Thoughts on Level Squishes

[Raikai]

Level and stat squishes, as well as ability prunes and class/job revamps is something that every MMP that follows XIV and WoW's models have to run with.

The cumulative aspect that each expansion brings adds up to that. There's no way things can go unchecked for a decade of expansions, it becomes jarring for both veterans and newcomers.

Job/Class revamp is also a necessity, or else you'd have unmanageable amount of buttons after 5 expansions. The challenge though is for the new features/spells/mechanics to be as engaging as they once were. The problem with WoW there is that they DRASTICALLY change their systems and class designs every expansion and that is terrible for the playerbase.

These changes, squishes and revamps, are big and they are needed eventually, but the devs need to time it right.

[MsQi]

Level and stat squishes, as well as ability prunes and class/job revamps is something that every MMP that follows XIV and WoW's models have to run with.

The cumulative aspect that each expansion brings adds up to that. There's no way things can go unchecked for a decade of expansions, it becomes jarring for both veterans and newcomers.

Job/Class revamp is also a necessity, or else you'd have unmanageable amount of buttons after 5 expansions. The challenge though is for the new features/spells/mechanics to be as engaging as they once were. The problem with WoW there is that they DRASTICALLY change their systems and class designs every expansion and that is terrible for the playerbase.

These changes, squishes and revamps, are big and they are needed eventually, but the devs need to time it right.

This is the small thinking that is destroying the mmorpg. The “everything must be on the bars, and be useful most of the time” mindset is catering to the adrenaline junkies that WoW catered to so they could dominate the industry. These are the people that would jump ship as soon as things a little less exciting, leaving little for those that would commit to a longer, deeper game nothing of substance.

The Archetypical "Wizard" is a seeker and keeper of knowledge of all things arcane. They would know thousands of spells, most of which would serve no purpose in combat, but have other uses. Many would be situational. They would have spells they choose to use in combat that set them apart from other wizards; a personal flare that fuels the stories about them.

Similarly a Martial artist often learns multiple disciplines, at least so they know how to counter them, but may pull from them in certain situations.

Not everyone wants to play like that, but allowing it, gives people more options. They could choose to focus on one area or branch out.

[Raikai]

T
The Archetypical "Wizard" is a seeker and keeper of knowledge of all things arcane. They would know thousands of spells, most of which would serve no purpose in combat, but have other uses. Many would be situational. They would have spells they choose to use in combat that set them apart from other wizards; a personal flare that fuels the stories about them.

Sorry but I disagree in the sense that is small thinking, because I think I didn't convey my message as I wanted. Give an example of a MMO that follows the same model of XIV that accumulated skills, levels and stats for a decade of expansions without a change/revamp or a prune?

I'm not speaking about situational spells, but rotational ones. It's simply not feasible for the type of MMORPG that XIV is, and how the action-based combat functions. Can you imagine having a rotation of 15 different buttons plus conditional skills while still having to keep an eye on the surroundings? Alternative to this, like you mentioned, would be choosing a proper rotation from a bigger pool of abilities, but sadly XIV does not follow a customizabiity aspect, as everything is very cemented.