You're right, level is a big influence on damage calculation (I've been running a Lv.1 challenge on and off, even with 150+ attack I can still barely do 75 damage). Assuming the damage difference between Lv.30 and Lv.50 is high enough that could cover the Disc 2 problem I've been having. I'll have to experiment with it first, it's a big step to make a change like that and takes time to implement. Just worried I might cut off players who aren't as experienced or who didn't fight a lot of encounters. Less EXP = tougher to recover.
The thing is, even if the player was lazy during first disc and skipped many fights, making the party avg level stay at a low 27, the exp difference from the second disc encounters would easily make them catch up. But this is exactly the point: fighting a lot in the first disc might not grand much experience, but it would grant AP. So what if a player gets lvl3 spells in the first disc? I did it a few times. Its quite easy with double AP equip while fighting the monsters in Junon or Mideel. But while getting high level materia this early might seem "broken", remember that the HP and MP would still be low and the level multiplier would reduce the damage. This is though to test, I know, but try using Black Chocobo to edit saves. Try fighting the same monsters with different levels, weapons, materia and stats, so you can conceive a balanced approach.
Yeah, physical hits greatly out-power magic in terms of speed later in the game. I boosted spells a little, but because the Ultimate Weapons are fairly easy to get it pretty much kills the mod dead on Disc 3. I knew it would, but I didn't feel comfortable nerfing those weapons when people had earned them from a boss fight. The current planned solution is to move them to another set of content that's much harder than the current ones; that way I've got an excuse to make some new stuff for it (which makes up for, y'know, moving them). I considered the Death Penalty thing for a bit but they'd be hitting for paltry damage when acquired which wouldn't have gone across too well.
That was my first thought "why not make the final weapons harder to find?", but the result is the same: when you get them = no more spells. I don't know how the limitations on the hex behind the damage formulas and multipliers, I assume that they follow a ordinary hex pattern. So the max attack a weapon can have should be 255. If so, why not make the final weapons have attack stat above 100, while removing the damage multiplier, or at least trading it for another more subtle (Death Penalty, for example, which could work wonders with break damage limit).
That way players could still deal high magic damage against enemies (who would have much higher defense than magical defense) with a W-Magic or Quadramagic high level spell, while a single attack would do much less - and that should be the point. A punch to the face shouldn't hurt more than getting hit with half a dozen meteorites! This is offset by MP cost and practicability, but the game never makes us run out of MP. I don't know if you ever player Dungeon and Dragons, but that game had one thing that console RPGs never had: it made you appreciate magic. Your mage could only use half a dozen spells before drying and each one counted. Of course they hit hard and that should be the point. You shouldn't be able to cast 6 or 7 Ultimas in a single battle. But each one should hurt like the holy hell. But MP Absorb, Ethers and Magic Hammer pretty much make this pointless.
Another example: you certainly know how in FF8 nobody uses magic. Its more useful to have 100 spells junctioned to attributes than casting spells. So everybody goes on linking 100 Meteor or Ultima to STR and hitting everything with swords. But how many people have actually tried to cast Meteor with 255 MAG while on Triple? No attack can beat that. Its slow, sure. But specially if Rinoa uses this with Angel Wings... Well, 10 x 3000 x 3... It beats pretty much all limits, except for Zell's (which its a lot of busywork).
Some other thoughts:
EXP Plus in Aeris's garden is just random. Gil Plus would have been much more interesting, specially if this is the kind of mod where weapons, materia and items are expensive and can't be bought mindlessly. Also, since potions are now so much more useful, shouldn't their price increase? Same goes for tents, as they are too cheap (maybe allowing them to resurrect and heal status to justify the increased price). Or maybe having them stop recovering MP. This would certainly make magic much more interesting. Right now you can't really boost it much more, because Ethers are cheap and Tents are cheaper. So casting spells is no big deal. But if you could only recover MP with Inns or Ethers, it would make having powered spells more expensive worthwhile.
Also, some old RPGs used to have optional enemies drop items that you would only be able to buy much later, but were very tough enemies that required much preparation and tactics. Why not try this in order to give players the option of getting useful materia early on (Like Sneak Attack, Magic Counter, etc)? Of course the bosses would need to be identified or close to a save point, so that players don't get bad surprises. Or make them possible to flee.
Another idea is to have some bosses be stronger than the usual ones. In some games there are two kinds of boss themes: the regular and the "of sh!t". The song that plays when Sapphire attacks Junon would sound great against some powerful bosses.
And as for what gamers might like or dislike if you mess with the game too much, well, most people don't like big changes. The only console RPG I know that has a great hard and very hard mode is Star Ocean 2. On VH you die a lot, but since the gameplay is the greatest of its kind when it comes to customizing and planning, a seasoned player can overcome the difficulty and eventually beat the game. Not that it makes them less likely to die 100 times... But thats expected. And thats the key: people don't mind about things they're expecting. You can change the power of things or make them a little different, as long as they know them.
Personally I wouldn't have moved Beta, Aqualung and Trine. I would have make them stronger than lvl2 spells, considerably weaker than lvl 3, but with the usual advantage: multi hitting without All. People wouldn't mind that as much. As for the other huge Enemy Skills, Angel Whisper stays pretty much the same. White Wind is overpowered, but it will always be. Its the only way offensive characters can heal effectively (at least I don't have Restore on the three party members). It might be great, but it might also be crap. Depends on the user's HP. Boosting its cost to where it would stay between Cure 2 and 3 would be interesting, as Cure 3 should heal around 4K with the power boost. No character should have that much HP by the time you get Cure 3. That makes White Wind not as useful (except for the status healing thing). Big Guard is interesting, but it would be more so if you could change the duration of barriers depending on the source. For instance, Wall should last a lot longer tha the usual Barrier. And Big Guard should last a minute or so. Otherwise you can let it be like it was on the original game and target only the caster, for an high MP cost (Haste + Wall in one go). Anyway, people only use it for the haste. Barriers go away too fast. Thats why Protect Rings are worthless.
Cheers, I'll maybe throw some alpha material your way if I need a second opinion on something. But...how did you know I was a Rangers fan? D:
Please... Like there are many people from Glasgow who don't go nuts for the Rangers