What to do with EXP now..?

[Rustic]

Whether or not it was "damaging" depends on how much you actually enjoyed the level-up process. Those that want more of a challenge to come from their leveling are totally welcome to find like-minded individuals to grind with. Competent players can still get really good EXP outside of abyssea, and you have a wide variety of locations to choose from.

The only reason I see anyone of any significant level in those zones these days is 1) Casket farming 2) Leeching a mule/alt. Seriously, people will inevitably go to where the population is, and even if that population is half folks in their newbie gear AFKing.

Abyssea's exp system was a critical error, now unfixable. You put the endgame grind mixed in with the best level-up machine and steady loot/gil besides...and expecting the average player to avoid that is...well, derpy at best. The monkey will push the button over and over again for his rewards, and exping outside of Abyssea at most significant levels is dead.

It's one of the few cases where S-E made it TOO good for people as a mistake, rather than not good enough.