I posted this originally in another thread. Subsequent posts indicated to me that people that would have benefited from this information managed to have missed it entirely.
Since it's such a popular topic at the moment I figured I might as well make it into its own thread. Perhaps some of you may find this interesting. I did.
Link:
World Report
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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.
Thats the gist of it, do not take this verbatim since much of this I had to take from memory and my roommate had to translate this for me.
If there are other people out there that have read this section of the book, please feel free to clarify anything I may have misrepresented.