Quote Originally Posted by Amenara View Post
The easy example I would give to counter you is WoW. They went to 120 and said, this is daunting for new players and takes way too much time to go through to get to the content that matters in WoW at least.
The BIB is the most important part of your post. FFXIV and WoW are completely different games with a difference focus. XIV is a story dense game, it's sold as such and what it's best known for. Unlike WoW, endgame raiding is just another thing you can do, and not *the* thing you do.


FFXIV already has a reputation for how much time is required to go through the game to get to max level and I think there is a breaking point that we are coming up to where it just becomes untenable and is going to require a level squish and or story squish.
As I pointed out in my edit, the time required to get to max level has little to do with levelling pace and everything to do with progressing through the story content. You can hit level cap before you've hit Heavensward on a preferential server without breaking a sweat and there is no way they're going to do a story squish. Maybe streamline stuff that's a bit bloaty but not a squish.



Quote Originally Posted by Jeeqbit
This isn't necessarily known by people who haven't tried the game yet though, and perceptions of the game alone are enough to deter them from trying it. I've seen a lot of people who didn't try the game earlier because of one perception or another and breaking down false perceptions from every angle is what any company should want to do to grow their product/service. Some people may inquire as to the speed of getting to that level and not be deterred, but some people might be deterred by it, for example someone looking to get to the endgame quickly probably isn't going to be encouraged by such a high level cap.
This is as much in response to Amenara as you. If a new player is going to be put off by the amount of content they need to progress through (whether thats to reach endgame or to finish the story) then its much more likely the 6+ expansions we'll have by the time we get to a post Lv100 cap than the level cap itself. If they do take a punt at the game, its the story and not the levelling that's going to have them either bailing out or buying a skip.