I both like the idea and feel a little fearful. In a party, I think this is great. It will make players think and strategize, as most people have pointed out. Maybe people will even learn to stop wearing R45 gear at R25, particularly when they're tanking! <gasp!> On my server, I almost every single person I meet wears gear that's 10 to 20 levels above their rank, even in the elite LSs I've seen...

As someone who mostly solos, though, this will definitely be harder. I'm hoping it will be a good challenge and not a massive headache. Up until now, playing Marauder has been the hardest because my MP was already really low, and hard-hitting leve mobs usually left me without MP and resting after combat. Now I'm worried that I'll run out of MP mid-fight or sooner... even with Bloodbath and all of that. We'll see, though. Also, as someone pointed out, casual players often get stuck choosing between playing solo and playing with pick-me-up parties that often include slow learners (or non-learners). It was different in FFXI -- I used to take noobs under the wing and teach them how to play in a friendly and helpful manner. In this game, the crowd that's being drawn in doesn't seem to care as much. Most of the ones I've met just want to go in and bash on things or spam spells, even if it means death after death. (They simply don't learn. Hence, they don't get invites to the elite LSs and get left for the rest of us casual players to deal with.) Oh well... I'm not trying to rant--I spend most of my time soloing anyway. I'm just eager to see how this will affect solo life.