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- it makes the games less accessible to new players.
- it shortens the overall player lifespan in a game

Yes, that's what I wrote in the P.S.

The problem here that Blizzard's design is once again "flawless" in the implementation. Those limits aren't in the execution of the model or a design "mistake". They are part of the model itself. So we are back at exactly one year ago at that discussion about levels.

What I wanted to underline is that you presented the problem of the mudflation as something that devs should fight or reduce. Something undesired, negative. You listed some "solutions" to keep mudflation under control. But instead the mudflation is the *desired effect*.

The mudflation isn't a side effect, it's exactly what the devs WANT. It's the lifeblood of this model. Fighting it from the design perspective not only doesn't work quite well, but it's even counterproductive. The mudflation here is the *goal* and justification.

And yes. Here it's the model that should be moved past its limits. You can stretch it, till it breaks. It's not "long term".

I use to compare it to the idea of "ecology". There's a way to live along with the world. And there's a way to destroy it progressively. This MMO model is the latter. It works in the short term, even if here the "short term" is already desirable enough for game companies as they need more excuses to work on sequels instead of preserve a real "virtual world".

So the recipe is: we exploit it till we can. When it breaks we make another.