Quote Originally Posted by Granyala View Post
Power progression is normal in MMOs and a, if not the main thing that keeps people playing.
If it isn't done via levels, it is done via gear. Old content would get trivialized just the same.
I can only speak for myself, but the leveling does nothing for me. I got a few of my preferred classes to 100 and already forgot about levels. I was much more interested in seeing new fights, which I could have done with no leveling at all. I'm also not a fan of level sync, nor having to relearn classes every expansion because we have to delete some skills for new skills for the sake of having new skills, which are sometimes just rebranded old skills anyway.

It would seem absolutely part of the popular opinion that leveling is a part of the this genre, but I'd prefer if MMO's didn't have levels at all, didn't have content with a limited shelf life, and instead offered deeper gameplay where progression was achieved through the player improving instead of stats. My level is 100 now, but nothing meaningful has changed. The enemies are also level 100, their stats raised with mine and the number is ultimately meaningless. I'm also so much stronger than a low level player that I can't really do anything with them because any attack I'd use would trivialize their content.

A levelless world would also be nice as far as exploration goes. In ARR when you started the game you had the freedom to go almost anywhere. Subsequent expansions have carefully close off the world and sectioned it by level. I find it so boring and predictable. I have no doubts that a more free flowing story could be created and along with it and less linear path through the world where we have more meaning exploration. This would also allow for more meaningful cooperation between players at different points in the game. With a massive powergap from level 1 to max, cooperate play becomes a lot easier and more balanced.