"You Will Die" Difficulty... Can I Have It?

[fusional]

So the only course of action for a successful MMO is to treadmill the gear rewards? Just flat out make content that is impossible until you have the right gear, and have that content drop the gear you need for the next content, which drops the gear you need for the content after that, in perpetuity?

i never said it's the only course, and i'm not sure where you got the impression that i did. i didn't even imply it. care to clue me in to your thought process there?

but anyway, yes. gear and content progression is what keeps people playing, and people playing keeps communities strong. love it or hate it, it's the foundation of EQ's success, FFXI's success after it, and WoW's success after that. that's not to say that they can't improve on the model, but without it people simply jump to end, beat it, then never log in again until a new patch or expansion.

do you think the most casual players should be entitled to the best gear in the game? do you think they should be entitled to experiencing every bit of content that the most hardcore players see?

should someone who works four hours per week get the same pay and the same perks as someone who works 80? should there not be any perks for the person who works 80 simply because there are people who don't?