Nate I’m actually surprised you are showing discount through 97, because based on what Chris said above, your Old level 42 total of 340,xxx lines up with New level 76 or so. So that would be the target based on his explanation of Jonas being at Old 48 and getting discounts up through New 89. Based on that, I’m at 44 and was expecting to see discounts through New 81. And yes, regardless of the target level, our discounts will use up nowhere near all of our apparent excess XP. I’m really curious to see what my screen shows, hoping for the update to hit soon. I think the main answer to all this is that it’s really not feasible to give us all discounts matching our XP excess on a 1-1 basis - it would have to last way beyond level 100 and that’s mythical at the moment. So, yes, for a given New level, we’ll end up having ridden substantially more actual KM than any brand new user who starts today and sticks around - which feels wrong in a way, but since they are trying to merge two distinct realities, I think it’s probably better to have something to chase than to just instantly be (in my case) at New level 81 with no effort to pursue the unlocks etc.
If you ride regularly, like most high-level riders do, you will also get a ton of XP from the streaks. It’s really generous. Basically I’ll get 500 XP per week indefinitely even if I’m hardly riding at all.
lol
163 comments in 1 day and counting for the most overly engineered “fix” for a straightforward ask.
I’ve already cited my own numbers at level 42. Today I logged on and have two chevrons from 42 >> 97.
Funny… I’m Lv45 and it shows going from 45 to 96… weird huh
The 3 chevrons shows that you are getting bonus XP for your rides as you have banked over the needed amount for the old level 60. Basically, since you ride a lot, in a few months you will hit level 100. We were working on itemizing the XP earned at the end of the ride, but didn’t get the coding done before the release. So that is something you should see in an upcoming release.
That XP doesn’t vanish. Your total XP earned is always there, and for some it is a bragging right. We are not taking any XP away, we are just rewarding those of you that are hardcore riders. We tried the 1-1 payback and it was a worse experience when we tested it. We actually tried many different options and landed on this one. We want the leveling up to be rewarding and often. We didn’t opt for the massive XP per level as it would feel very grindy. Most people don’t like grindy games that require a ton of work just to get one level. We wanted the leveling to be fun, rewarding, and more often to incentivize people to ride and achieve their goals. I know for some of you, it feels like we missed the mark. But we have to look at the total population of Zwift and try to come up with solutions that work for our entire population of riders. We want people to be excited to hit new levels and get cool new unlocks. We want the frames and drops needed to be aligned with levels. So we had to start from the ground up and build it right. That’s why we just didn’t tack on a few extra levels, but really did our homework on what works for the vast majority of riders. We rebuilt the leveling system so that we can easily update it in the future if the need arises. And we are discussing internally how we can make the Garage a better experience. How can we build cool items to incentivize people to spend their hard earned drops. I say this with all sincerity that our team appreciates everyone’s constructive feedback good or bad. It helps us understand how we can make the experience better for everyone. So please Ride On and hopefully in the new year we can bring a smile to everyone on this forum.
This is a good question, and I would like to offer some suggestions.
The latest rollouts, among the beta testing of controllers, indicate that Zwift is attempting to make this more game-like to reach a wider audience. I agree with this approach and think we need not re-invent the wheel. In fact, this is something many MMORPGs do rather well, where players can chase achievements and unlock special things for playing the game longer term.
My suggestions for this would be something like custom “mounts” or bikes, in the case. Recall when Zwift gave everyone a big wheel? Why not make the big wheel available for a ridiculous amount of drops? This could be things like special jerseys (Tron jersey, perhaps?) or kits, different avatar options, or adding a new feature in the drop shop like on-demand custom effects. Imagine going into a race and being able to put a trail of fire or something for 10 seconds as you sprint, having your avatar ride hand free, being able to drop a 10 thumb ride on, or doing a squirt bottle dump like the pro?
Other ideas include things such as:
- Per n number of drops = x amount off that month (the more you ride, the more you save?)
- Ability to gift bikes, tire sets, etc. to friends you make in the game.
- Teams pooling drops to have their jersey available in the shop.
- Ability to make any bike, any combination of colors.
This would, of course, require an expansion of the shop beyond what it is today. Though, doing so would allow players to have a robust spend in the shop and differentiate their avatars further in-game.
There are a lot of features Zwift can add to make it more enticing for existing players and attract a much wider audience, but wanted to take a moment to talk about drops and the drop shop.
I hope you don’t mind if we steal some of these ideas…
I just leveled up to level 43.
My rider score is 355,806.
Under the “legacy” XP levels, level 43 should be 360,000.
Is the “early” level up due to the 20%?
I’m over 1,300,000XP and only going slowly up to level 98, it’s in order for you to enjoy the challenge and thrilling experience of earning the levels, just ignore all the riding you already did. 
What might be good are two new hyper bikes:
- an extreme lightweight climbing bike at 8,000,000 drops
- an extreme aero bike at 8,000,000 drops
This would give the drops billionaires something to buy, and the rest something to aspire to - especially to use in racing. That would make the racing field lopsided but would also encourage those without the hyperbikes to ride more to get them.
According to the Insider article and based on my understanding (could be wrong), there is the 20% discount but also a double XP. When the levels were increased last time, you would see 40xp per km during the double XP… so I guess the question is, double XP could work the same way (that is, I should see 40xp instead of 20xp/km). OR, it could simply halve the XP requirement to next level, but only show the usual 20xp. It might be answered somewhere, it is a bit convoluted.
Maybe in the future an approach like some video games: once you hit level 100, you have the option, whenever you want, to start over at level 1. However, you keep your drops and anything in your garage. Perhaps you get a special kit, unique color option, or flair for your rider. You do it again, you get another flair or whatever.
As a rider, I don’t really care what my level is but do find it motivating to ‘keep working for something’.
I don’t think you’ve done the math.
Before the switchover, I’d ridden 882 hours and accumulated 660894 XP. With route badge bonuses and double XP ToW rides, etc., that averages to ~750 XP/hour.
Under the new system, my level is unchanged at 57, but at 750 XP/hour, a newbie who starts today can reach level 57 in a mere 272 hours of riding. That’s less than 1/3 of the time it’s taken me to get here.
But, wait! I get a 20% discount through level 97. That will save me 70800 XP, or ~94 hours of riding. So, I will reach level 97 after another 378 hours of riding, for a grand total of 1260 hours of riding.
In comparison, a newbie who starts riding today will reach level 100 after only 788 hours of riding.
Maybe the XP hasn’t vanished, but it certainly has been devalued. You’re essentially giving me 41 cents on the dollar for my hard-earned XP. True hardcore riders are getting a much worse deal.
How is that a ‘reward’?
452738 XP, Lv47 >> Lv94 ???
But why do you care what someone else is experiencing? It doesn’t affect your use of Zwift whatsoever.
Deal! I’ll have one of each. More drops than I know what to do with and a garage full of unless tat.
Funny old thread this. Lots of zwifters who have been riding for 2-3 years upset at OG zwifters for being level 60 with loads of XP. Been on zwift since beta so why shouldn’t I get treated well for all my XP.
I personally wouldn’t be keen for expensive Drops items to provide an in-game advantage. But I would be keen for them to provide extra cosmetics - dino suit, penny farthing, etc.
I stopped paying attention to my XP about 3 years ago when i hit level 60…or whenever that was.
I’m currently on 1.4 million XP…is that good??
I agree, for competitive races and TTs. No issue with them being used in freerides, workouts, group rides etc.
Even with the current frames/wheels, I think it’s wrong that newcomers and those at lower levels usually have a competitive disadvantage.
Don’t worry, Brian’s going to keep ignoring you and me because the numbers don’t add up and they know it. Really reminds me of: “The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment”. IFYKYK