Vertical progression is a phrase that gets tossed around a lot, but what does it actually mean? In short, it means a supply of ever-increasing gear with clear 'steps' to progress to the next best set. Final Fantasy XIV has a wealth of equipment in the game, and much of it will never see the light of day beyond glamours. Why is this? Because of constant planned obsolescence.

It's no secret that SE will eventually be removing law tomes, and relegating esoterics to the sidelines when they bring out their new tome. The current law gear will likely be reduced to armor drops in one of the dungeons, much like the relic and philosophy gear before it. The question is whether or not they've actually considered the wider impact of these changes. I don't believe so.

From the perspective of a new player, they jump from item level 50-ish to item level 120 in the blink of an eye. That's a whopping +70 levels worth of strength. There's no real stop-gaps for them. Sure they could spend the time and farm Philosophy or Relic gear, but why bother when the selfsame dungeons they drop in earn them poetics tomes to buy far superior equipment?

Every time the upper bar is raised, the lower levels are also raised. What this means is that while there is a glut of equipment spanning 210 levels, the gear which is used is actually a very narrow band. In turn, this makes lower level dungeons a cakewalk, and results in some growing discontent from higher level players who've been on this same treadmill for years.

Square-Enix has some truly talented people behind the scenes creating the content we all enjoy, so I can't believe this narrow-band progression was not intentional. However, it is also a danger in the long run. People need surprises and challenges to prompt them to come back. Spoon-feed them bananas for a year, and they're going to get rather sick of bananas, no matter how much they loved them to start with.

The vertical progression needs to change drastically, or be removed in its entirety. Square-Enix needs to get off this train before it becomes the express line to blandness.

So, agree? Disagree? Whatever your thoughts, keep it polite. Those who complain the loudest usually care the most. Those who accept all, usually don't care enough.