So I just noticed something about this thread... Are lots of people posting with alts? I'm going to assume so, because I'm seeing lots of opinions (both for and against VP) coming from characters that aren't level 60 on any class yet.

Now I'll admit I never hit level cap in FFXI when I played, so my knowledge of that game is limited to what I've heard friends describe, but my opinion on OTHER horizontal progression games that I've hit endgame is that it kills my interest since I'll never grow stronger beyond tweaking, min-maxing, and developing new but similar powered character builds. It always feels like there is nothing to look forward to when it comes to my character.

What I look forward to in FFXIV is seeing the ilevel cap go up, getting that extra power, and doing more with it. I look forward to soloing and duoing more old content, clearing dragonskin maps without needing to form a party, punching more A rank hunts in the face, and walking into new fights that hit hard and take a long time to kill, knowing that I'll gear up to kick their butts better in the future. Maybe I'm crazy, but being able to go back and fight Ultima Weapon 1v1, helping a new player with their story quests by annihilating a dungeon I once crawled through, and seeing how quickly my well geared groups can handle dungeons that used to take what felt like an eternity... those are some of my favorite moments that come with vertical progression. Horizontal progression alternatives just sound like grind in which nothing really changes.