Level Soft Cap - 76

not to be rude, but i think you have the definition of "hard cap" and "soft cap" mixed up. Hard cap means cannot be exceeded by any means, soft cap means severe slow down but can be exceeded. My opinion is soft caps should not change at all once they have been established. I think the whole point of soft caps is to allow players to catch up in level at some point, if the soft cap is increased just because someone reached it then what's even the point of a soft cap?

Yes, it's exactly what I meant. Soft cap is meant to slow down progresses but not to a point that it completely discourages someone to level. It should be a progress when slowing down leveling. If Lv76 is meant to be that hard, the exp requirement should start slowing around lv 72-75. For example, it should get exponentially hard since lv 72, each level should require double the exp from prior.

But in this case, the exp requirement between lv 72 - 75 is not that much, maybe like 20%-50% more exp required? Then suddenly, Lv76 is like 30 times harder than before. At this rate, it literally will take a year or more to reach lvl 77.

To your other point, I agree that soft cap should not change at all once they have been established. Does that mean the community is okay that no one will ever reach lv80?

I do agree that much off an exp drop off at 76 compared to 75 might be a bit drastic. not sure there is a clear solution that pleases everyone on this topic. I do agree that maybe there should off been a gradual exp drop off from 72-76. maybe the gms could work this problem out. I believe soft caps are important in lineage, but I can deff see the discouragment of playing if 4 hours of leveling only gets you .20%.

Zelgo for instance had cap of 72

Then 1 year later 73 etc

Justice had awful exp for years no

Not saying we won't increase cap but the server is 6 months old

A handful of people leveled 24/7, knowing this cap is there from inception

The other 95% played with the same knowledge

Now a few people make noise, what would you do

I'm level 75 and stopped leveling because I'm scared of the 76 cap. I feel for you SoulWarrior QQ

Zelgo had a soft cap of 72, but it still allowed people to level beyond 72 , ie. level 79. I feel the definition of soft cap here is different than anywhere else. I really feel the soft cap here is more like a hard cap.

So what does soft cap mean there

You can level pastv76, its just 20x slower

Think of the pros and cons of a soft cap too, beyond personal goals

From other servers, the definition of soft cap is that everyone should be able to get to that level with normal effort (several weeks of playing?) I see here the soft cap is more like 70 and level 76 is more like hard cap because levelling beyond 76 is seemingly impossible.

I think when there are atleast a dozen or so players who are 76 then the soft cap could be redone and making the exp drop off from 75 to 76 less punishing, but with only 1 player at 76 so far it might not be good idea to lift now.

soft caps are for players to catch up to hardcore players, gotta let atleast some catch happen before changing it.

I was gonna tag you and snoopy and King haha. You guys should reach 76 in a week or two.

Our understanding of soft cap is different. Like Oz stated, the soft cap in other servers is the point where leveling started to slow. Making it 20 times harder that previous level is pretty much a hard cap.

If I were you @mephi , I would disclose more details about the planning for level cap. Is soft cap staying the same forever? Because that is the most sensible, reasonable, and fair approach. If you are changing the cap down the road, it is undermining the efforts from the hard grinders. The more time you put in leveling the high level you are, there is nothing wrong with that. If you are worried about the gap, then soft cap is placed to slow it down, progressively. Some servers uses the 2x harder rule from prior level which pretty much eventually place a hard cap after a couple levels.

the problem for hardcore levelers is even if the soft cap is raised youll reach the next cap very quickly compared to everyone else, then youll be back in the same spot as right now, discouraged to play cause leveling to hard. If the soft cap does get changed, then the change needs to be permanent and no further cap changes made after that, cause if it keeps getting changed we will have lvl 100 characters eventually lol. at some point you hardcore levelers should go touch grass or play something else for a bit 😛 , i mean that with good intentions tho, no trash talk ^^.

I have played in a server that the soft cap is lv76, after that each level is two times harder. The highest level for that server is lv 81.

And the server is about 4 years old

thats not the def of soft cap imo

hard cap means it just stops at 76 until a new expansion or whatever, imo, like Wow classic level 60, wow TBC level 70, wow WOTLK level 80

2 times harder means nothing here seemingly, especially with purchased leveling power

Seems like the admin of that server doesn't understand what soft cap means and the real soft cap is higher. Probably 80 or 81

Depends on how much of a degenerate the level 81 person is

we'll figure it out, but it really means to slow down significantly, not just x2

That’s fine. Soft cap now should stay and not changed

its not meant to be there forever, but we need to figure out the increase dynamics

1 level per X months/year, but it really should be based on average progresison

Yamm is an enabler

🧌

Next poll should be about soul touching grass

I vote 2X 75 exp for 76, 3X 75 for 77, definitely not 20X harder 😢

i in solidarity with soulwarrior will also be doing 0.2% every 4 hours 🙏🏻

A 20x XP spike from 76 to 77 acts as a functional hard cap; it’s such a massive wall that it completely blocks progression. On the other hand, Flaaaar’s suggestion (using a progressive increase like 2x, 3x, 4x, etc.) works much better as a true soft cap. It allows for a natural spread of player levels, with people naturally stopping wherever the grind gets too intense for them. Right now, the current system just parks everyone at 76, and no one is hitting 77 until that wall is removed. I think this is more of what people believe is a "soft cap", because the current one is functionally a hard cap.

Praise Flaaaar

The biggest progression hurdle in Lineage has always been the experience curve. The game uses extreme exponential scaling, especially after major milestones, creating a deliberate soft cap that shifts progression away from leveling and toward farming gear, enchantments, and other long-term goals.

That's exactly what a soft cap is meant to do. While I understand Yamm's desire for Soul to keep leveling, I think the level 76 soft cap is healthy for the server and should function as it does now.

These walls have always been part of Lineage's design. They're intended to redirect player focus, slow the constant dopamine loop of leveling, and encourage progression through other systems instead of endless XP grinding.

I get that it feels bad when the numbers stop going brrrr; but for the long-term health of the server, they have to stop somewhere.