Comments from the Devs

[Fiddle Sticks]

I think its funny that people are still trolling FFXIV forums a year after release. We get it, you don't like the game, you think it sucks, blah blah blah. Find something better to do with your time, hasn't it got old yet?

[Arximiro]

[dev1072] Abolition of Physical Levels / Attribute Point Revisions

* These revisions, planned for patch 1.19, are still in development, and therefore subject to change.

Patch 1.19 will see the abolition of physical levels.

Along with this change, the following adjustments will be made:

Abolition of Attribute and Element Points

Attribute and element points will be abolished, and character development will be automated based on class level. A system whereby players can voluntarily allocate attribute points to each class will be implemented in patch 1.20 or later, along with class balance adjustments.

Introduction of Automated Character Development

Automated character development will be implemented in patch 1.19, and will entail the following changes:

The growth curve will be revised, with each gain in level to be accompanied by greater increases in attributes.
Attributes will be made to have greater impact.
The impact of attributes will decrease as players gain in level; however, the benefits granted by gear will be increased.
Player accuracy will be increased slightly.
Race-based differences will be limited to the starting attributes.
Revisions to Terminology

The following in-game terms will be renamed.

Skill points -> Experience points
Rank -> Level

[miokomioko]

I'm not really into the custom allocation thing... I kinda' didn't want it to come back.

[Elcura]

I don't mind so much if they let us do it class by class. Having 1 set of stats for all classes was retarded and frustrating.

[Ambrosia]

Happy to hear the growth curve will be revised yet again. Good to hear attributes will pack more of a punch now, and more ACC for all classes for less whiffing on the tiny adorable beetles or the evil dodos... sure why not!

[Celeras]

I wouldn't have a problem with allocation if each class had some sort of base to work off of. Like LNC is 20/20/20/10/10/10, CON is 10/10/10/20/20/20. You assign 5 to MND, your LNC is 20/20/20/10/15/10 etc etc. What they have now isn't specialization, it's just stupid.

Stats doing nothing doesn't help the situation either.

[Hyan]

As long as the end outcome isn't 'you need X gear to win Y encounter' I'm fine with this.

[Celeras]

As long as the end outcome isn't 'you need X gear to win Y encounter' I'm fine with this.

Uh, what? You're aware you're talking about an MMO, right? What's the point of playing endgame if there isn't gear progression, and what's the point of gear progression if you don't need it to progress?

In fact, I'm pretty sure that's what everyones beef with XI was. The same gear, sidegrades, for years. The fuck you smoking.

[Toth]

Bar none, 14 has the worst update 'notes'. Half are soooooooo useless and have already been said lol

[Lucavi]

As long as the end outcome isn't 'you need X gear to win Y encounter' I'm fine with this.

As opposed to "you need X class en masse to win X, Y, or Z encounter"?

Pick your poision. I'd go with the gear, personally. At least then we can hope that the gear actually advances instead of sitting at XI-level sidegrades for 8 years.

[Draylo]

Should do away with the point allocation unless its in a form of merits.

[Hyan]

what's the point of gear progression if you don't need it to progress?

Uh, to get better? See bigger numbers? The community will make it a point either way- 1% increases in performance are godly and you're a gimp noob if you think otherwise (although you never needed it to perform well enough).

I didn't stop trying to maximize my performance just because I could clear the content with what I already had. If nothing else, I could clear the content faster.

I don't think this has anything to do with sidegrades or classes. You can have increases in performance without locking people out of content because they don't have sufficient equipment.

[Kurokikaze]

I'm actually really really excited about the whole "Gear stats will have a bigger impact". Hopefully this means they'll have bosses that are gear checks from groups.

This change alone makes it so you'll be able to tier players by their damage (dps) /damage taken (tank) / healing done (healer) and truly see who needs to upgrade and where.

[Hyan]

I'm actually really really excited about the whole "Gear stats will have a bigger impact". Hopefully this means they'll have bosses that are gear checks from groups.

This change alone makes it so you'll be able to tier players by their damage (dps) /damage taken (tank) / healing done (healer) and truly see who needs to upgrade and where.

This is such bullshit if true.

[Kurokikaze]

You know cause beating new content in bikinis is cool too.

And so was tanking Genbu naked.

[Hyan]

So either gear doesn't do shit, or is required to clear the content.

Good to know we are capable of thinking outside extremes.

[Kurokikaze]

You don't like games to make sure you're maximizing? I thought you were hardcore... Guess hardcore only means you can camp a mob for X hours not necessarily kill it.

If well balanced this is something that makes end-game much better. Just ask anyone playing WoW.

You should not have been able to go from Lv75 AHed gear to being able to kill every single boss added to the game for the next 7 years. AH gear shoulda taken you as far as sky. Sky gear should've taken you into ground kings. Etc etc. It's called progression.

[blindSharingan]

Glad to hear they are removing physical levels and that stats will be more effective. It'll be nice to be able to play both mage and melee classes with the best possible stats. Disappointed to hear that we won't be able to allot points on our own for a while though.

Should do away with the point allocation unless its in a form of merits.

Please god no. I can't do merits again

[Hyan]

You don't like games to make sure you're maximizing? I thought you were hardcore... Guess hardcore only means you can camp a mob for X hours not necessarily kill it.

If well balanced this is something that makes end-game much better. Just ask anyone playing WoW.

Yeah, why do I need the game to do it for me? I am maximizing regardless of what the game expects of me. That's a no-brainer.

If I wanted to hear a zealot's opinion I'll consult you.

[Kurokikaze]

Yeah, why do I need the game to do it for me? I am maximizing regardless of what the game expects of me. That's a no-brainer.

If I wanted to hear a zealot's opinion I'll consult you.

Just because you're maximizing doesn't mean everyone else is. This just says if you wanna do this content you better be well geared for it. It also keeps old end-game content from going unused because as more people keep playing more people will need to progress and go through the motions. You won't see what happened with XI where content got skipped because there was better gear in X area.

I'm sorry that I've seen such good design/mechanics/balances from other games that I expect this game to step up to it.