Why Raise the Level Cap Again?

but I doubt it. It does cause me a dilemma though , a personal goal , which was a far fetched one when I planned it , is to get all 16 advanced classes to 55 ( was 50 ) and I have 12 done and 2 almost done. So then , what do I do now , only play on my remaining 4 characters and go for it , or wait and see when the cap will go up ?

Probably we are afraid we will just get new rehashed old flashpoints with maybe only 1 or 2 new ones like they did last time.

I think what a lot of you are missing is that bumping the level cap is a necessary evil.

yes, yes. I get the whole "horizontal progression" thing. And yes, there are some great things about horizontal progression. I think a lot of you have already named most of them. The problem is, however, that horizontal progression doesn't solve the longetivity problem.

If you don't periodically raise the generic "power" of a player in a game such as this, the natural human tendency is see the game as no longer expanding. Sure, you can add tons of news gear sets or create new worlds but eventually level capping (and the math behind it) start to cap your character. They can't just release NEW, more powerful armor sets either because then someone at fresh 55 is so far behind the curve they might as well be level 54...and stuck there.

In progression games such as this you can only get 3 to 4 effective gear levels into progression before a fresh level cap player is simply too far behind. Imagine being a fresh 55 level player and being 7 or 8 gear levels behind the "max" gear level. It would simply be too staggering and a person would stop playing. It would really hurt alts and anyone who wanted to get a new character to max gear level would be stuck as a fresh 55. Most likely the content that a fresh 55 would do would be abandoned so gearing up would be even harder.

You might say, "ok, make basic comms always good for the 3rd to max gear level". Well that starts to look really bad when you have green level 55 gear and suddenly basic comms buy gear that is basically double your effective power level. The gear jump would be absurd.

By raising the level cap, the developers have a chance to "reset the game." It's almost a new start for everyone. Now the journey for a new player (and old players) is level 60 (for example). Now when you hit 60 you aren't massive levels behind the power curve.

Now I do agree there are some issues. Power creep is a huge issue. I hope bioware has a plan to handle it. Old content does become obsolete. It would be great so have a "classic" mode of operations where you are de-leveled so old content is still fun and challenging.

I don't agree that, at this point, keeping the cap at 55 would become too much of a burden to overcome for fresh 55 players.

All that would need to be done is some balancing with what drops in HM FPs and older Ops, and what basic and elite comms can purchase.

If we can all agree on something, it's gearing in this game is generally easy. 2nd BiS is craftable/purchasable, but is so easy to obtain it's usually not worth the credits (unless you have a lot doing nothing, or want a main-hand hilt/barrel quickly).

I agree with you that the cap would need to be raised eventually. Just not so soon after 2.0. It's a waste to discard all the new content that has been introduced since, not to mention limiting to endgame players.

The reason you hear most often for leaving is a lack of enough raids and FPs at 55, and the output being too slow. There will always be players that burn through whatever is released, but being here since January 2012 and playing through the classes and all content slowly, I can say this is accurate. There just wasn't enough to do at endgame in 2012, and now that we have something a little bit better, it's a terrible time to revert back.

Guilds need enough Ops, FPs, and other activities to keep people engaged. So many folks in mine were excited by Oricon and GSF. But it's been so long since any new Op has arrived, and the maps for GSF have been really limited. We've seen a lot of people leave as a consequence.

And these are players that have also been around a long time, and want to stick to SWTOR as their MMO of choice. Some are also disillusioned by how much is focused on the CM, but that is a different topic.

I think what a lot of you are missing is that bumping the level cap is a necessary evil.

yes, yes. I get the whole "horizontal progression" thing. And yes, there are some great things about horizontal progression. I think a lot of you have already named most of them. The problem is, however, that horizontal progression doesn't solve the longetivity problem.

If you don't periodically raise the generic "power" of a player in a game such as this, the natural human tendency is see the game as no longer expanding. Sure, you can add tons of news gear sets or create new worlds but eventually level capping (and the math behind it) start to cap your character. They can't just release NEW, more powerful armor sets either because then someone at fresh 55 is so far behind the curve they might as well be level 54...and stuck there.

In progression games such as this you can only get 3 to 4 effective gear levels into progression before a fresh level cap player is simply too far behind. Imagine being a fresh 55 level player and being 7 or 8 gear levels behind the "max" gear level. It would simply be too staggering and a person would stop playing. It would really hurt alts and anyone who wanted to get a new character to max gear level would be stuck as a fresh 55. Most likely the content that a fresh 55 would do would be abandoned so gearing up would be even harder.

You might say, "ok, make basic comms always good for the 3rd to max gear level". Well that starts to look really bad when you have green level 55 gear and suddenly basic comms buy gear that is basically double your effective power level. The gear jump would be absurd.

By raising the level cap, the developers have a chance to "reset the game." It's almost a new start for everyone. Now the journey for a new player (and old players) is level 60 (for example). Now when you hit 60 you aren't massive levels behind the power curve.

Now I do agree there are some issues. Power creep is a huge issue. I hope bioware has a plan to handle it. Old content does become obsolete. It would be great so have a "classic" mode of operations where you are de-leveled so old content is still fun and challenging.

I dont see why anyone would complain about increased level cap

I just resubd 2 days ago
Played (was logged in longer but played is 10 hours) 10 hours over two days and im 55 on main

no xp boosts beyond the expected rested xp for being unsubbed 12 months
All I did was Black Hole dailes twice
Illum dailies twice
Section X once
CZ Dailes twice
And about 1/3rd Makeb (if that)

So at the insane rate of xp gain, why would anyone complain about more levels.

Even the most casual of casual can do 10 hours play in the shortest period of time

Now if they put in 5 more levels and it took to go from 55-60 the same amount of play time as it took to go from 1-55, then I could see and understand some complaints (personally Id love it but I hate ultra easy mode leveling).

But I honestly dont see that happening

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