EXP Rewards After Hitting Level Cap

[Shougun]

No disrespect because some of those things you listed sound cool. But

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Lol it's fine. I understand your concern, I think for the issues you presented the feelings of course are real like having your progress wiped out. I would suggest that a merit system would be a lot scarier if done non-cosmetically though :P. Longer lasting gear (where the next tier of gear doesn't just invalidate the previous tier, so less stat growing per ilvl maybe) might be good. But I don't think looking for long term stat progression through a merit system would be good, because if it's too in depth the pool is so deep that new players are looking at like 100 hours of grinding to catch up to the power of others.

Besides with a cosmetic merit system they could add things normally impossible, such that it doesn't go over other work. You're not going to be able to unlock a smokey dark knight effect any other way, this is it - there is no invalidation its just an option to pick if you had wanted it (and you get to keep it even if you decided later to turn it off).

[Sandpark]

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Lol it's fine. I understand your concern, I think for the issues you presented the feelings of course are real like having your progress wiped out. I would suggest that a merit system would be a lot scarier if done non-cosmetically though :P. Longer lasting gear (where the next tier of gear doesn't just invalidate the previous tier, so less stat growing per ilvl maybe) might be good. But I don't think looking for long term stat progression through a merit system would be good, because if it's too in depth the pool is so deep that new players are looking at like 100 hours of grinding to catch up to the power of others.

Besides with a cosmetic merit system they could add things normally impossible, such that it doesn't go over other work. You're not going to be able to unlock a smokey dark knight effect any other way, this is it - there is no invalidation its just an option to pick if you had wanted it (and you get to keep it even if you decided later to turn it off).

Dangerous but well worth the effort if done right. In my opinion the biggest hurdle for newer players playing with older players is the MSQ and the lack of a level sync option.

In a imaginary world someone who invest 10 hours should reap what someone who invest 1000 hours in an endeavor is fair. But in reality, it is not. Parity does not have to be that strict, as long as they can play the same content for the most part.

A danger with adding perpetual progression is lower level content being obsolete.
Well unless you care about tomestones and cosmetics, the lower level content becomes obsolete anyways by the day until they give you a new reason to revisit.
Be honest.
Are you playing older content because it is fresh or exciting or because there is a carrot for replaying old content?
Do you enjoy getting max level then needing to go back and play level 20 dungeons or level 10 fates with half the toolkit?

You are revisiting lower content on high level jobs because of carrots on a stick and level sync makes it possible.

So what needs to happen to add a perpetual progress/merit/champion point/mastery system and keep the lower level content relevant?

Global change:

1. The option to enter any MSQ quest or dungeon with players or trusts.
2. The MSQ quantity to be truncated slightly so players can reach max level faster.
3. A toggle for auto level sync down. Toggle it on and you are the appropriate level for the content be it open world enemies, fates, sidequests, MSQ or whatever.
4. If you happen to be at the maximum level. When toggling auto sync down into lower level content a merit point experience system is turned on.
5. Doing any activity in any lower level content grants merit points at a granular level similar to standard xp bar.
6. Completing a piece of a log, say a challenge log grants a somewhat larger merit point gain or a different type of merit point, let's call it star point.
7. Complete an entire section of a log grants alot of merit points and star points.
8. Use your merit and star points to unlock various cosmetics, titles, stats, traversal boons, and skill modifiers.

Ok so you added a perpetual xp system. Now what the hell kind of content is all the power going to be used for??
Enter "The Savage World"
Square creates a copy of the Entire Eorzea world, this version is called the Savage World.
If you played FFXI, this concept might make sense to you with the S zones in Abyssea or the Dynamis zones.
Basically upon entering a special teleport or entrance you are transported to an alternate reality of the current zones.
But here in the XIV Savage World, everything is dangerous, deadly, the zones seem darker and grittier, the enemies are powerful enough where you need parties to get around and level or traverse.
There are even new types of enemies in places they were not before, new fates, new hunts, etc, and this applies to dungeons and raids.
The Savage zones are scaled to whatever the current max level is for the playerbase. There is no need for sync, all content is scaled towards the max level.
For instance say the current cap was 70. La Noscea entire zone is 70, Coerthas is 70, Temple of Karn is 70, Temple of the Ancients is 70, yada, yada, yada.
You don't earn experience here just the max form of merit points, let's just call it superstar points, and you can't earn this kind outside of the Savage Worlds.
If they could add souped up or alternate versions of existing gear for high level, that's even better.