So, here I am slowly working my way up the merit levels. I am in no particular rush, nor do I find it participially daunting and certainly not overwhelming. I like a good grind; I come from a background of far more grindy games than this and enjoyed the leveling process along the way. The game I am most found in memory is Final Fantasy 11, before the game was turned to a more easy leveling avenue, due to changing times and an aging game. It would take you months of intense leveling to get your character to max level.

As aforementioned, I enjoyed it a lot. I certainly couldn't do that nowadays (job, kids, house, etc) yet still as easy as the leveling is (by comparison) its still such a drag. So, I took some time to think about it to try and figure out what was missing for me, personally, when leveling my character. I think (again, this is from my perspective) that the problem is there is far too much stick and not enough carrot when leveling through veteran ranks. Let me explain by using 11 as a comparison and something I would like to see implemented here in whatever fashion suited this game.

In 11 when you reached level 75 (the cap back when I was playing) you earned something called "Merit Points" or this games version of veteran points. In ESO, gaining veteran ranks is more or less a token badge of extending the grind and some nebulous strength gain. This is where the too much stick and not enough carrot comes into play. I like a good grind, but what am I doing it for other than being a completionist? I don't even get skill points for crawling through the ranks. What are we doing it for with any weight behind it? Perhaps I am mistaken but I think this is what is upsetting people the most when it comes to leveling through veteran ranks. There should be a reward to it while you're doing it that is unique.

In 11, when you gathered so many points you would earn a merit point. With that merit point you could do one of several dozen things. You could spend it to cut down the timer on skills - since skills are not time based in this game maybe it could cut down ultimate cost? You could raise the number on your HP, mana, strength (power in this game), several character attributes. You could raise the base damage on the weapon of your choice to its own personal cap. You could raise the base defensive bonus on your armor or shield. You could raise the damage on your class skills one at a time. On and on.

Now, I'm not going to bother to make exacts, because overly wordy post are sometimes hard to read but I am sure we could see a translation here. Would you like to buy into certain unique and personal abilities with veteran points? In 11 I believe in was 10,000 exp per point (10k was A LOT back then), would you like to have so many unique points change into a point for you to use? Instead of raising the cap over and over again would you rather be working to upgrade your character into several different personal ways? Would that take some of the bite out of veteran leveling if you felt you were constantly working towards something?

What do you guys think? What other experiences do you have from other games that you'd like to see in some fashion? Obviously you can't copy and paste - but ideas generated by past experience can be translated into new unique ideas. Again, what would you like to see? What do you think would give levity to vetern rank leveling other than just doing it for the sake of doing it?

Share some ideas.