Lack of End Game Content

[Hawklaser]

You're mixing two different issues.

If you've exhausted the content as in you've cleared and you have nothing else you want to do, then that has nothing to do with the cap. You can take a break if you want. Know when the next content will be released and come back and use catch up mechanics to be ready for it.

If you want to stay geared week after week, then you have not exhausted the content because you still are doing it. In that case, regularly playing it will always be easier, and I agree that if you cannot, it will be more inconvenient for you because the caps were meant to address something else other than you not playing regularly.

Nah, I'm not really mixing two issues. You just admitted it indirectly.

To stay current week after week, you can't afford to miss your weekly cap. The lack of end game content is felt drastically when one is logging in just to meet their cap cycle, hence they have exhausted their enjoyable content and is just doing the bare minimum to be ready for when their next piece of content will drop(aka they should be able to take a break and not feel obliged to log on to meet a cap cycle).

In short, you have to be meeting that cap cycle constantly to be able to tackle the newest end game content as it releases. So not really able to take a break without putting yourself behind if it means you end up missing a cap cycle.

At least XIV has kept the caps weekly and to a minimum for now, yet over time they do have a tendency to build up if a close eye is not kept on them.

Catch up mechanics are more to allow ease of access to newer content for those that might get stuck behind older content thanks to the player base typically being focused primarily on the newest content.

I also mentioned earlier that while caps purpose is to slow content consumption, if there is indeed a lack of content players will find it irregardless of the cap's existence.

But I'm done going in circles over this. As you do seem to understand it takes meeting the caps to stay current week to week, but yet not get that the caps are what lead to the feel of having to just log on to do X to stay current that creates the job like feel, and feeling of being punished for taking a break that many don't want in MMOs.

[linay]

not get that the caps are what lead to the feel of having to just log on to do X to stay current that creates the job like feel, and feeling of being punished for taking a break that many don't want in MMOs.

But why do you need to stay current if you want to take a break? If you want to take a break, then you know you will fall behind, but it doesn't matter because the next tier will get all new items or if you only took a short break, you'll have plenty of time to get what you need.