Career Weapons in FFXIV
In FFXIV, during your quest to unlock the SAM you get a rusty great katana. This sword seems to be well constructed and seems to have immense power so you set yourself on a quest to restore it. At the end of the quest you have the rust removed and you get your level (Final Fantasy XIV Gil) 1 great katana and the ability to use it. The item description would read something like this: Rust-Free Great Katana ; Level 1 ;Damage: 5-8 .You removed the rust from the sword it seems to have great potential.
However, this didn't restore it's full power, simply made it usable. At level 10 you get another quest that further restores its power, changing its appearance slightly and increasing its stats to match that level's requirements. Now it reads something like this: Trusty Great Katana ;Level 10 ;Damage: 15-21 ;+1 STR .You've restored some of it's power but it's yearning for more.
This would occur every 10 levels or so and as you continue the quests your sword would grow in power and the history of the sword would come to light. In between quests you'd probably replace your sword with another one or two but when the next quest comes along you switch back.The final product would be something like: Japanese name of a sword;Level 70 ;Damage 90-112 ;+20 STR ;+200 HP; On Hit: 20 Fire Damage ;Chance on Hit: Stun .Your Sword was forged by the artisans of some great guild of blacksmithing for the greatest and final King of some long dead country, some name of a king, who died only because he didn't have this sword by his side. You and the sword have come a long way together, it will never leave your side.
The best part is as the game progresses more quests can come to further augment the sword. The whole point of this is to create bond with the weapon much as was the case when swords were used as it will stay with you for the entire your entire career as that specific class. It addresses the problem with WoW in that you feel like your work is for nothing since you raid and raid for weapons only to be replaced with the next one and it addresses the problem of FFXIV where many people find it too daunting to gain the relic weapons since it takes forever and a half to do. It's a sword that you'll replace every now and again but you'll always go back to it as it's power increases. The same process can apply for every weapon type (and class) and even armor.
