Quote Originally Posted by Hyrist View Post
It does not really matter how you slice it - without flat out removing levels there is going to be content that is overlooked unless you make it relevant to endgame players. Period. If it is relevant to endgame players, the level the content is introduced is irrelevant.
Someone finally said the extreme yet reasonable. ...I'd love to remove levels as long as there are different ways to progress the character (gear/a reformed materia system/making one's own abilities/world-story/plots/NPC relationships/a vast number of other things that have no definitive place in 'levels' except to milestone that system, which is otherwise unneeded).

I don't see why every game has to try to poorly sum up all manners of progression in power (at least until endgame) into these clunky tiers.

That said, any progression of other sorts, when increasing stats more than complexity (and therefore skill-gap), will run into the same problem, even if less obviously or severely. But at the same time, the solution (a higher "level" being a higher grade of player who's able to take more advantage of his skill, not by stats but by increased skill-gap or tools of that sort) already sends development in the direction of better character development.

**Though it's not a major part of what I was saying earlier, let me address the idea of highest "levels" (combat power, really; though highest tiers can be found in plenty of other categories...) only being for elite players, a bit of a slippery slope off what I said above.

I honestly don't see a problem with this. If they became the elite of the game, they did so by playing elite-ly. That playstyle is not going to be appealing to others, or they'd already be playing that way, just how they enjoy it. Meanwhile those who prefer doing things besides pouring their efforts and skill into combat, can do that. Or both.