If anyone has played eq1 in the last few years you would see how progression can be done better based on raid gear progression andn ot solely based on level.
You have people raiding lvl 70-75 req gear in eq1 right now when the level cap is lvl 85 because they needto gear up off that stuff then work their way up.
Progression via gear like this makes more sense in the long term. Maybe eq2 is still too young to go this route but someday it should, imo.