont see how it would filter people from content.. it wouldnt even occur to people is what im saying.

it's for the hardcore crowd.

im not sure the difference between single and triple.. hell even quad melded gear is so noticeble.. i have been trying to gear my DRG and WAR to do more damage, i have some respectable gear- darklight, GC trident, double melded STR hands, when i compare it to what people would consider lesser gear, (non melded/non darklight) is see minimal returns, and on boss mobs those returns are reduced even further!..

this is about optimization. let's say i'm a war and i need +70STR and +40 VIT. I have sanction, a garuda's and storm officer's cap and +60STR gloves. I can hit cap with those pieces alone. that opens my body, rings, neck. etc. for crit damage. i can drastically increase my damage now due to improved optimization because i only need to find 10 vit somewhere between my now available slots.

If i only have +20STR glovse. I need to get the other 50 STR in rings, legs, etc. no room for crit damage.

when i equip that dark light cuirass i spent 2 months doing the same dungeon 20 times a day to get... i expect to see something.

however, i know blm's rave about melded gear and INT so i dunno- maybe if i was blm i would be singing a different song. but this isnt the case with what i have experienced as a melee dps.

int does not have a soft cap. magical damage is dealt differently than physical damage. a BLM can always increase their damage by adding more INT. melee have to find a different way (Crit, att, etc.)

edit-

fundamentally, you CANNOT ballance content for players with "crappy" gear and players with good gear if you want the good gear to mean anything if they have better gear the content is going to be easier for them and it is pointless to try and get around that with "diminishing returns" and such

the only way to make the gear meaningfull is by making it filter people from content.. this should even serve as their motivation to get the gear in the first place.

Diminishing returns is mainly for PvP. PvE i would agree this does not matter. Yoshi has said he loves PvP. this falls in line with that goal.