Quote Originally Posted by Critical-Limit View Post
This games end game is just 4 bosses. Why can’t we have just a tiny bit of Horizontal progression. Why can’t we make difficult Deep Dungeon for example drop relevant end game gear. Why does it only have to come from savage. Can’t we get difficult things elsewhere. Or maybe make a extremely tough Gold Saucer Game, that drop relevant Gloves or something. You can save on resources and make easier versions of the same thing for people not interested in End Game.
This is one thing I like a lot about ESO. (I am sort of balancing play between that and this right now; I keep putting XIV down, then returning to it, because I can't not apparently? Anyway.) The game itself has a lot of flaws, most noticeably when it comes to actual gameplay soundness, but having grown up on WoW it still amazes me how relevant all of the content in ESO feels. I'm up at max level, have done all the content through the latest expansion, but still find myself returning to old base-game dungeons to pick up gear sets I have not yet completed for testing on a new build. And, as you level, all gear drops at your level regardless of when the content was initially unlocked -- so I get the same Generic Set #9 every run, but it drops in relevant stats at level 10, level 30, level 50, and beyond. I was kinda disappointed to discover XIV's leveling roulette dumps you into old dungeons, but actually scales you down, and does not scale rewards up.

ESO also allows you to achievement-hunt at max level in harder versions of the dungeons you first did while leveling. Three different achievements per dungeon, plus a special gear set unique only to the hard-mode version.

I don't think these elements need a 1:1 exact-copy of themselves in XIV (or any game), but the general concept (horizontal prog. to keep old content relevant) is a solid one that has proven to keep most of the endgame players with whom I keep company very busy and very engaged with the game for years on end.