Rank cap increase every 1-2 years discussion thread

[Kel]

Everyone knows finally we will grow to Rank 100 as a lot of mobs out there are already R95+.

I'm not against cap raising itself, but I don't want the cap to be raised too often, like every 1-2 year.

And most importantly, before that, SE really need to first think of someway to
1)make certain gear (especially those from faction leves) upgradable/usable in the future,
2)let higher rank mob give more skill points in correspondence with the higher and higher rank gap, and
3)inject new elements such as dungeons, missions, special items, even areas on a somewhat regular base.

Until then, I think it's appropriate to raise the cap, but 4-5 years once, though they can raise the cap a lot each time, like first to R75, then R90, R100.

[Sorel]

The crafting system (in it's current form) already allows you take existing equipment and make it into better forms. The mechanics are already there and they already work. All the Development Team has to do is add recipes, in addition to content every time they raise the level cap.

[Rentahamster]

level cap increases every one or two years is fine.

The only reason why level cap increases suck in other games is because of bad design.

They are only designed to be balanced for endgame, so endgame is the only part of the game that matters. This is why when there is a level cap increase, and endgame is no longer endgame, all your previous stuff turns into crap.

Just have the entire game balanced from ranks 1 to 50, so that when the level cap is raised to 60, the impact on game balance and item worth is less severe than in other games.

[Sephr]

I think, ultimately, it should be the journey to get the gear that matters as opposed to the gear itself. With that in mind, as long as it's fun I don't mind the level cap changing. At the end of the day, if you see gear acquisition as some kind of investment in a future like people did with FFXI (resulting in people spending obsene hours working on it), you'll only end up regretting it in the end.

Aside from that, the fact that gear swaps are out (thank god) means there are less avenues for accumulating loads of different gear sets for different occassions. This means we're more likely to advance vertically as much as horizontally, purely because I expect people will end up with a gear set per job for their class in the end, or maybe a couple of them to tackle differnet things once stats have been sorted out.

That said, the option to persue the stats you want in your gearset would be great, but I digress.

Yes for rank cap boosts, I'd say one every expansion (1.5 years-ish assuming they don't take the god damn awful model FFXI had of dragging out expansion content over the course of 2-3 years) of maybe 10 ranks. As others have said, some kind of merit system would be nice to persue, too.

[Enma]

I think that the changes that we'll see in the game will be so huge that at this moment it's difficult think about the future. Yoshi didn't say anything about the "number of leves add", so maybe it could be just a 5 rank increase every 1-2 years, till to reach, I don't know, rank 75 like in FFXI. At that point I also think that will be important develop a long-time end game, focused on that rank cap...

[Delmontyb]

I have to say that I'm all for this and excited by this, in XI, going from a level 50 cap to a level 75 cap didn't make since to me and thus made it to where content then had to be designed for 75 and thus the race was on to reach 75. For those who were already 50, that's a 25 level gap, and a lot of opportunity was missed by doing that.

Here is why I think that.

Let's say that every 1 to 2 years they raise the level cap by 5 to 10 levels. So the first time, it goes to 60, two years later 70 and so on... When they are developing content that means that they only have to focus on 10 levels at a time, and as long as they pack so much content, quests, dungeons, raids, battles, classes, jobs, into those ten levels, then it's worth it, so when you hit 50, (with the cap at 60) there will be all this content designed for you to do, rather then hitting 50 and seeing cap at 75 where all the content has been built (not saying this is always the case).

I guess to sum up, I'm all for this if that means that they are going to make a lot of content for that level range, and as long as we can still enjoy it after the cap is raised down the line, all the better.

My hope is that with each level cap raise, that new players aren't ignored, and content is released for all ranges of levels.

[Ceons]

Isn't it a bit early to discuss level cap increase anyway? I mean look at the condition of the game; how much is changing and how much still needs fixing and stuff added (like content). That in itself might take 1-2 years. By then everyone's opinions would have changed anyway.

[Picoman]

I feel like i need r60 by around patch 1.21.

As a Botanist i would really like the Grade 6 and 7 trees at some point. Ebony, Rosewood, Spruce and Teak.

[Wolfie]

It's progress in terms of numbers, but it's repetition in every other sense. Let's say it takes 1 million exp to go from 1 to 50, and 1 million exp to go from 50 to 60. 1 million exp in grinding coblyns or leves or whatever, followed by another 1 million exp in grinding coblyns or leves or whatever. When it comes to gear, when you start at level 1 you're wearing weathered armor that, frankly, anything you find is better than it. When there's a new expansion, when you start at level 50 you're wearing epic ultra-rare armor you worked really hard for that, frankly, anything you find in the new expansion is better than it.

Is that progress?

I think it is. Yes, you've got the best in slot gear from this area with monsters that are lower level. Then your character goes to an area that's more dangerous and has better rewards. It's linear character progression.

In FFXI terms, let's look at Kirin's Osode. All stats+10 and is pretty much the icon of endgame gear. It was the most-coveted piece of gear in the first (Zilart) expansion. What if the second expansion came out and with it there was an NPC who sold Weathered Tunic +100, all stats+20, for 1 gil? What will the player response be?

Some will be irked, of course. People get emotionally attached to their items/characters. But what would the player response be if that Weathered Tunic +100 didn't exist and they already had a Kirin's Osode? If they already have the best in game, and future expansions won't give any better, what do they have to look forward to?

[Physic]

game definately needs a level cap increase soon, and if its 1-2 years between, id ere to 1 year, and 10 levels at a time. just speaking about now.

The endgame model of MMOs in general is a bad idea. sure you should probably minimize early levels, but later on, you should have interesting gear options while you play and enjoy content. Id give better upgrade options for hard to obtain gears, and honestly you do want progression.
Take a look at ffxiii, all gear could be upgraded to an ultimate level, with different status spreads, some gear needed more upgrades than others, but some you only got later in the game. none of your gear was really worthless, except the pieces you didnt want or need.

the idea should be progression. as in, the stuff you do as you level matters for the next progression. So gear wise you would have the new gear, that looks new and exciting, has a slightly different stat spread, or special effects on it, and the old gear which you could update to be competive with the new gear, but offering different stat spreads special traits, or even just a different look.

by having that type of model, your mid level acquisitions matter more, thus making the game less endgame heavy, and making it so content of various levels matter, over all i think it makes the whole game better at all levels.