Item level compression in Heavensward?

[Zohar_Lahar]

I have been wondering, are they going to compress the level 50 gear item levels with the new level cap? Like...everything above i55 and below i120 to scale back inflation. This would have the side benefit of making "obsolete" gear like Darklight or Allagan useful again while leveling the new jobs from 50 to 60.

[Terrini]

I would like to see this... Sure it may be considered by some a step backwards, but considering that we only have increments of every five levels after level fifty, what's the point other than a superficial sense of advancement? I don't care if the big number changes, as long as the gear is useful and the dungeons pre expansion are made easier to access.

[Zumi]

This isn't needed until you like have 5-6 expansions.

[Teslo]

This isn't needed until you like have 5-6 expansions.

It isn't needed at all if you plan ahead for it. Hopefully SE has a plan in mind to keep this from being required, like they just had to go through in WoW.

The problem with item compression is that, while it works the first time, eventually you'll need to do it again (Sooner and sooner, each time). After 2 or more, the low levels start bleeding together and it gets to the point where iL55 gear is 1 or 2 stat points less than iL90. Then the next time iL55 is 1 or 2 stat points less than iL120, etc... This isn't NECESSARILY a huge problem, since all that gear is essentially worthless at that point anyway, but from a logistics standpoint it seems awfully foolish to me. My 2gil.

[Dotsusama]

I just want to avoid being ilvl 200 by this time next year. Whatever they can do to alleviate that, like adding in horizontal item progress, would be very nice.

[Zumi]

It isn't needed at all if you plan ahead for it. Hopefully SE has a plan in mind to keep this from being required, like they just had to go through in WoW.

.

The whole reason other games like wow did it after several expansions is the numbers get so big it takes cpus longer times to process the damage and healing done. But its not until you are doing like 1 million dps that you actually need to do it. Because in a expansion people want to see bigger numbers, not to be set back down to a lower ilvl just to get back to where they previously where.

[Ryans]

I've never liked item level to begin with. It is a stupid and lazy way to design gear. It leaves no room for creativity on either the developers or the players part by forcing everything to be equal. I'm sick and tired of everything needing to be equal. Of course it would require a change in the stat system to allow for diversity in both gear stats and player choice. No more one main stat and four secondary stats. Hell, I'd rather have more stat options to give the illusion of choice even if there was no real difference.

Slightly more on topic, if they are keeping item levels I'd rather scale all pre-51 gear to ilvl 50 and not increase ilvl so quickly at cap. Why jump up 10 levels every patch? Ilvl 61 in 3.1, 62 in 3.2, etc... That would have no effect on actual gear performance as the stats could still scale at the same rate if they wanted. I'd personally rather have horizontal progression, but that isn't a very popular model in today's MMOs.

[Teslo]

The whole reason other games like wow did it after several expansions is the numbers get so big it takes cpus longer times to process the damage and healing done. But its not until you are doing like 1 million dps that you actually need to do it. Because in a expansion people want to see bigger numbers, not to be set back down to a lower ilvl just to get back to where they previously where.

Nono, I get that. I wasn't arguing. lol Really mostly hoping that the devs are planning ahead on this issue. It got way out of hand in WoW, and the problem will only compound over time with each consecutive IL crunch.

[Ametrine]

I genuinely expect something along this line to happen. I was actually trying to wrap my head around this working , as gear from iLVL 50 to 60 exists as dungeon drops and crafts. ....Maybe make it the "normal" gear, where it has a level requirement below max? Darklight or another new option replacing Artifact by being the new gear you step into endgame in?

We BADLY need more horizontal gear choices. It's even worse for weapons. I opted for the Weathered Yagrush route for my White Mage as it was the ONLY choice aside from second and final coil drops that has any sort of relevance that doesn't require the INSANE kind of grind Relic requires. Despite that, I regret doing so as I now see that I've seriously nerfed myself in harder content. Not making that same mistake on SMN, twelve be with me.

Also, Soldiery Tomes are pathetically easy to get at this point for iLVL 100 gear sets,(I got that Yagrush so fast from Frontlines, which is incredibly lucrative for Tomes if you play during it's "happy hour"), and thus a great deal of the dungeon dropped gear is passed right over. My suggestion would be set up tome gear prices like they are for Wolf Marks: a larger variety of gear sets at different iLVL tiers, and put the prices of said tiers increasingly higher with increase.

[FallenArisen0990]

SE not gonna do any of that lol. Lv 60 gear will pick off from iLv 140 and up lol.