Gear Progression Continues to Make Little Sense

[Kaedan]

No it isn't. Most people had at least one job, maybe two well maxed out on gear from Myth and Coil before Crystal Tower even hit there was a 4 month gap between 2.0 and Crystal Tower.

And? What's your point? That they made it more convenient to fill out in-between gear by releasing it sooner? That's a positive, not a negative. And I'm fairly certain you're wrong about the timeframe. LotA was released when people were still gearing Myth and Coil. Maybe you're thinking the later floors?

[Rafaelhades]

Had CT released on time, Kaedan is right. It is the same exact progression. CT being delayed made the whole 2.0 progression clunky, with lower ilvl patch occuring after a higher ilvl patch. This is what 2.0 progression would have looked like if CT released at launch alongside Coil.

[Allyrion]

Had CT released on time, Kaedan is right. It is the same exact progression. CT being delayed made the whole 2.0 progression clunky, with lower ilvl patch occuring after a higher ilvl patch. This is what 2.0 progression would have looked like if CT released at launch alongside Coil.

I bet you anything the new 24-man in 3.1 is still going to be a catch up patch, and drop an item level lower than savage.
So in the end, it'll still be like 2.0 with the new 24-man dropping 200 ilvl or so.

They said they didn't mind the CT delay because it let people catch up to Coil's difficulty without removing the mythology cap.
Between Alex normal and Savage, there's still a 20 ilvl difference in drops. Just like there was between Darklight and Coil.
24-mans are casual by design and we have one coming in 3.1 confirmed.

I think it's really likely we'll see it drop lower item level than our current Savage, unless the next Floors come out with 3.1 as well (which would surprise me).
I think they were fine with the catch up design of releasing harder content and then some casual content later that gives catch up gear.

[Kaedan]

I bet you anything the new 24-man in 3.1 is still going to be a catch up patch, and drop an item level lower than savage.
So in the end, it'll still be like 2.0 with the new 24-man dropping 200 ilvl or so.

They said they didn't mind the CT delay because it let people catch up to Coil's difficulty without removing the mythology cap.
Between Alex normal and Savage, there's still a 20 ilvl difference in drops. Just like there was between Darklight and Coil.
24-mans are casual by design and we have one coming in 3.1 confirmed.

I think it's really likely we'll see it drop lower item level than our current Savage, unless the next Floors come out with 3.1 as well (which would surprise me).
I think they were fine with the catch up design of releasing harder content and then some casual content later that gives catch up gear.

There are always people complaining that there's no horizontal gear progression in the game and that there's not enough "variety"... so I see no problem if the 24 man drops ilvl 200.

[Ultimatecalibur]

No it isn't. Most people had at least one job, maybe two well maxed out on gear from Myth and Coil before Crystal Tower even hit there was a 4 month gap between 2.0 and Crystal Tower.

Are you aware that CT was delayed by a patch (it was originally planned to be in 2.0) and Coil was pushed up from 2.1 to a 2.0 release (One of the main reasons it was buggy)?

The original plan for 2.0 was:

WP/AK - i55
Philosophy/Darklight - i70
CT - i80
Mythology/AF1.5 - i90

[Allyrion]

There are always people complaining that there's no horizontal gear progression in the game and that there's not enough "variety"... so I see no problem if the 24 man drops ilvl 200.

Oh I agree. I was fine with that design as well.
The more gear sources the better. All have lockouts, but the separated lockouts give various levels of progression which make it more interesting.
It's like a Diagonal Progression. Lol.

[Ladon]

Had CT released on time, Kaedan is right. It is the same exact progression. CT being delayed made the whole 2.0 progression clunky, with lower ilvl patch occuring after a higher ilvl patch. This is what 2.0 progression would have looked like if CT released at launch alongside Coil.

This is a big assumption being made that the timely release of CT would have resulted in the same iLevels. But sure I'll give this to you. That's because if I recall correctly, people absolutely hated that the CT gear was a lower iLevel than what they could just get from tomestomes.

So what did they do? They created a gear upgrade system for tomestone gear and then equalized the ilevels for CT and tomestone gear. Wow why does this sound so familiar? It's almost like someone suggested that we follow this exact gear progression that has been in place since 2.1.

[Ultimatecalibur]

This is a big assumption being made that the timely release of CT would have resulted in the same iLevels. But sure I'll give this to you. That's because if I recall correctly, people absolutely hated that the CT gear was a lower iLevel than what they could just get from tomestomes.

So what did they do? They created a gear upgrade system for tomestone gear and then equalized the ilevels for CT and tomestone gear. Wow why does this sound so familiar? It's almost like someone suggested that we follow this exact gear progression that has been in place since 2.1.

No they shifted their original plan around.

2.2 and 2.3 were likely going to be this:

2.2 Experts - i70
2.3 Experts/CT1 - i80
Myth/CoB - i90
CT2 - i100
Soldiery/SCoB - i110

and 2.4 and 2.5 were likely to be like this:

2.4 Experts - i90
2.5 Experts/CT2 - i100
Soldiery/SCoB - i110
CT3 - i120
Poetics/FCoB - i130

To fix several imbalances (the missing armor set between tomestone sets that was supposed to come from the now delayed CT) and problems (one of which was "Why do Coil when you can get the same ilevel gear with Myth tomes and a Relic?") caused by the shift in content release pattern, the i100 "weathered" set was added and Soldiery upgrade tokens were introduced to SCoB and the Relic upgrade system was modified.

3.0 is the first patch where they could fully implement a modified and expanded version of their originally intended upgrade path. Alex HM is taking the place of CT in the upgrade path and they are including upgradeable tomestone gear from the start.

[PennyBlossom]

See, this seems to me a really...biased opinion. As someone who never has time to find a static and do coil I rather enjoy that I can get i200 gear just for showing up and finding time to do my expert roulette 6/7 days a week. I only have a few hours of play time every week, as I have a job and other obligations in my life. I am basically your definition of a "casual"
My point is that I only have 1 level 60 at this point, and I cannot even enter Alexander. My ilevel is only 163, a mere 7 points shy of "current" content. Now instead of me having to wait even longer to get into it, I now will be able to obtain i200 gear alongside my i170 law gear, thus helping me get into the current content sooner.
Let's say you are good, and getting one piece of esoteric gear each week. That is still 11 weeks! It's not like we are getting all pieces in one week so it seems like SE is simply trying to allow players like myself to see all aspects of the game, without major grind time required.

Edit; Clarity.

[Balipu]

Problem is penny, there are no really decent sources for eso tomes, and besides the cap makes it impossible to gear up. The weapon alone takes 3 weeks.

But speaking of esoterics: where they really necessary? We had law tomes for what, 4 weeks? YOu can get tome gear that's 30 item levels higher. Alexander gear? Two weeks and now you can obtain something better from roulette. Know what I mean? Most of the endgame stuff is already obsolete.