Rank cap increase every 1-2 years discussion thread

[Chezen]

Well, first off, I didn't play FFXI, so that's at least two of us.

Raising the level cap means that you have more opportunities to not only add content and add gear, but also further develop the way your character classes play, or as companies like Blizzard have demonstrated, make really big changes to classes at a core level that would otherwise not be possible.

This is exactly why I quit wow. I want to make that clear here just for the sake of the developers. There are quite a bit of people fed up with the constant upheaval, fundamental changes, etc, that most mmos indulge in. If there is one asset that seems to go completely unoticed by developers, it's the emotional attachment people can give to their characters, items they worked hard for, classes, etc. Emotional attachment creates loyalty, and loyalty keeps people in a game.

I'm not saying that developers can't change anything, but they must bear in mind that whatever they are changing, it could possibly be exactly what a player, or even a group of players, loves the most. Yoshi-P said he wanted us to love Eorzea. I want to love it and feel at home here.

People still did sky 7 years after it came out, and it was still fun 7 years later. With WoW old content goes dry after the new expansion pack hits (annually)... It begs the question why not just take a year off the game then come back in 2 years for the next level cap raise since everything prior would be a waste of time. Why not skip 3-5 years? Why not skip right until they're about the scrap the game so you know you'll be seeing the final end game content and all your hard earned gear will actually be worth it?

I'm not WoW bashing, but I cleared Sunwell pre WOTLK, and a very very good chunk of my guild quit the game 2 months prior to WOTLK. Knowing we beat the game, and all our hard work would be replaced by greens in just a few months, we decided to just move on. Some of us came back in WOTLK I know I eventually did. And played for 2 months and knew that what I had pre WOTLK could never be relived. I'd have to fight my way into a top tier guild again. In 11, you could get a Relic and full AF2... Go run around the world for 6 years, come back, and that relic would be just as valuable as the day you left. (Figuratively speaking ofcourse).

I can't agree with this more, and it ties in to what I said above.

Horizontal Progression is experiencing new content, items, and abilities, but at the same level of power as other content, items and abilities. The new Jobs System is perfect example of Horizontal Progression. Jobs will not make players empirically more powerful ... just more specialized.

Exactly. And I agree it will need both types, for the simple reason of there being different playstyles present here.