Why Raise the Level Cap Again?

[arunav]

It is just getting to the point where there are a decent number of raids, and the previous level cap increase took away almost all the good HM FP options.

 

I think players would still buy any expansion planets, and a new skill or two could easily be added without needing to gain obligatory levels at the cost of sacrificing the additions to TOR since last year.

 

Jeff Hickman himself stated 2013 was largely about building up endgame. Why raise the level cap again and invalidate that work?

 

If we were still at 50, there would be 7 viable raids, and the variety of HM FPs would be much better. In terms of story, the only ones that would need to be taken out would be from the Ilum arc.

 

When the cap is raised, will it be possible to bring back some of the older content, or at least maintain what we have now?

 

If 3.0 will follow 2.0's lead, I really think this is a bad move for folks at endgame, likely a large segment of those buying the most from the CM and keeping subscriptions. Rolling more alts isn't as viable as it was in the past.

Edited March 23, 2014 by arunav

[Reno_Tarshil]

Cause ending in an odd number sucks when even numbers are way superiour.

[Vinak]

Cause ending in an odd number sucks when even numbers are way superiour.

 

Rumor has it odd numbers are cannibalistic. No other way to explain why Seven eight Nine.

[Snakesoul]

If they add a few more planets and some more crazy tactical and so forth then I'm down with the level cap going up prefer it to be even then odd to be honest. But if they straight up bring it out without adding anything to encourage the point to increase it then yeah not really great as it will just have more people finishing things up and calling it a day.

 

Now that I think about it isn't WOW going to be level 100 on the next expansion....I really start to wonder how fast it takes to kill Arthus now....2 swings and call it a day...or the lovely scene of 1 hit and then cut scene with your character bleeding and crying having this epic battle only to realize you just walked up to him and bashed him into the wall with 1 attack.....man how much I love maxing out my final fantasy games with mass grinding only to run into the final end game boss and get the funny cut scene of my character acting as if he had a real challenge...

[Millardkillmoore]

It is just getting to the point where there are a decent number of raids, and the previous level cap increase took away almost all the good HM FP options.

 

I think players would still buy any expansion planets, and a new skill or two could easily be added without needing to gain obligatory levels at the cost of sacrificing the additions to TOR since last year.

 

Jeff Hickman himself stated 2013 was largely about building up endgame. Why raise the level cap again and invalidate that work?

 

If we were still at 50, there would be 7 viable raids, and the variety of HM FPs would be much better. In terms of story, the only ones that would need to be taken out would be from the Ilum arc.

 

When the cap is raised, will it be possible to bring back some of the older content, or at least maintain what we have now?

 

If 3.0 will follow 2.0's lead, I really think this is a bad move for folks at endgame, likely a large segment of those buying the most from the CM and keeping subscriptions. Rolling more alts isn't as viable as it was in the past.

 

A Nightmare Mode for all flashpoints at level 60 would solve the flashpoint issue. In fact, it'd make all the current level 50 HM flashpoints much more viable for endgame characters than they are currently.

 

Perhaps some sort of mode beyond Nightmare for the old operations could be made for level 60 characters.

[jedip_enguin]

I tend to agree, another cap raise so soon after the last seems perfunctory and will either mean another talent tree redesign or rebalancing of skills to account for the five extra points.

 

I hope if it does come to pass sooner than expected they tune the xp gain waaaaay down and provide a bit more levelling content than we got on Makeb, as 50-55 was so quick and easy it almost felt pointless.

[HeatRacer]

It's taken them long enough to try and balance the classes after expanding the skill trees to level 55 and they still haven't gotten it right, so raising the cap again is just going to be another long headache of balancing and qq'ing.

[Pingonaut]

Honestly I think they should end the next cap at 61 or something similar. Most OCD sufferers are obsessed with even numbers. Me? I hate the, and much prefer odd numbers, unless it's the number 4 or 8.

[darkov]

I expect five more levels at the end of the year with the second expansion, but also that expansion to almost mirror Makeb.

 

Quick leveling, a couple 60 HM FPs, a new OPS and a couple of new tactical FPs.

 

I doubt very much with GSF and Strongholds that they've dedicated more resources to this mysterious expansion than they did to Makeb.

[aeterno]

Because if you charge people $ for added content a level cap raise is kinda expected?

[Icestar]

It is just getting to the point where there are a decent number of raids, and the previous level cap increase took away almost all the good HM FP options.

 

Well when the level cap is raised new content will be introduced and some of the old content will be recycled.

 

When they raised the levelcap it felt like they rushed out the Makeb expansion and did not catch up with the other things going on in this game. Now they have created a dynamic FP system where all can play regardless of class, perhaps this is something to have in mind for the future when the levelcap is raised.

 

I look foward to when the level cap is raised and I expect new content aswell as they take care of the old so they do not collect dust like now.

 

The only thing that is a fact though, they have to compete hard for the playerbase this year. It is not one or two or even three new titles or expansions for other games that arrives.

 

Time will tell if Bioware can handle it or not, I will be here to find out

Edited March 23, 2014 by Icestar

[Feasting]

Lol love how most of the defenders side with the perception that recycling content = more endgame content. SWTOR still lacks endgame content just like back then during launch. I doubt another level cap increase would even solve SWTOR's lack of endgame problem because EAware is so focused on the CM that most of the rest of the game is being ignored.

[Fantazm]

I do wonder what the point of raising it is apart from being able to say it's been raised twice since launch.

[Phrase]

Because all the other games do it.

[Fantazm]

Because all the other games do it.

 

That's kinda what I said.

 

The question still stands.

[Icestar]

Lol love how most of the defenders side with the perception that recycling content = more endgame content.

 

I never play either HM or NiM modes since I consider them recycled content.

 

I find no joy in pressing a button 4 seconds, 7 seconds or 10 seconds before the entire raid gets whiped or with some added ability that the team falls down a hole if not a certain mob is killed in time. It is still happening like the storymode with some extra spices and it turns into not my type of cake to eat.

 

However I find much joy replaying characters in different settings light/dark or a different advanced class eventhough that can be considered recycled content.

 

For the next expansion give us new things with more levels to take, real new things. OPS and FPs where we do not say "oh that room has been used before" and stuff like that. Build it from scratch, makes us happy all the way through 2014

Edited March 23, 2014 by Icestar

[Vinak]

That's kinda what I said.

 

The question still stands.

Raising the level cap acts as a giant reset button on the player population. It allows newer players a chance to catch up with the veterans.

 

Everybody has to reach the new level cap, re-gear up, and unlock new crafting schematics.

 

It's super freaking annoying for those of us that have multiple level 55's...

[ZETA_SCORPII]

I love chasing gear so I'm all for a cap increase. When you enjoy this game as much as I do the grind to get better gear is really fun so I'd say they are doing it for those who love new gear and who are ready for new content.

[Fantazm]

Raising the level cap acts as a giant reset button on the player population. It allows newer players a chance to catch up with the veterans.

 

Everybody has to reach the new level cap, re-gear up, and unlock new crafting schematics.

 

It's super freaking annoying for those of us that have multiple level 55's...

 

It also makes all the level 50 content go grey for anyone who's at the new cap, leaving the 60's with almost nothing they can do. They can't just raise the 50 content to 55, because then what do new 50's do to level up?

 

Going from 50 to 55 was one thing, raising it further to me sounds like it will take a lot of additions and changes. So let's hope that's what we get.

[Icestar]

That's kinda what I said.

 

The question still stands.

 

I will test a theory I had back when I played Anarchy Online and World of Warcraft. Both those games raised the level cap and increased the stats of the items gained.

 

All players wants something when they play, there is even a theory called "instant gratification" I will not go into specifics but it basilcly say that the player has to get a instant reward for something they do. It stimulates the endorphins to emitting sense of joy and accomplishment. Well enough about the biology here.

 

If a player gets a item that only raises the stat a moderate level each time it becomes boring. The player can get a sense boredom since it actually does not help out that much. Hence a bigger statgain is required. At the max cap of a level the item can not be significally higher then other items in play since it would give a tremendous gap between normal players and elite players (very, very few games has allowed mythical items or even artifact items to come into play).

 

The solution is simple, lets raise the level cap. By doing this the player can get the new sense of big accomplishments by looting better items for a long time to come, first the normal mode FPs, then the HM mode and you know the rest.

 

Raising the level cap is simply a way to keep the player and still give the player a sense of accomplishments eventhough the difficulty is actually not much higher then it was from the start.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Icestar

[Grayseven]

Because it is how MMO's work.

 

And instead of raising the cap 10 levels once in a couple years they do it 5 levels a year.

 

Progression is the name of the game. Without constant striving, we'd get bored. At some point, there has to be another rung added to the ladder.

[Lordkoon]

100k health here we come!

Seriously , was I the only one annoyed when in WoW players started having 300k+ health and dealing 100k+ damage. It looks like the 1 button mashing diablo 3 with wild numbers surrounding you. Let's not go there yet.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Lordkoon

[Eanelinea]

I enjoy it when we have something new to strive for. There's only so much one can do doing lvl 55 content over and over and over again. I KNOW MMOs are all about the grind for whatever is in the game, but increasing the level cap once or twice a year giving old players who took a break a reason to come back or new players something new and shiny to do. I do love being 55, but with more levels comes new planets, new content, something different to do. I don't mind the level caps as long as we're not suddenly told we'll be expected to hit level 100 in two years...that'd be a little TOO excessive IMO.

[DarthTHC]

Players want to feel that their characters advance.

 

One way to do that is level cap increase.

 

Another way to do that is to buff via gear.

 

Either way you do it, you wind up with the same problem - players become overpowered for older content. You solve that by continuously creating new content.

Edited March 23, 2014 by DarthTHC

[ZETA_SCORPII]

It's not just MMO's that raise the level cap, MW3 had 2 level increases just a few months apart.