The Level Increase to 80 is Akin to a Global Reset

[StaboCA]

<p >Here’s my “Level Cap Raising Global Reset” hypothesis. If it’s already been raised or discussed elsewhere, sorry but I missed it.</p> <p ><span> </span>Raising the level cap is a great equalizer (democratizer) which effectively “globally resets” the game for most regular players. </p> <p >Just think about it….</p> <p >While most all players have at least one toon at the current 70 level cap and a lot of people have finished their 100 AA’s there is still a lot of difference between people with regard to the gear they have and how many Master spells they have.</p> <p >Me - I’m an average equipped level 70 player, who raids semi-frequently, mostly FT, EH, Clockwork etc. <span> </span>I’ve got a handful of Masters with the rest all Ad3 and decent but not great gear (half fabled, half legendary).</p> <p >The High End Folks – These are the people who’ve invested 3, 4 or 5 times as much time as I have playing this game. They’ve Mastered their entire inventory of spells including Water Breathing and they’ve also got multiple sweet matching sets of fabled gear. They are at the current top of the game and they’ve worked hard to be there.</p> <p >But with the new expansion and the higher level cap, what differentiates me from the high end folk quickly becomes irrelevant. All that time, effort and plat they’ve invested on Mastering everything and farming/raiding to get the absolute best gear will not bring much advantage at level 80. </p> <p >Another way of looking at it is like a race toward some distant finish line. The uber players are way out ahead of most of us and they are getting further and further ahead every month (as they should because they play a lot more than someone like me – they’re running and I’m jogging.) </p> <p >But by raising the level cap, Sony effectively calls all those frontrunners back to the starting line, and we all get to make the mad dash to the next level cap together. This same thing happened when the caps were raised to 60, & 70.It’s a periodic global rest and I have a hunch that this is how Sony intends it. Sony can’t raise the caps too often because they’ll [Removed for Content] off the “end gamers” who need some time to enjoy all the benefits from their hard work acquiring Masters and the best fabled gear.But at the same time, without these level cap resets, the difference/distance between the “end gamers” and the average players starts to become too huge, so Sony raises the level cap periodically to allow the rest of us to catch up – even if it’s just temporarily. <span> </span></p> <p >Granted, I have no illusions that a year or so from now these same uber players will once again be way out ahead of me, but for a few months after this expansion comes out, everyone will be on a much more equal playing field.  <span></span></p><p >Just my observation.</p>

[Killerbee3000]

/agree 100% on that theory

[ke'la]

Accually, it does not equilize the playing field but it does narrow the gap between high-end and mid-lvl players for a time. You see the Uber stuff from High End Raids is already mostly lvl 70 wich makes it T8 wich means is suffers from less of a Previous Tier penalty then stuff a lvl or two below that, not only that but they still have the high end procs and buffs that come with the uber gear... however the devs stated at Fan Fair that they want to change this dynamic some, basicly they want to seperate out Raid Gear from Non-Raid Gear and make both equally as good on Non-Raid Targets, but the Raid stuff will have procs and stat adjustments on it that maybe all but required on some of the high end Raids. An exsample they where THINKING about, is bringing back the ablity for certain Raid Mobs to be able to Crit, but at the same time add to Raid Gear Anti-Crit protections to protect from Crit damage, there by making it VERY usfull in Raids but that partcular stat would be usless outside of Raids.

[InsertNeko]

i don't really see the problem with this, and I do agree with you 100%. Every expansion I've done my best to finish that expansion's set of armor and "epic" quest (if sod can even be called epic), and I'll do it again. In a year when we go to 90 (lawl) someone will start another thread exactly like yours, and so forth.besides, for those of us with no alts, being 70/100 for a year kind of sucks <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/2786c5c8e1a8be796fb2f726cca5a0fe.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />

[GwenRelentless]

In general this is true, however, having good gear at the beginning of a new teir helps propel you into the teir faster and with less difficulty. Not to mention the teamwork which has developed over the many months that a good raiding guild has raided over will be of much use when conquoring new raid zones.  A guilds repertoire of  raid strats can also be of help since every raid named can't be 100% unique.In essence though, I'm not sure if you think this is a new revelation or you are just informing newer players, but the last two times they raised the cap it did level the playing field quite a bit and I'm sure most people already realize this. One thing that really stands out in my mind is grouping in Sanctum of the Scaleborn just after KoS came out and basically replacing most of my T6 raid gear in one night with stuff that dropped in a non-instanced group zone. Also, we are allowing people to switch mains in my guild right now because we figure most of the gear we have worked so hard to gear up our mains with will be obsolete anyways, so there will be no real loss if someone in the guild decides to stop playing a raid geared toon.

[Zagbab_Dorfbasher]

Personaly I have mixed feelings about raising the level cap. The good is that well, I'll become better and the playing field will be leveled a bit (but only for a very very short time). The bad however is that I think they do it too often. Throughout my Eq2 career it has always been like this, when the guild I'm in is finaly managing to get to grips with the current high end content a new level cap is introduced and we never get to finish the current content. With EoF we were finaly able to finish KoS but are still working on the more difficult EoF content (like most smaller non hardcore raid guilds I think). But with RoK being just around the corner I'll probably never even get to see Wuoshi or some of the other goodies. I realize that for some it would be extremly boring if new harder content wasn't introduced at these intervals but from my perspective I think it moves too fast.

[AratornCalahn]

You know, its suposed to be the aquireing of all of that gear and stuff that is the fun part not the having it. THUSThe level cap incrase is a chance to do it again (with diffrent visuals as in 'new content'<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />, i.e. fun.This is the theory at least, it seems to work with all my experinces.

[xandez]

a rather good therory...however, the fully fabled/mastered ppl will get to 80 faster and will get their new masters / fableds easier and faster (since they are better geared) that the average players. This will make the difference between the average players and top end player even greater, so no, i would not actually call this as a reset <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />++Xan

[DngrMou]

<cite>Zagbab_Dorfbasher wrote:</cite><blockquote>Personaly I have mixed feelings about raising the level cap. The good is that well, I'll become better and the playing field will be leveled a bit (but only for a very very short time). The bad however is that I think they do it too often. Throughout my Eq2 career it has always been like this, when the guild I'm in is finaly managing to get to grips with the current high end content a new level cap is introduced and we never get to finish the current content. With EoF we were finaly able to finish KoS but are still working on the more difficult EoF content (like most smaller non hardcore raid guilds I think). But with RoK being just around the corner I'll probably never even get to see Wuoshi or some of the other goodies. I realize that for some it would be extremly boring if new harder content wasn't introduced at these intervals but from my perspective I think it moves too fast.</blockquote>Increasing the level cap is not going to make you miss EoF content.  You're still going to meet Wuoshi, those raids will still be part of the mix.  It's how you'll get the equipment needed to raid RoK.  Courts, (DoF), is STILL a popular raid zone, and if anything, the level cap increase will make some of the harder EoF zones accessible to more people.  (and IMO, some of the earlier raid zones should have their lockout timers changed, to allow people to hit those zones twice a week).

[Gungo]

<cite>xandez wrote:</cite><blockquote>a rather good therory...however, the fully fabled/mastered ppl will get to 80 faster and will get their new masters / fableds easier and faster (since they are better geared) that the average players. This will make the difference between the average players and top end player even greater, so no, i would not actually call this as a reset <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" />++Xan</blockquote><p>The theory is basically correct and is mostly a way to combat MUDFLATION. But it doesn tmean a level 80 fabled toon will get to 80 faster. Of course if the lvl 80 toon plays as hard as he did before he will. But that is more time invested then prior acheivement.</p><p>Think of being fully fabled and mastered alot like nascar. The people that are fully fabled and master just have a better Pole Position. Everyone starts the race at the same time. Just people who got fully mastered and fabled start in a slightly better position, but they still got a LONG way to go.</p>

[StaboCA]

In creating this topic I wasn't trying to imply that raising the cap was good or bad, I was just sharing my observation regarding the "effect" that raising the cap will have on the game. I'm sure other people have made the same observation previously. In my case the light bulb went off so I posted.One thing I found actually enjoyed when KoS came out (and to a lesser extent EoF), was all of a sudden finding members of the higher end raid guilds in pick-up groups. From my understanding, once the new expansion comes out raids are put on hold or scaled back and the raiders put all their time in leveling to the cap, grabbing groups wherever they can. Once they hit the cap they go back to full time raiding and I almost never see them in groups. I made a few new friends and subsequently, having demonstrated at least a modicum of competence while grouping, got thrown the occasional raid invite to fill an open slot. (RL won't let me raid full time)Also, I think it's interesting that at least one raid guild is using the raising of the level cap as an opportunity for people to change their main toons.  Since most of the effort equipping high level raid toons will be moot once people hit 80 and start acquiring the new and better T8 gear, it makes a lot of sense. It also should make the game a bit more interesting for players who might be getting a bit burnt out playing the same 'ol toon.

[Solarax]

keep in mind that those peole that are 70/100 such as myself will not only have 10 more levels to get but 40 more AAand as most raiders will play even MORE for the first 6 weeks to get to 80 so they can raid the new content ( RoK is very raid heavy btw)so the equalization process isnt as pronounced as some other expansions , specifically because of the harder raid content IMOand as gwen said heavy raiders have a teamwork that allows them to play with more skill and efficiency that will widen the gap in the begining .personally i dont care what level of the game a person is at because i play for ME not for them so if it gives me a chance to be closer to them then cool but if it doesnt , no skin off my nose as i dont judge myself on what the raiders are doing ( in EQ1 i was one of those raid 6 days a week uber guild raiders with maxed AA) because it drove me to leaving the game

[DobyMT]

<cite>Solarax wrote:</cite><blockquote> ( RoK is very raid heavy btw)</blockquote>Could you show us all where THAT is posted?

[Zagbab_Dorfbasher]

<cite>Youris@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite>Increasing the level cap is not going to make you miss EoF content.  You're still going to meet Wuoshi, those raids will still be part of the mix.  It's how you'll get the equipment needed to raid RoK.  Courts, (DoF), is STILL a popular raid zone, and if anything, the level cap increase will make some of the harder EoF zones accessible to more people.  (and IMO, some of the earlier raid zones should have their lockout timers changed, to allow people to hit those zones twice a week).</blockquote>The only reason Courts is still popular is because of the guild status you get out of it. What is most likely to happen is in my oppinion that EoF is abandoned and we go straight to RoK instances, get a bunch of legendary gear and masters and start heading into the easier raid zones. Even though the high end EoF gear is truly awesome, I doubt it will be worth the trouble of getting once you are 80.But hey, there are quite a few nameds in EH (not sure if all give status) so maybe that will become the new Courts in time hehe. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Sprin]

<p>Very nice theory.</p><p>But also, something that was forgotten.....  Yes the gear will all have to be replaced, jewelry, weapons, armor... but Spell..... if you think about what Master spells or End game spells are now, most "end game" spells go down into mid 50's usually... so there are only 10 levels worth of spells that will be replaced, but your mid to high 60's spells that you have mastered or adept 3 should still stay the same and not be replaced.  So you will be able to enjoy master spells while leveling and great gear while leveling to 80.</p><p>As said before.  When you get MC gear at the beginning, or near beginning of a Tier.  that tier is much easier to level through.  And also, those people that have all matching Fabled Raid or PVP gear.  OBviously spend a lot of time playing, so they will surely pretty much not leave the seat until they are 80 the day the release comes out.   So yes the gap is widened temporarily, but casual players like you and I will still be finding ourselves getting owned by the hard core dweebs that spend every waking hour playing <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Skywarrior]

<cite>Khonann wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>... but Spell..... if you think about what Master spells or End game spells are now, most "end game" spells go down into mid 50's usually... so there are only 10 levels worth of spells that will be replaced, but your mid to high 60's spells that you have mastered or adept 3 should still stay the same and not be replaced.  So you will be able to enjoy master spells while leveling and great gear while leveling to 80.</p></blockquote>I believe the expansion is bringing the re-tiering of spells and abilities to 10-level increments vice the current 14 levels.  That would mean that, yes, all current spells and abilities will receive some sort of upgrade during the trek to 80.  Unless I'm not up-to-date with my reading, which is always a possibility.

[Mercenary]

To be honest: with no faction wars/pvp, who cares about gear etc. really? For the majority of the players (non-raiders?) the expansion bring new adventures and areas to explore and the raiders will have new instances to raid and new loot to discover <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I do understand it can be a bit frustrating for some, but only if you look at the gear you got, not when you look at the (hopefully) fun times you had with your raiding guild and the kick of finalizing a gear set <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />