For years the casual to moderate player spent large quantities of time xp'ing. They were not happy with the fact that they had to join serious end game shells for events, or camp HNM's till the cows came home to get fancy pro gears. Mostly the "lifers" stuck to, and enjoyed that scene.

SE decided to raise the cap, and change the focus of the game for the past year. Instead of many hours spent xp'ing now xp is stupidly easy. The focus of the game has shifted to acquisition of reasonably powerful gear that equals the time invested. That is achieved through abyssea, and magian trials.

Once you have your xp, and those shiny af3's you have the option of Voidwatch, Walk of Echoes, building empys, and of course the end game events that were available @75 including some that have been refurbished.

While the transition has been rocky in some ways, you can start to appreciate the symmetry of the 75-95 journey. More players are doing "what they want to be doing" nowadays. With one level cap remaining people are putting the finishing touches on their arsenals, in preparation for the challenges of 99 end game.

The beauty of today's FFXI is you can pick back up, or start fresh, and with some dedication have a job 1-95 with a respectable set of gears in a relatively short span of time.