As a player who started from a more casual background, I'll say that the treadmill effect can be daunting. When I join an MMO, hoping to play with friends, I find it very de-motivating if I learn that the only way to actually play with my friends is to grind my way through prerequisite content for months at a time. I thought WoW was especially bad at this, as several of my friends made efforts to keep alts that could play with me, but something would inevitably happen to start diverging the two characters, and after that it was basically a lost cause that left me soloing again. The cross-realm dungeon queue helped a lot once it was implemented, but by that point I was going to have to hit the level cap and then have to grind through raids that nobody wanted to play anymore.

It's like that game was designed to prevent friends from playing together, which seems strange for a game type defined by its social elements.

Totally an aside: Some people consider PL'ing an exploit. They complain about how they can raise characters very quickly on FFXI. I think it's a necessary pressure valve to allow new players into the game, to allow them to play the same content as their friends.


As for having progressively harder fights, I still don't think there's any harm in asking for ultra-difficult settings, but I think the rewards should be thought out very carefully to avoid the treadmill effect. I'm not advocating for nerfed rewards, or no rewards at all, I'm suggesting that unilaterally better gear is probably the wrong route. I'll advocate for side-grades, not up-grades. Or I'll advocate for something to offer different playstyle options without appreciably buffing the player's power level. Or even just alternate meshes and textures for existing equipment. There are many types of carrot.

Some players will insist on only playing the hardest difficulties, and refuse to play with anyone who doesn't feel up to the challenge. Good for them. I still think that's an elitist attitude I don't want to play with, anyways, so it's no loss to me if they leave, as long as they don't leave mid-fight.