I'm conflicted. I kinda liked the idea of Physical level and Job Rank since it reminded me of FF5 and FFT's job systems--you could have Ramza at lvl99 before you started working on your Black Mage, and it felt like the time you put in before gave you a head start in this new job.

That said, having to manually allocate points that carry across all jobs is directly counter to the Armory system's goal of freedom to choose to play what you want whenever. I like playing melee jobs so I put a lot into str/dex, but what if I want to play a mage? I'm screwed because I can only reallocate some of those points at best under the current system.

However, another issue is that despite point allocation giving the illusion of choice, in reality there is always a "right" way to allocate points in games that have this system. I would rather that my character play dependably well then having to check an outside source in order to get the right build to ensure people invite me to things. Similarly, as a party leader I want to know, for instance, that a mage I invite can put some punch behind those nukes, which is far from a guarantee with a point allocation system.