I found this tonight. I have absolutely no idea whether or not this is what SE's developers really think or not, but I will assume for the sake of this post that that actually did come from an interview with a senior FFXI developers' group.
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.htm...1819531&num=17
You'll notice I put death in quotation marks in the title since FFXI's endgame is already in an abysmal state. Now, I think most people would agree that the whole level capped area concept didn't work out too well in CoP. Let's face it, CoP level capped areas are barely used as it is. The addition of *more* level capped content would be a really big waste of developer resources. Sure, the level capped areas have had a few gimmicks added to them, NMs and HNMs that have some decent loot, but for the 20 or so hours where those NMs are not up, people only use those areas for CoP missions.This is SE's latest comprehensive strategy guide. There is an interview section where the FFXI senior development group answer several very popular questions.
I can only paraphrase what was in the book, so take what you will...
When asked if there were any plans to raise the level cap beyond 75 they replied that there are no current plans to raise the cap. However, they will consider it if such a step becomes necessary.
They go on to explain that they actually design the game from the standpoint of a level 100 cap.
Also, they bring up the old level 50 cap and explain that all the NMs they had designed to be difficult for high level players during this time are now far too easy for the game's current high level player base.
They would prefer to keep the game interesting by encouraging players to develop clever strategies to overcome obstacles and raising the cap would render much of the current content obsolete. (this last paragraph is heavily paraphrased)
As such, they believe developing more level capped content would be he way to go.
They also talk about the difficulty (necessity?) of creating new zones and monsters to cater to new high level players should they decide to raise the cap.
If SE really does plan on packaging in their next expansion with a lot of level capped content, it's going to doom the game. Asking players to downgrade their equipment to meet new content while adding in a minor amount of new endgame content (which is unfinished, might I add) is the equivalent of saying "Okay, we feel there are enough things to do at LV75 now, so instead of providing further progressive content to keep players from getting bored, we're going to add level capped content which is going to be accessible by more players even though it will be consumed 10 times faster than endgame content."
This is the problem that continues to plague FFXI even though it could be such a great game. What provides greater longevity for the game: an area that has HNMs with enough loot to last you 3-6 months, or an area whose content is consumed within a matter of days?
I doubt I would be sitting here writing this post if, instead of the Promyvions, Rivernes, Phomiuna, and Sacrarium being level capped areas, they were designed for LV60-LV75+ with multiple endgame NMs/HNMs in each. Where is the CoP equivalent to Ifrit's Cauldron or Den of Rancor? These are zones that have *tons* of NMs with varying drops as well as two of the most useful endgame NMs in the game, both of which are triggered by pop items. The answer is that there are none. Attohwa Chasm has 1 NM, 1 HNM (with horrible drop rates), and 1 endgame HNM that doesn't even have loot that makes it worth killing. Uleguerand Range has 1 NM and 1 endgame HNM (which has even worse loot).
Instead of actually finishing the real content faster, they give us things like "Enhanced Clamming System!" and "Mannequin Poses," which may well be good and fun but you don't see the clamming points on Purgonorgo Isle being camped by 100 people.
Anyways, the point of this post is to question whether SE is really getting the message about what they need to start doing to fix this game. This last patch added barely any, *if any*, content that isn't a one-shot deal. The last thing this game needs is more level capped content.