XP is a Terrible Thing to Waste

The first thought that popped into my head this morning was "MAN, I gotta pee!"  That was quickly followed by "Huzzah!  It's Slayer Day!"

I waddled downstairs, as fast as a sleepy bear can, and booted up the computer.  I just wanted to make my character, you understand... I knew I couldn't play this morning.  Hm, maintenance should be done by 5:00... okay, it's past 5... what the shazbot?  Server still down.

Oh.  5:00 post-meridian.  Stupid Syp.  Well, that's that!

So I might as well jaw about last night and a couple thoughts related to it.  As I posted, Syp finally limped across the semi-finish line of rank 40, only about five months after the rest of the community, or so it seems.  I could've gotten there a lot faster, but at more risk of burnout and frustration, so I'm glad I took my time.  Even so, it's of great relief to have a max-level character, because that kind of frees me up in the game.  I don't have to be as single-focused on a character, because now I have a toon that can do most end game stuff if need be, or help a guildie, or be a piggy bank.  Syp still has a ways to go in terms of gear (I have three lesser wards, but that's it) and, of course, renown ranks (I'm, what, 29?). 

I was cackling in glee with my rank 40 skill, focused fire -- where were you when I was leveling up?  With my new respec into the rifle path, I'm death with a gun and enjoying leaving grenades (for the most part) behind.  It's like a little game to see if I can pull a mob and kill it before it even touches me.

While there are many good things about hitting 40 -- I'm still waiting on my level 40 bag slots, by the way, that was a bit of a letdown -- there's that psychological Wall (capital W) to deal with.  You know, the abrupt shift in game tone as you go from a leveling game into the end game.  The shift from getting XP and feeling that, no matter what you're doing, you're usually contributing toward a new level to not getting XP and feeling that killing Mr. Monster isn't as rewarding as it once was.  I really hate that feeling, to be honest. 

I know there's a lot to do and ways to progress, it feels as though the PvE game gets yanked away from you because of the XP loss.  PvE in Warhammer is already on uncertain ground, with other aspects of the game -- namely scenarios and oRvR -- gaining ground or overtaking in terms of rewards, and I have to ask myself, why should I continue to do PvE-related activities at 40?  Other than dungeon/city runs for loot, that is.

Take quests for example -- why should I do them any more, unless there's a specific reward attached?  I don't think they bump up the gold received to compensate for the XP loss (a la WoW), so the time and effort is not worth putting into them.  As a dedicated Tome unlocker, I'm just stunned how incredibly hard some of these bestiary unlocks are proving to be, and now I'm at max rank and don't need the benefit of Tome Tactics as much as I would've leveling up.  PQs?  Yeah, I guess... but by the time I was 37, I already had gear better than most anything I could win with a PQ in the end game.  All there's left, it seems, is renown, shunting us over to RvR and encouraging us to never look at PvE again.

I'm not entirely comfortable with that.  I mean, I'm all for increasing incentives to RvR, and that's WAR's end game, and that's okay... but I feel it's a dangerous and limiting thing to treat PvE at rank 40 like so much garbage.  As though it was a stepping stool to get us up there, and now that we are, we can cast it aside. 

So here's my thought -- since there are many ways that you could still theoretically earn XP at max rank (quests, PQs, unlocks, RvR), why can't rank 40 XP be used for a different purpose than leveling?  Off the top of my head:

• This probably goes against renown's purpose, but perhaps 1/4th of projected earned XP could be converted straight into renown, giving you renown increase at max rank.  Or if you don't feel comfortable with PvE activities earning renown, how about limiting it to scenarios and RvR, where whatever XP you'd earn there would be converted at a lesser rate into a renown bump?
• To give people a second path to earning Tome Tactics, why not let people choose a particular Tome Tactic to "level" with earned XP?
• It merits saying again, boost quest $$ to compensate for lost XP when you hit max rank.
• I love the idea of leveling weapons or gear, a la LOTRO -- perhaps special gear you earn at max rank could be leveled with XP!
• An "apprentice" system, where XP you would've earned would either go in a small part to one of your alts, or to boosting their rested XP.
• Treating XP as a new type of currency that you can "bank" at max level, being able to spend it on special items, trophies, etc.

Just a few ideas, my friends.  Just a few.