Quote Originally Posted by Prrsha View Post
Arcon has stated that levels don't matter anymore, and they should be removed. As crazy as that sounds, I'd have to agree with him if SE treats the road to level 99 as something that is an unwanted after-effect of the game.
It's not crazy at all. I humorously made the same remark in another thread very recently.

I don't want anyone to get any ideas: I really don't care about this debate about fast leveling vs slow leveling. I'm in the neutral camp. Fast or slow, as long as I'm enabled to perform missions, quests, and events, I don't really care.

I'm honestly surprised no one caught Sunrider's post. Actually I shouldn't be since everyone was caught up in their "NO U!" argument.

Quote Originally Posted by Sunrider View Post
This, I think, is the source of what makes the lower levels (let's say, 45 and lower, maybe even 65 and lower), so unattractive: there's just nothing there. No strong armor, weapons, spells, abilities, or traits. What would you do if you could play with Refresh (even at 2 MP/tic), as early as level 5? What if the armors and weapons with +5/+6 this or that were available at level 10? What if you got Traits like Occult Accumen, Fast Cast, or Double Attack straight out the gate? I think if we had more of what makes the higher levels enjoyable, at the lower levels, people would have never developed the hasty attitude to progress.
I'll take what Sunrider said, and take it a step further: There is sort of gratifying goal in this MMO. This game is a static, uneventful world that never changes, regardless of your level. Literally everything in this game stays the same no matter what you do, and it's a shame because this world is so elaborate, yet so little is done with it.

So really, what is everyone's goal with this game? To get the next level? To get the next shiney? To get the bestest gear in the game? Who cares about any of that stuff if you can't do anything with it? And I feel that's why Matsui keeps everything at level 99. Because what's the point otherwise? Leveling up and getting new gear means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.