Quote Originally Posted by TwistedTea View Post
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I get that. But you really didn't offer any alternatives whatsoever. You just said "it should be optional" and then "the leveling/gear/rewards/etc associated with it can remain."

How do those things remain? Is this just another set of side quests? Because if so that doesn't really solve the quest bloat problem, these just don't have cutscenes to skip. Do you literally just unlock dungeons by dinging a certain level, or would you have to complete certain quests? Because quests serve two purposes: help you level, and show you where things are at. So if someone dings 15, does the game flash a map with a message saying "you now can access Sastasha!"? If we go with just the level-unlock route, how are players expected to gain those levels if you don't add anything to replace the now optional quests?

Levels themselves are artificial progression blocks. Regardless if you do the MSQ or not you are going to be grinding something to get to end game unless you use a jump potion.