So how would we go about adding character progression after level cap? This is something a few other games have actually dealt with over the years. The first system is arguably the simplest – Alternate Advancement points. Players from EverQuest, Marvel Heroes, Rift and arguably The Secret World (though that’s technically their only leveling system) will be quite familiar with these points. For those who aren’t familiar with the concept, AA points are essentially pseudo-levels. As you adventure post-level cap, rather than all of that experience going to waste, you start to fill up a new bar. Whenever that bar is filled, you gain one AA point. When you open your AA page, your character will have a variety of options available to spend those points – often this is portrayed with a series of grids. Most circles/hexes on the grid will have some minor bonus like +1% max HP, +2% run speed, bonus damage or even a damage/healing proc for their abilities. A few will have much larger boosts or even situational powers and abilities, but these cost far more AA points than the smaller bonuses.
Now that we’ve got this AA grid, some might wonder “Alright, so now I can only play my main class to get AA points?” If we were playing Rift, then yes because the AA grid is character (and therefore class) specific. Since FFXIV(ff14 rmt) lets you level everything, it would be more akin to Marvel Heroes‘ interpretation with Omega Points. Whenever I play a character there, whether it’s my 60 Star-Lord or my 20-something Gambit, I’m always making progress towards another Omega Point. No matter what I feel like playing, whether it’s my favorite or an alt I’m playing around on, there’s always some form of progress and an AA system in FFXIV should take that approach. A White Mage leveling a Pugilist just for fun wouldn’t feel like they wasted time that could have been used farming on their main. That Archer in your guild who swapped to Warrior to tank for you may not be able to roll Need for any loot, but at least he could build up AA points for his main class.
As much as I like AA systems, there is some risk to introducing a grid-based AA system such as what I’ve proposed: new players. In most cases a guild won’t worry too much about who has what AA points – balanced correctly, each point is within that “skill can cover for raw power” margin. It’s not out of the question though for a more elitist guild to use AA grid progression or even AA choices as guidelines for who’s on the frontlines and who’s getting benched. Certain AA boosts like increased elemental resistances could even lead to a guild calling for members to farm up AA points prior to a new raid boss to assist progression. Again, this is very unlikely unless you’re in that top 0.1% of guilds, but it is a potential weakness to balance around.
