The speed at which you can level up in this game has gotten a bit rediculous.

tyjoie

I feel like this game has became basically just a rush to CP160 to get to the end game content, at the expense of the early game experience. I started playing this game in Beta, and trust me I ain't saying the system was better then. It most certainly wasn't. But I feel like the system has became way too easy to level up quickly, and thus, people don't really get a proper experience with questing anymore. I remember my first character (and I am not saying I levelled him in any way efficiently, I most certainly did not), but I don't even thing I got to level 50 until I was in Coldharbour, and that is with doing most of the content in the zones. (I know I definitely missed stuff, but still, the difference is drastic.). Not only that, but it actually felt challenging at times (triply so because he was a nigh blade), and this continued throughout both my 2nd and 3rd characters to be levelled to 50. But now? Frankly you can just barrel through everything and anything and be at least lvl 30 before even clearing the first proper zone. LIke, wth? I just find this a bit sad ngl. Some of my greatest memories playing this game have been levelling through these zones. Granted, it got very grindy trying to get through the CP levels (think I only ever got to 10 or 11 before the system change), but 1-50? It used to be actually fun. Now it just feels like a chore you have to do until you get to the real content. There ain't even any point in worrying about gear below lvl 50 because you wont be keeping any for any length of time to actually make it worth it to keep upgrading it (which it very much used to be). I feel like the game has lost a bit of its soul doing this (no pun intended) and it should really be addressed/reformed. It even completely breaks the flow of the questline, MQL, FG, and MG in particular, considering you can just steamroll through them without the previous levelling requirements being in place. Which makes them just feel hollow imho. To give some examples, these are some of my character stats. The first two I think I was playing /levelling at least over a year or two ago, then the last one is one I made just yesterday now that I've been in the mood to come back;

Character 1: Level 32 - 20 hours, 25 minutes. Completed Zones (none really but all main content is done): Khenarthi's Roost, Auridon, Grahtwood, most of Greenshade.
Character 2: Level 31 - Arcanist - 17 hours, 44 mins. Completed Zones: Khenarthi's Roost, Auridon, Grahtwood.
Character 3: Level 27 - Sorcerer - 4 hours, 55 minutes. Completed Zones: Khenarthi's Roost, ~1/2 of Auridon. Literally made the character like yesterday.

Like, I don't even think this is an ESO plus thing. If I was playing those characters for that length of time I would have had ESO plus, I tend to just get it whenever I get the urge to play the game. I don't know what, if anything, has actually changed between me levelling characters 1 and 2, and character 3. But it just feels way too quick and easy to level up characters these days.

Destai

Counter point, I love how fast it is. If anything, I wish it were faster. From my perspective, if I'm creating a new character, I want to experiment with builds, not wait X amount of time before they’re even ready. I totally respect people wanting a slow paced adventure, but I find I can do that better once my levels are maxed.

You bring up fair points though.

metheglyn

Well, I agree with you, and I often find myself wishing I had a way to slow leveling down. I've gotten to the point where I just won't play any sub 50 characters during events, because of that passive 100% XP gain.

Like you, my first character didn't hit 50 until Coldharbour, and that was with doing the Aldmeri Dominion main quests, the fighter's and mage's guild quests, and of course the main quest. Although, maybe he hit 50 in Reaper's March somewhere. I remember a quest in early Reaper's March I couldn't beat, and had to come back at a higher level for, so he definitely wasn't 50 at the start of it. The point being, it took a lot longer to get to 50, and I miss that.

VoxAdActa

Why do I want to spend more time leveling?

I don't love the period of time when I have to use some sub-standard DOT as my spammable, or having to take down public dungeon groups one.... enemy.... at.... a.... time.... because I haven't unlocked a useful AOE yet. Or having to replace my gear every 10 levels because I've outgrown it and now even an overland goblin takes a full rotation to kill.

The first time, it's cool and unique and exciting. The seventh time, it's maddening. Especially with the extra side-trips you have to make to get all the appropriate skill lines unlocked (Summerset for See the Unseen, Skyrim for scrying, Cyrodiil for mount speed boost, taking boats around the world for Fighter's Guild dolmens, scouring the land for lorebooks, etc.).

I only level alts during events, because the 100% XP bonus makes the process almost bearable. Waiting 6 hours to start leveling a 2nd weapon, and 30 hours to get to the point where I can begin putting a build together, isn't fun.

Icy_Waffles

Yeah it was cool back in the day when you were leaving your first character, but now when I just leveled my 18th character, I completely DISSAGREE with your point. Heck let’s give us the option to begin at CP.The low level grinding and leveling is repetitive and boring.

Taril

The main thing is that the game has fundamentally changed since what it origninally was.

Originally, the game was more like a traditional MMO. Whereby each zone had its own level range and you'd progress through them as you leveled up and eventually you'd hit level 50 and be able to tackle the end game zones like Craglorn.

Ever since One Tamriel, levels 1-50 have been made obsolete. Since all content now scales with level, there's no difference between doing it at level 3 or at level 50. This was done to make the game more like the single player Elder Scrolls titles where things are more freeform due to everything scaling to your level so you can do things in whatever order you wish.

So nowadays, there's no reason not to be level 50 - Since then you can level your skills (And companions, also crafting) at a reasonable rate (As those things require a flat amount of experience and exp gains scale with level)

With CP's being the new "Leveling" that will take you time to accrue as you play the game.

Unlike other MMO's where there's this push towards max level because "That's where the new content is", ESO doesn't do that since you can do most new content right out of the gate due to scaling (The exceptions are Dungeons/Trials that are level gated).

It's more that the push for levels is there because the newer system shows just how obsolete levels actually are to the game, with low levels providing literally nothing beneficial and no change in gameplay or availability to go do content. They simply exist as a roadblock for actually being able to earn proper experience for aforementioned skills and companions as well as gating CP progress.

Like, even when gaining levels you don't get stronger. You get weaker. As you get less scaling all your stats decline, your gear gets worse and worse as you level up until you find a new higher level item that has the same stats on that your old stuff used to have and things are balanced around you having higher rarity gear.

Honestly, they could simply do away with levels entirely for how worthless they are. Just have everyone working on CP's instead and getting full exp at all times.

P.s. There's currently an event going on that is providing a 100% experience boost (That stacks with exp boosts from scrolls like the one you get at level 6) which will skew the comparisons of your characters leveling rates.

Kaelthorn_Nightbloom

For many players, level 1-50 is just a tutorial for the game. So they power level to get characters where they need to be.

TaSheen

I don't really power level. I have gobs of alts at much lower levels (mostly between 10 and 30). The only "rush" lately has been to get my two new mains (new account, one on each PC NA and PC EU) to CP160 so I can get the gear I want crafted/bought from traders, and go on my merry way from there. And for those two it's been EXTREMELY nice to have the extra XP to help with that (along with cheap master writs....)

I play my low levels when I just want to chill and explore. I play my CP160 mains (these latest two are numbers 7 and 8, since I have 4 accounts and play on both PC megaservers) when there's an event and I need tickets.... I have other CP160 characters, but they're classes I'm not actually very fond of: sorcs, templars, nightblades (my mains are all wardens).

Destai

Icy_Waffles wrote: »

Yeah it was cool back in the day when you were leaving your first character, but now when I just leveled my 18th character, I completely DISSAGREE with your point. Heck let’s give us the option to begin at CP.The low level grinding and leveling is repetitive and boring.

I honestly would love to start at CP. Especially with a game this age, I don't really see the point in the levels below CP160. I know it's entirely voluntary, but for many of my new characters, I just spend time in nBRP, dungeons, or Crimson Cove. Often without a really solid build, just to level up. I'd love some bypass to create a new character, which is probably unlikely until a new class comes out, and have them be 50 with their class skill lines leveled. The game has great action and exploration, I'd rather spend my increasingly precious doing that than pushing a number up.

Ingenon

Now that I have fully leveled multiple characters, I would like the option in the in-game tutorial to skip leveling. Just dump my new character on the beach in their faction starter zone as level 50.

Oh, and let me pay the gold up front at the stable for all the mount training once I fully level my first character. 45,000 gold (250 * 180), I will happily pull out my banker, pay it all at once and be done with mount training for each subsequent character.

metheglyn

Taril wrote: »

The main thing is that the game has fundamentally changed since what it origninally was.

Originally, the game was more like a traditional MMO. Whereby each zone had its own level range and you'd progress through them as you leveled up and eventually you'd hit level 50 and be able to tackle the end game zones like Craglorn.

Ever since One Tamriel, levels 1-50 have been made obsolete. Since all content now scales with level, there's no difference between doing it at level 3 or at level 50. This was done to make the game more like the single player Elder Scrolls titles where things are more freeform due to everything scaling to your level so you can do things in whatever order you wish.

So nowadays, there's no reason not to be level 50 - Since then you can level your skills (And companions, also crafting) at a reasonable rate (As those things require a flat amount of experience and exp gains scale with level)

Yeah, intellectually I know this is the case, but emotionally I just feel like leveling is too fast. There really is no reason to not just get to 50, but every time those levels fly by on a new character, I think to myself, "Too fast!" Probably a relic of the non-scaling games I've played.

tyjoie

metheglyn wrote: »

I remember a quest in early Reaper's March I couldn't beat, and had to come back at a higher level for, so he definitely wasn't 50 at the start of it.

I couldn't kill the Dark Mane for the life of me. Idk if it was because Nighblades were so weak back then, or just because I was terrible at the game, but regardless its a memory I still have like 10 years later, struggling for ages and then finally beating him. Nowadays? Super easy, barely an inconvenience. I miss those days so much.

tyjoie

Icy_Waffles wrote: »

Yeah it was cool back in the day when you were leaving your first character, but now when I just leveled my 18th character, I completely DISSAGREE with your point. Heck let’s give us the option to begin at CP.The low level grinding and leveling is repetitive and boring.

Yeah, I'm not opposed to that. If people want to skip that content I think that should be their decision. However currently, all that content has just been made worse imho for everyone because there's overarching mindset about the game where getting lvl 50/CP stage is all that really matters and is where the 'real game' begins. So everything below that just doesn't matter and should be rushed through. I would just love a system where we could have both the ability to have a (in my view) more traditional ESO experience through 'normal level' zones, but also give people the option to bypass that if they wish, at least after they've fully levelled their first character.

spartaxoxo

I actually think it's at a good spot. But I wouldn't be opposed to a way to let us dump exp into something else. I remember in one game I played there was this little fairy helper you could level with your exp. The helper had small little skills she could use to help you. The skills were extremely minor aide that weren't anything people paid much attention to but they loved the ability to feed her exp so they didn't level up. There were different fairies you could equip with different skills and they required a ton of exp to max out. So you could pretty effectively level as slow as you wanted to or not at all for a long time.

It let everyone control their own pace.

silky_soft

I feel like it could be faster. Especially the skill lines.

I'm suprised there isn't anything like the skill lines in the crown store. Where once you've achieved level 50, completed main storey line and pass cp160 on one character, you are able to just buy level 50.

Tandor

This thread is a perfect illustration of the different playstyles players adopt. One favours instant advancement to the endgame (whatever that is beyond something to complain about when you reach it ), and the other favours playing through the game's content at a steady pace so as to maximise your enjoyment of the journey with no particular desire to reach the destination. Both options are equally valid and the players' choice between them (or some sort of compromise) depends entirely on their individual experiences and preferences.

That said, changes in recent years have tended to favour the instant advancement approach, as represented by account-wide achievements, and perhaps there's an argument for giving clearer and more effective choices, such as by the availability of instant advancement tokens in the Crown Store for those who want them and have reached a minimum number of CPs on at least one character, with a more character-based approach for those who want to play their multiple characters more fully through the game.

Danikat

My first character went through the DC zones in order and got to level 50 part-way through Alik'r (the 4th zone after the starter islands). This was back in early 2017 (I started in 2015), so not when the game was new, but closer to launch than now. I certainly wasn't rushing to level, but I was doing every quest I could find, and opening every treasure chest, reading every lore book and anything else I could find so it's not surprising that before they adjusted it I was always massively over-levelled for where I was and got to level 50 long before the end of the story.

But IMO the important thing, both back then and now, is that getting to level 50 didn't change anything, same with getting to CP160. It didn't matter to me that I wasn't finished exploring my Alliance zones and doing the main story because I didn't have to stop, or move on to some 'end game' activity. I was in the middle of a delve when I hit level 50 and after taking a moment to think "wow, I did it" I carried on with the delve, then I completed the quest I picked up inside it, then carried on through the zone.

It's been the same with my other characters, I don't worry about how fast or slow they're levelling, I just play them and at some point they hit level 50. Then my crafter makes them a matching set of gear and I stop checking drops for pieces that are better than what they're wearing, but otherwise they carry on as before.

tyjoie

Taril wrote: »

This was done to make the game more like the single player Elder Scrolls titles where things are more freeform due to everything scaling to your level so you can do things in whatever order you wish..

But imho, that's a very oversimplified version of a 'classic' TES game, or even just the most recent. e.g. if you rock out of Helgen at like lvl 3 and try to take on a cave troll... I wish you all the vest in Sovngarde.

Taril wrote: »

Unlike other MMO's where there's this push towards max level because "That's where the new content is", ESO doesn't do that since you can do most new content right out of the gate due to scaling (The exceptions are Dungeons/Trials that are level gated).

See, i do like this. I do like how you can do new content out of the gate rather than having to grind through 50 levels before being able to do DLC content. But then, I don't see why you cant sill have the traditional zones be more level dependent, kind of as it was before, but then just have the DLC content be more accessible. I don't see why it all has to be scaled.

Taril wrote: »

It's more that the push for levels is there because the newer system shows just how obsolete levels actually are to the game, with low levels providing literally nothing beneficial and no change in gameplay or availability to go do content. They simply exist as a roadblock for actually being able to earn proper experience for aforementioned skills and companions as well as gating CP progress.

To kind of preface this response, I do see the CP system as being better than the old Veteran system, but that's still just sad to me. It might just be because of the kind of gameplay I like, but ngl, I'm still like <CP500. And I've literally had this game as long as the game has existed. And I think that is because the game just doesn't offer me the same kind of challenges it used to, because while I do enjoy end game content, I'm a 'trad TES player'. What really gets my juices flowing is the lore, and the story, and the immersion. At all levels of the game, that just isn't there anymore. Frankly, it's almost a waste of resources for Zenimax to include it these days imho. Yeah, a new zone releases, and you can take it slow and take in the content, at any level, but I don't think that really counters my core issue. I think, at leas the 'traditional levelling zones', should still have a semblance of challenge and progression to them. Like, it just should be somehwere in the game. Whereas right now, it's nowhere.

Taril wrote: »

Honestly, they could simply do away with levels entirely for how worthless they are. Just have everyone working on CP's instead and getting full exp at all times.

I don't really think that would solve anything, in fact, I think that would feel even more hollow. But that might just be because my brain is used to a 'levelling' system, and not just a 'gotta get all the points' system.

Taril wrote: »

P.s. There's currently an event going on that is providing a 100% experience boost (That stacks with exp boosts from scrolls like the one you get at level 6) which will skew the comparisons of your characters leveling rates.

That is a fair point, that could definitely be contributing to the current parabolic trajectory. But still, even if a lil slower than Ive experienced over the past few days, I still think that issue still persists.

SilverBride

I love having a new character and I always take things slow. I don't use any experience scrolls or wear training gear, and I don't gear them up or apply any CP until they reach 50. I'm almost sad when I reach that point.

tyjoie

Danikat wrote: »

My first character went through the DC zones in order and got to level 50 part-way through Alik'r (the 4th zone after the starter islands). This was back in early 2017 (I started in 2015), so not when the game was new, but closer to launch than now. I certainly wasn't rushing to level, but I was doing every quest I could find, and opening every treasure chest, reading every lore book and anything else I could find so it's not surprising that before they adjusted it I was always massively over-levelled for where I was and got to level 50 long before the end of the story.

But IMO the important thing, both back then and now, is that getting to level 50 didn't change anything, same with getting to CP160. It didn't matter to me that I wasn't finished exploring my Alliance zones and doing the main story because I didn't have to stop, or move on to some 'end game' activity. I was in the middle of a delve when I hit level 50 and after taking a moment to think "wow, I did it" I carried on with the delve, then I completed the quest I picked up inside it, then carried on through the zone.

It's been the same with my other characters, I don't worry about how fast or slow they're levelling, I just play them and at some point they hit level 50. Then my crafter makes them a matching set of gear and I stop checking drops for pieces that are better than what they're wearing, but otherwise they carry on as before.

I do get what you're saying, but while the lvls may have been a bit of the focus of my post, that's not really my issue. The content itself just isn't as engaging as it used to be because of how the scaling mechanisms work. Like, there's no way in hell I would have been able to solo even public dungeons back as my first toon back in the day. Now? It's pretty much a given that I should be able to. I like having a challenge to the gameplay, It keeps me somewhat more immersed. Whereas currently, there's literally no limits to when you can do something, or where you can go, or really even what you do. You barely have to worry about anything while you're levelling, because unless you literally spend no attribute pouts and never use abilities, you'll just steamroll through whatever the game throws at you. And, imho, there's ultimately just no game there.

peacenote

I will admit that I haven't done anything except power level a character (purposefully) in quite some time. As someone else mentioned, it matters not, if I want to experience the quest story again, whether I'm at level 10 or 50, but I need to get to 50 to participate in all the dungeons, have a full build, etc.

BUT I do want to say that in all MMOs it is important for leveling up to become quicker to allow newer players to "jump right in" and play with their friends. This is kind of the natural of order of things. ESO is so large now, with so many things one can unlock and do, that I think it would be bad for the game if it took forever to get from 1 - 50. It would mean newer players would be isolated for quite some time from partnering up with more experienced players and learning from them.

So from a theoretical perspective I think what the OP is describing is a good thing for the health of the game, but I haven't tried it myself in a while. I suppose there's a chance if I tried leveling the normal way I would find it un-satisfying, but I don't think so. There are just a million things to pursue after getting to 50 if you don't buy them... skyshards, Ledgermain, Fighter's Guild, Undaunted, Antiquities (mostly for the glowing chests, haha), and more.

Taril

Tandor wrote: »

This thread is a perfect illustration of the different playstyles players adopt. One favours instant advancement to the endgame (whatever that is beyond something to complain about when you reach it ), and the other favours playing through the game's content at a steady pace so as to maximise your enjoyment of the journey with no particular desire to reach the destination.

To be fair... It's not quite that simple.

Personally, I like playing through the game's content at a steady pace. I just like to have you know... My skills. I also want to finish leveling my companions sometime this century.

Thus, I get to level 50 ASAP because I need the higher base experience gains from this higher level help to acquire skills and level companions.

Which is what I do. I powerlevel to 50, then casually take my time and go quest and explore things at my own pace. Since the entire world scales to me, I retain an adequate experience regardless of what level my character is.

tyjoie wrote: »

But imho, that's a very oversimplified version of a 'classic' TES game, or even just the most recent. e.g. if you rock out of Helgen at like lvl 3 and try to take on a cave troll... I wish you all the vest in Sovngarde.

Not really. That's how the games worked. Everything scaled to your level. There were "Tougher" enemies like Giants or Dragons... But they scaled with you and became Frost Giants and Ancient Dragons (Or Supreme Arch Overlord Draugr) when you leveled up.

tyjoie wrote: »

See, i do like this. I do like how you can do new content out of the gate rather than having to grind through 50 levels before being able to do DLC content. But then, I don't see why you cant sill have the traditional zones be more level dependent, kind of as it was before, but then just have the DLC content be more accessible. I don't see why it all has to be scaled.

Because that's how TES worked. It wasn't "Oh only the DLC content scales to your level" it was EVERYTHING did.

Making the entire world scale to your level means that you have more freedom in how you approach it. You can do quests in any zone at any level and it will be scaled to you.

This not only means you can sequence break and go do some Dolmens in Al'ikir at level 3, but it also means you can jump into Khenarthi's Roost at level 50 and still have things scaled to you.

tyjoie wrote: »

I don't really think that would solve anything, in fact, I think that would feel even more hollow. But that might just be because my brain is used to a 'levelling' system, and not just a 'gotta get all the points' system.

What exactly is the difference between going from level 1-50 and going from CP1-50?

They are both essentially the same system. Do things, get exp, your "Number" goes up.

Instead of the game being about leveling from level 1-50 it's about going from CP1-3600 (With tangible gains dropping off at around CP1600 when you can acquire all passives and enough points for a slottable for every slot)

Whereby instead of "Gear becomes useless" that can happen from leveling (Regardless of how fast it is done) gear remains at a fixed point so you can always find relevant gear (Aside from if you actively farm out the gear you want and then have no use for any drops - The downside of Horizontal Progression based sytems)

Removing levels, would simply remove the issue of gear being "Not worth upgrading/keeping", it would remove the issues in regards to fixed exp requirements (Skills and companions) and would smooth out the overall player power curve (Instead of players getting weaker over time due to the level scaling curve whereby a player at level 50 CP0 is at their weakest, players would only get stronger as they gained CP).

metheglyn

tyjoie wrote: »

metheglyn wrote: »

I remember a quest in early Reaper's March I couldn't beat, and had to come back at a higher level for, so he definitely wasn't 50 at the start of it.

I couldn't kill the Dark Mane for the life of me. Idk if it was because Nighblades were so weak back then, or just because I was terrible at the game, but regardless its a memory I still have like 10 years later, struggling for ages and then finally beating him. Nowadays? Super easy, barely an inconvenience. I miss those days so much.

Yeah, it was the Dark Mane that kicked my butt, too.

LootAllTheStuff

Ingenon wrote: »

Now that I have fully leveled multiple characters, I would like the option in the in-game tutorial to skip leveling. Just dump my new character on the beach in their faction starter zone as level 50.

Oh, and let me pay the gold up front at the stable for all the mount training once I fully level my first character. 45,000 gold (250 * 180), I will happily pull out my banker, pay it all at once and be done with mount training for each subsequent character.

A very different game, but when Gearbox unexpectedly released a 5th BL2 DLC as a promo for BL3, they gave players the option of starting in the new DLC at level 30 in Pt.2 with a whole bunch of skill points to spend and a levelled gear set. For the many who'd played multiples of every class through the game from the start to finish, this was a very welcome way to get reacquainted with the game and characters while experiencing new content for the first time. It's model, not least because it added options for returning versus new players.

Kahnak

tyjoie wrote: »

I feel like this game has became basically just a rush to CP160 to get to the end game content, at the expense of the early game experience. I started playing this game in Beta, and trust me I ain't saying the system was better then. It most certainly wasn't. But I feel like the system has became way too easy to level up quickly, and thus, people don't really get a proper experience with questing anymore. I remember my first character (and I am not saying I levelled him in any way efficiently, I most certainly did not), but I don't even thing I got to level 50 until I was in Coldharbour, and that is with doing most of the content in the zones. (I know I definitely missed stuff, but still, the difference is drastic.). Not only that, but it actually felt challenging at times (triply so because he was a nigh blade), and this continued throughout both my 2nd and 3rd characters to be levelled to 50. But now? Frankly you can just barrel through everything and anything and be at least lvl 30 before even clearing the first proper zone. LIke, wth? I just find this a bit sad ngl. Some of my greatest memories playing this game have been levelling through these zones. Granted, it got very grindy trying to get through the CP levels (think I only ever got to 10 or 11 before the system change), but 1-50? It used to be actually fun. Now it just feels like a chore you have to do until you get to the real content. There ain't even any point in worrying about gear below lvl 50 because you wont be keeping any for any length of time to actually make it worth it to keep upgrading it (which it very much used to be). I feel like the game has lost a bit of its soul doing this (no pun intended) and it should really be addressed/reformed. It even completely breaks the flow of the questline, MQL, FG, and MG in particular, considering you can just steamroll through them without the previous levelling requirements being in place. Which makes them just feel hollow imho. To give some examples, these are some of my character stats. The first two I think I was playing /levelling at least over a year or two ago, then the last one is one I made just yesterday now that I've been in the mood to come back;

Character 1: Level 32 - 20 hours, 25 minutes. Completed Zones (none really but all main content is done): Khenarthi's Roost, Auridon, Grahtwood, most of Greenshade.
Character 2: Level 31 - Arcanist - 17 hours, 44 mins. Completed Zones: Khenarthi's Roost, Auridon, Grahtwood.
Character 3: Level 27 - Sorcerer - 4 hours, 55 minutes. Completed Zones: Khenarthi's Roost, ~1/2 of Auridon. Literally made the character like yesterday.

Like, I don't even think this is an ESO plus thing. If I was playing those characters for that length of time I would have had ESO plus, I tend to just get it whenever I get the urge to play the game. I don't know what, if anything, has actually changed between me levelling characters 1 and 2, and character 3. But it just feels way too quick and easy to level up characters these days.

"Character 3: Level 27 - Sorcerer - 4 hours, 55 minutes. Completed Zones: Khenarthi's Roost, ~1/2 of Auridon. Literally made the character like yesterday."

If you play during an event with a 100% experience boost, this is bound to happen.

"I feel like this game has became basically just a rush to CP160 to get to the end game content"

That might be the case if CP160 = Endgame, but it really doesn't. Even at CP, players are restricted from doing Veteran DLC content until you are CP300. Even then, the mechanics of Veteran trial and DLC content will blow up any player without the CP to mitigate a portion of the damage.

"But I feel like the system has became way too easy to level up quickly, and thus, people don't really get a proper experience with questing anymore."

Questing isn't really the optimal way to level quickly. So, if the player is only questing, it should be reasonable to expect them to get a couple of zones under their belt before they are at level 50. Especially, if they are not doing Dungeon or PvP content where the EXP rewards from the daily will often get you several levels at once.

**Again, I want to reiterate that if you levelled a character yesterday, this won't be your experience with a + 100% experience boost.**

"Now it just feels like a chore you have to do until you get to the real content."

Not to diminish your way of approaching the game, but oftentimes it IS a chore for players until you get to the real content. It's more about your approach to the game, and in my experience, most people are just trying to get to endgame.

"There ain't even any point in worrying about gear below lvl 50 because you wont be keeping any for any length of time to actually make it worth it to keep upgrading it (which it very much used to be)."

I can't claim to be a beta tester, but as someone who has been playing the game for a solid 10 years now I'm not sure I can agree with that. I can't recall that there has ever been a point where collecting gear prior to CP160 was worth doing.

VoxAdActa

tyjoie wrote: »

However currently, all that content has just been made worse imho for everyone because there's overarching mindset about the game where getting lvl 50/CP stage is all that really matters and is where the 'real game' begins.

That is when the real game begins. Actually, it begins somewhat later than that. The only time I had all my skills unlocked by level 50 was when I was leveling a bow/bow character and could neglect my weapon skills to keep two skills from each class line (5 normal and 1 ultimate) on my front bar at all times.

Otherwise, at level 50, even when making sure all the class lines are equally represented along with at least one unusable skill from the back bar weapon, I have class skills still locked at level 50 (much less be ready to morph), and my backbar weapon was only in the low 40s. Someone leveling without considering skill line xp (like a new player) may have two class lines in the 30s and a super-low backbar weapon skill by the time they start opening up champ points. And this isn't even counting leveling things like fighter's guild skills, mage's guild skills, psijic skills, soul magic skills, etc.

The game begins when you can start to figure out which skills fit your playstyle and which ones you want on your bars, and you can't do that when you're still trying to unlock a bunch of them. Even using a guide, you don't even know if you'll like that setup until you actually get to play with it. (I tried that with magsorc, and ended up hating the rotation the guide suggested; I had to go back and level everything else to find skills that were actually fun to use.)

Hell, I ignored Silver Shards forever; I only unlocked it on my most recent char out of curiosity. I love it so much. I wish I'd found it and played with it sooner. But you can't do that while leveling if you want your class lines and weapon lines to be as close to maxed as possible by the time you hit 50.

So yes, the game begins at level 50 (at the absolute earliest, on a one-weapon build specifically leveled to make sure it happens).

And that doesn't even take gear sets into account. Before 50, it's not reasonable to expect to even have a full overland set completed before you've overleveled the first piece you found, and stopping to make new craftable armor every 10–15 levels is such a tedious delay.

shadyjane62

After ten years I am on my umpteenth alt, I want them cp160 asap. Really sucks to be leveling in Cyro and not be able to chase down that scroll because you level 26 and slow as molasses.

Hapexamendios

I haven't leveled any new characters since the arcanist was introduced. I leveled them up as fast as I could and was happy to do so.

Tenthirty2

I think the rate is just right. There are options for those that want to power level.
For others who want to take their time it seems about right for that too.

Personally, there are plenty of LONG term grinds in the game already, I don't want leveling to become one of them.

TaSheen

I just LOVE my lowbie alts.... They are actually my raison d'être.... in this or any game.

Estin

It's not too bad if you play the game in its original intended way. A few years ago when I returned to the game, I made a new character and went through the base game as DC. I did every side quest, dungeon, and dolmen in each zone, as well as each guild quest and main quest within the same pacing as pre one tamriel. I was only using random gear obtained from drops and quests. The early levels went by super fast, and I hit level 35 by mid stormhaven, but by then it slowed down a lot. I didn't hit level 50 until a quarter of the way through bangkorai. I did do a couple of daily randoms, and there was an explorers event for a few days that gave double xp, so I probably could've stretched reaching level 50 until cold harbor which is mostly like how it was pre one tamriel. I also had ESO+, so that sped things up a bit too. The only problem was difficulty was nonexistent, but thankfully that is getting fixed sometime this year.

You're only going to level up fast if you see out fast leveling methods, especially during any event that gives double xp, and like I said, the early levels go by super fast but slow down in the mid 30s.