There is enough content in the game now to get to lvl 55 or so just by playing the episodes.
That is after they lowered the minimum level requirements to play those missions, its just evidence how asinine was to just double XP requirements due to people running Patrol missions to XP Farm.
IIRC the xp needed after that goes up a LOT.
That is not the problem.
The problem is there is nothing else to do and also you are stuck on a free T5 Ship without mastery and as I said, new players are likely not grasping the Cryptic mechanics (this is a company that have no problems with their tooltips downright LIE) and the enemies being pretty much "balanced" with Mastery in mind.
However, the admirality system (read: a card game where you send you ships on missions) pays a shitton of xp, moah than the neutered DOFFing.
Ah yes, I forgot to mentioned they doubled the XP requirements but they "forgot" to double DOFF assignment XP rewards, this is why Admiralty pays well because the DOFF system been pretty much abandoned since the guy who created left the company and the person that replaced him doesnt give a shit (we are talking about someone that called reports on the forums assigments not appearing because they were broken "rumors") outside the mandatory gimmick DOFF powers that come in Lock boxes.
But Admiralty being a fucking card game requires having a deck, you cannot have a good deck ... heck not even a large deck as a free player because you only get the free ships that means what? 10 cards?
I had some old lvl 58 Derpa Raisin toon I slotted some 'mirin for while I was doing the mandatory winter grinding. Getting 10k xp for a non-crit mission is definitely worth the 30 seconds it took to slot.
The XP weekend was affecting Admiralty XP payout, I also gained many levels as I was trying to get Tour to appear but I have a larger deck to play with, new players are stuck with 2-3k payouts because good luck with 100/100/100 ... they are limited on the free ships they have that cannot fill those requirements, the T6 event ships can but that means they had to been here last year.
Does say a lot about a game if you level faster by not playing tho...
Admiralty was likely a attempt to make people buy the obsolete T5 ships and continue to buy ships like they did pre-DR ... but I doubt its working because its $60 for a card, its still too slow for XP requirements due to the inanity of having to get at least 55 levels post Lv60, I suspect T6 ships arent selling as well due to the lower player population and the big Fuck You with the T-5(U) and Specialization seems as a mechanic been largely forgotten by the players because it takes so fucking long and thus the T6 specialist seating might well not be there.
It just shows how ill-conceived was DR expansion mechanics and also how their lack of respect to their players AND paying customers was created a situation that I suspect made them worst off post-DR that before in relation to sales and a lot of that come from then not wanting to do their work without you having to give then 60 bucks, the mastery system is a example because all T5 ships should had them with the Upgrade giving them the same stats as T6 minus Trait and specialization seat but of course they knew better because the literally faggot of a community manager pretty much locked down any discussion about T5U on their forums, just shows how self centered they are in relation to player feedback, its really "my way or the highway" ... until they the highway is so packed (because we dont have to do it, something that always seem to forget) they have to go back and change things in a attempt to justify how they just spend 4 months of work on something not even 10% uses.
The CORRECT way to play the game is to go off the rails and intentionally avoid doing as much of the standard content, I.E., the story, as possible. At some point you may choose to do so, for your filthy FUN, but only after you've successfully subverted it first. Because it's not so much a paywall as it is a payhole. A wall is something you hit no matter what. A hole is something you dug yourself into.
