'Relic' weapon series available at expansion launch. (X.05)
Can be upgraded to the highest item level immediately through savage raid, or catch up in later patch through other means. Replaces the direct drop weapons from the raids.

Deep dungeon or similar leveling content at launch (X.0), fewer normal dungeons are produced to balance resources.

Extreme trials drop armor sets themed around the boss for a change, not weapons or accessories. Still interesting for glam reasons after the item level is no longer current.

Field zones now added in patch series (X.1, X.2, etc) one per major patch so that the story continues to move through previously unseen areas. To balance resources, the normal dungeons introduced in patches take place inside the new field zones, just section off a slice of the zone to use for the instance.

100 is the final level cap, after which we progress our character through other means such as collecting primal power, void power or auracite shards.

Have standalone raids and alliance raids. Doesn't always need to be a 3-part series that takes 2 years to conclude.