yeah - i only stopped to get to the 1,000,000 total they had suggested
Just wanted to throw my two cents in if your guys are truly “running these things past you”.
I am annoyed with this because I have near 1 million XP, however some things earlier this year had me off the bike for quite a bit of time. So I was not able to take advantage of these cheaper levels. Now I get hit with, go do twice the work/XP for each level. This leaves a sour taste for me.
IMO like what others are saying, just add levels after 100. It’s also coming across to me as quite indecisive that within 4 months you have changed the system 2 times. I mean make your mind up and stick to your guns.
If you don’t want to just add levels. Then just introduce a way to continuously repeat 1-100 again and again and again in the current system.
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Zwift, I offer a suggestion around leveling, XP and what that means to many in the community. After reading the above thread it is clear that many are (understandably) upset that many riders well north of 1 million XP are no where close to level 100 and may have to work harder now to get there, and equally riders who are at level 100 may have well below 1 million XP (and won’t be reverted in a new leveling scheme-which makes sense). Of course a lot of this is around the pride of wearing a 100 level jersey-a show of pride for all the hard work.
My proposal: to help with this discrepancy, what if anyone at 1 million XP or higher had a different way (than leveling) to publicly distinguish this achievement? A few examples: 1) maybe they unlock a new unique color of tron bike (think how many wanted that yellow bike from the games!), 2) maybe, like a world championship rider, have a neon rainbow sleeve that is automatically applied to all jersey’s, or 3) going back to the Tron bike, maybe they can change colors of the front/rear wheel independently or 4) much like the new white halo you can toggle on/off when around other riders, maybe have a yellow halo (not a religious reference-more of a maillot jaune reference) that all other riders would see. Any of these are ways to visually/publicly acknowledge those who have spent the time accumulating all the XP irrespective of what level they are at, nor would it be affected by any future changes in the leveling system. Would probably help resolve some of the frustration of the riders (which I share BTW).
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Banked XP is probably the weirdest part of the Zwift leveling system before this change, and it impacts people’s starting level in the new change - meaning some long time Zwifters will have way more XP at a much lower level than many L100 riders in the new system when it comes into play - which is silly.
I “think” the banked XP system was put in place because otherwise people with a lot of XP would have just been auto-moved to the highest level in the old system and would immediately have nowhere to go.
So, if in Zwift’s new system they allow the levels to go high enough with enough XP that the vast majority of longer time Zwifters would still have room to gain levels then they can just move everyone to where they should be in levels based on their actual XP, not “when” they got that XP.
If Zwift does not want the XP to go that high, then they could look into prestige systems (i.e. allow folks to choose to prestige and restart leveling with some indication of how many times the user’s done that either by a shirt, bands, a logo, bike, whatever). But again in this model you can allow anyone to get to their actual prestige level based on their XP, not based on any odd “banked” XP progression.
My guess is there’s nothing they will be able to do to re-balance the system they just introduced a few months back without annoying some group of people. The new system they are proposing makes way more sense than the one they initially introduced, but it’s hard to move the goal posts once they are set, and it does really weird things with people on the banked XP system.
Maybe that means we just have to live with the current 1-100 system, and extend it in a way that makes sense, then give people the ability to get out of the banked XP system and to the level they actually should be at.
This would mean:
- Keep the current 1-100 progression even though they could have done much better with these, and should have thought it through more before releasing it: It is what it is at this point.
- Create new levels with a progression that goes far enough that long time Zwift users will not immediately max out. OR, if Zwift does not want their XP system to go that high they can implement a prestige system.
- Put everyone at the level that they should be at with their current actual XP, which would completely remove banked XP, OR if people really don’t want to be at that level you can give those people the option of not moving to their actual level based on XP.
This way anyone with the same XP who wants to, will be at the same level as anyone else at that XP regardless of when they got the XP, and there will still be a way to continue making progress through levels (either by more levels, or a prestige system), and nobody in this model gets a level downgrade.
Or they can just do what is proposed, stomach a lot of complaints, wait a few months, and then the complaints will eventually die down.
6 Likes
Maybe you should be looking at video games for levelling inspiration?
Gradually increase XP required as you get closer to the level cap (100)
At Level 100 give the option to enter a prestige level - give an unlock, maybe a bagel next to the riders name
Plenty of progression so you always feel like you are moving forward but reward high level players with the recognition of prestige level badges etc
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This has been suggested several times and it seems like the simplest thing to do.
Sure, some people might be accelerated through several rounds of prestige and have “3 stars” on their profile (or however it’s displayed). But that’s OK! Those people have put the time in.
IMO it’s much better than Zwift arbitrarily making us re-level through XP we already accrued, simply because they don’t have a plan for when people inevitably hit the level cap (and let’s be fair, they’ve only had 8 years or so to think about this since people started hitting the first level 20 cap).
Oh, wait, there is a plan. When you hit 100 you can do 100 again and get 50,000 Drops. Ignoring the fact that the last thing anyone at level 100 needs is more Drops. I’m only level 53 and have 10 million of the things.
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Will there be an opportunity to discuss Coffee Breaks again?
I thought that was equally entertaining.
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You’re only allowed to use coffee break from level 75 and above?. But only with the new level 75
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I know the answer…
Scrap levels, xp and drops, if you want a different bike you have to find them hidden away, or steal them from other users
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Whatever the final version ends up being, give us the choice to either stay at the current level or be placed at the correct new level based on accumulated XP.
Those that choose to stay at the current level can continue on as normal including the level discounts until their XP matches their level.
Those that choose to jump levels should get all of the lower level unlocks they skipped but miss out on any XP/drops bonuses they would have received as a trade off.
Then stop screwing with levels less than 100 and figure out what to do for those at or above level 100…
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Zwift is a pizza-centric game.
But yes I think the “just put you at the level you should be at for given XP, and add prestige tiers” is the best way forward. Do the same with route badges.
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100%. Banked XP is dumb. No other game banks XP. You hit 60 you are done. Most of these XP complaints wouldn’t happen if XP wasn’t banked.
I feel the reason Zwift banked XP is because they couldn’t program a way to stop it from accumulating.
I’ve said this a few times. Zwift is a video game designed and programmed by people who’ve never played a video game in their life.
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To slow down levelling up and maybe levelling down, Zwift could consider
using XP’s as payment for Coffee stops. Each stopp reduces the accumulated points by a fixed amount.
As side effect this would prevent an exessive use of CS’s too, because it would inevitably resulting in levelling down.
And it would calm down the discussion of CS unfair use, because there is a price tag on it.
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Hehehe, April 1st has been and gone; now you’re the fool for playing on! 
Although the fallout would be saltier than the Dead Sea.
Or is it a training tool, making indoor riding social, designed by people who are cyclists?
I would like a special unlock when I hit 2 million xp, whether I am at level 61 or 99 or 100.
On a separate thread, there can be a wish list or poll to vote on would be nice.
Tron helmet, Campy white disc wheel, banana gun, a wad of money in my back pocket, Red Bull bmx bike, ability to fly over top of other riders,
The “it’s a training tool” has come up a few times. Yes it is a tool used for training but if it was only a training tool then it would just look like Trainerroad. The moment they add interaction of an avatar that you control in a virtual world on a screen gaining levels, changing clothes, bikes, avatar look, steering, repack rush, racing. It is by very nature a video game.
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As a longlife cyclist I have another opinion (and probably I also use Zwift differently than you).
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You probably use Zwift the same as everyone else. There’s not many different ways to use Zwift. We really only differ in our classification on what we each think Zwift is. Zwifts own words they call it a training game.
But this entire forum thread isn’t in response to the training aspect of Zwift. Its in direct response to gaming side of Zwift and how they are failing at making desicions on the gaming side of things.
Your comment about Zwift being designed by cyclists is most likely very true. So i will amend my statement
Zwift is designed by a bunch of cyclists who’ve never played a video game in their lives.
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Like most ordinary zwifters, I don’t like the changes, having just got used to the existing system, and I don’t like the way Zwift just listen to a very small minority of complainers (who only pay the same as the rest of us). BUT HERE’S A NEW IDEA:-
Why not introduce leagues (you know, like World Tour, Continental, Pro, etc), and then have 1 to 100 levels in each league? That would really offer incentive to every type and level of rider. When you get to the top of your league, move up to a new one. And more like real life. You could start at Club, and imagine how great it would feel to turn Pro, while the elite riders would be in a rarified league of their own.
1 Like