One of the fun (for me anyway) things about getting in at the start of an MMO with a player-based economy is watching the economy advance.
For the first week or so of FF XIV everyone was wearing their starter gear (which can serve you well for quite some time). Then as the crafters got better at their, uh, crafts, that started to change. First you saw bandanas and various hats and masks. Then you saw an influx of cowls, giving FF XIV an Assassin’s Creed vibe for a while.
The other day I noticed fighting-types had begun to wear plate helms with their leather or cloth armor.
And last night I noticed chainmail for the first time. Now I missed a couple days of play due to being busy, so I probably missed the gradual adoption of it, but, particularly with those hulking Roegadyn, the sparkle and shimmer of a coat of chainmail was hard not to notice.
So far, at least, gear in FF XIV isn’t fantastical like it is in some MMOs. But the game looks so good that even something as ‘basic’ as a suit of chainmail just seems magical the first time you see it. There’s so much detail to the world…it’s just jaw dropping at times.
Of course, dumbass me forgot to take any screenshots!!! LOL
I’ve been seeing this a lot too, so I had to step into the market wards and check it out. Talk about expensive! The ones I came across were all listed between 150-275k! And here I am with my paltry 35k hoping to buy something. It’s alright, though, because it looks like all that stuff is for the upper 20s, low 30s ranks. I can only imagine the repair bills would come often and at a high price equipping it in my mid-teens.
What level/class are you now? Some of the bronze stuff is pretty good sub-20 and is pretty cheap too. I was able to pick up a bronze barbut (head item, [love that name!]) and bronze mitt gauntlets for about 10-15k each. Funnily enough, the rank 13 sheepskin leather body armor is better than the bronze of the same level for overall defense. There’s also bronze boots floating around out there someplace too for pretty cheap. Sorry to go on, I was just happy to find stuff that finally let me feel like a tank 🙂
I’m with you, though. It’s neat seeing the economy evolve. People are already starting to build names for themselves as quality crafters, too.
I started to see bronze chain appear two weeks ago, and last week they started to be common, They really did a nice work at that chain armor. But iron chain and all kind of plates are coming, soon. 😀
I know there are a lof of crafters that can produce iron armor now, and they are producing them. The problem is that that items are for rank 30+, and you don’t gain the item bonus if you use it at lower rank and the repair is more coustly.
By other side, players are starting to do faction leves and to gain onion armor pieces and alchemists are crafting dies for weavers and leatherworkers use. For now you will see a some black or gray pieces and a few red ones, but blue and green are coming. Inlaids and enamels too can added to metal armor, and that ones too can be painted. So soon you will see a multicolored world.
When players start to hit rank 50, they problably will be using mythril or any other kind of magical material armor…
I am a weaver and I normally make my conjurer armor, so I just bought some dies and I intend to make my cotton owl blue or red.
PS
I am using a Maple Wand of Fire, it is a good weapon for a conjurer geting close to rank 20 (but the repair cousts are high). Good fire damage and it is a few diferent from all other wands you see conjurers using. I am seeing diferent kinds of shields being used, but a lot of gladiators aparently are using macuahatli as weapon, aparenlty is the best they can find now at the market, not a lot of swords being made.