Set Bonuses Vs. Customization

Lava? what?
The first two pages are full of your suggestion anyway.

 

he is just giving an example.

 

It doesn't matter much.
Piecemeal equipment suggests wider variety on paper, but any "metagame" that evolves over time favors conformity in some way or another.

Mechanically, people use the same piecemeal equipment, or the same sets as time goes on unless the metagame requires specialization. (MMOs do this a lot)
But even within specializations, variety tends towards zero as time goes on.

So, my answer is "Both/Either because it doesn't matter in the long run".

 

Very true, but the PvP metagame and PvE endgame aren't the same thing.

In Terraria, I've seen players use all sorts of weapons in PvE that I've never seen anyone else use when they reach the end of Hardmode, just because they can and they happen to like it. I expect that at least for PvE, the variety of procedurally generated options that are balanced/viable is integral to having higher replay value.

Plus, it does still matter if it feels like we have more customization.

 

Even that detail doesn't matter, because ANY stagnant metagame trends towards conformity.
It's just what people do when they pursue efficiency. Nothing wrong with that, it's part of problem solving process of playing games.

Well, you will see more mechanical variety in the interim because of people being largely at the mercy of luck for power weapons in Terraria. (armor, not quite so much, you just have to find the materials, which are everywhere). I informally call that interim variety the "Roguelike Element", and I believe it's a big part of the appeal behind "loot games".

(Tempted as I am to go on a long tangent about how developers confuse that Roguelike Element with Skinner Box Grind, I'll relent.)
The problem of absolute conformity tends to rear its ugly head once players reach end game, Roguelike Element or not.
Going back to Terraria, the Vampire Knives, Death Sickle, and Golden Shower are pretty much the best weapons in PvE (especially the knives, as they're one of only two real options for reliable persistent healing in tough fights).

 

That's the worst way of playing games. I personally pursue fun. And using the same thing because it's more efficient is not fun.
Wether or not most pepole play that way I think that option should always be present.

It's not about making a game that matters, it's about making a fun game.

 

Efficiency should not come at the price of fun, and having fun should not totally nerf your character.

Also, you can't guarantee that the problem solving process of every player will end up with the same result. Me and several of my friends all play Terraria together and we all use totally different weapons all the time, even though we all do like to optimize our effectiveness. Sometimes people give up efficiency for versatility, or use an easier play style with a lower skill-cap. As it turns out, in our group the player who has the least experience with optimization is the one using Vampire Knives.

Oh, I am in total agreement here.

The thing is, absolute conformity is still a problem even if it is necessary, and problems are generally things we should attempt to solve or at least lessen. Even if it is impossible to perfectly balance all of the possible options in endgame, having them closer to balanced to allow maximum customization with benefit the entire game prior the endgame and will also lengthen the amount of time it takes to sort out the optimum builds.

I also think it's more fun to test out a lot of very nearly balanced options than to just have one or two obviously better options handed to you by the developers. Starcraft is a very good example of this, since there are three totally distinct races that play very differently but are all quite balanced, and the Broodwar expansion was designed with the primary purpose of making more strategic options viable for each race.

 

Maybe if the sets were much harder to obtain the full set for, so that you would have to use the randomly generated equips to fill. Unless of course they are like some of the more easily obtained crafted sets from none rare resources, than I would say to not them be so strong. Allowing for you to mix armors to your liking still.

 

I guess it depends on how mixable a given part is. I'd rather not have to deal with wows tendency to invoke http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RainbowPimpGear of course with dyes the problem can be minimalised. I'd rather look like I belonged in starbound not on the most horrible freak show stats be damned.