Quote Originally Posted by mallleable View Post
Things get weird in ARR if we get a level squish. Let's be generous, and say we get a level squish, and the entirety of ARR ends at level 20.
I think ARR should end at level 30. Here's why:
  • The first 10 levels must always be "easy" to get ie. kill enemies. That feel at the start of the game is rather important, but then it should start to get steep up to level 30.
  • The quests, regardless, should still assume the person is level 1 at first, even if they killed enemies to level.
  • 30 levels is needed, as you said, because of how many dungeons ARR has.
  • 30 is when jobs get unlocked, so it's fitting for that to be the end of ARR.
  • 30 is when Heavensward new jobs begin, so it would be even more fitting.
This would allow the expansions to remain 10 levels and cap us at 80, and find a non-leveling solution for future expansions, or to find a way to branch the MSQ a bit.
Another possibility is to stop leveling at 100, and introduce horizontal progression
Tbh we move horizontal in patches already. The only thing to figure out is how to add new actions, but they could just be unlocked via MSQ progression directly the same way HW job actions are unlocked via job quests, but only usable in that expansion's dungeons onwards to achieve the same effect.