Time to kill accelerated leveling?

General Discussion
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I have been on Zwift continuously since March 2018. When Zwift moved to the 100 Level framework, I assumed accelerated leveling was designed to transition people to the new framework. I thought that was a clever idea. FWIW, in the ‘pause screen’, my accelerated leveling is set at LV49>>LV93.

I realize now that accelerated leveling was not designed to make that transition, or if it is, something is broken.

I recently reached level 80. At level 80, I have ~649,000 XP, which is still 115,000 XP above the published requirement of 534,000 XP. And this is despite being on accelerated leveling since level 49.

When I calculate what it will take to reach level 100, I estimate I will be at 889,000 XP, or 82,000 XP above the requirement for 807,000 XP. That’s insane. That’s 2500 extra miles, all else equal.

So someone can reach Level 100 at 807K, while others, like me have to ride months or years longer.

If a Zwift crit race required some racers to do 6 laps, but other racers to do 6.3 laps, or 6.8 laps, the whole racing system would collapse. Everyone expects what I will call “in-game integrity”. Effectively, everyone is treated equally.

But this is clearly not the case with Zwift Levels. If some people must earn more XP than others for the same level, there is an in-game integrity issue.

Every unit of measure in the system should be the same, for every user. Full stop.

A minute is 60 seconds. A mile is 5,280 feet. Everyone who gets a route completion badge should complete the same distance and elevation profile. An XP = 32 miles or 20 KM (independent of bonuses, which are available to everyone if they choose to earn them).

And the XP required to reach a specific level, should be the same for all users.

So what is the solution?

I think there are two basic options;

  1. Fix the accelerated leveling algorithm so that is does transition people to the new 100 level framework long before they reach Level 100 (or beyond).
  2. End the accelerated leveling, and systematically align people with the proper level, based on the XP that they have earned.

For true in-game integrity, I think the second option is the best.

Ride On!

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This is how it works

Yes, we (I started 2018, to - now level 91) need more XP than newbies, but the leveling is accelerated - and I don’t believe Zwift is going to change anything now…

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the question now becomes, how will they handle it when even more levels are added as Eric Min eluded to during his Thanksgiving ride a few months ago?

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Well, I would expect complicated - or do you expect anything else?

:rofl:

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Having been at level 100 for years now, and having been excited and done a lot of miles to get there as quickly as possible, my advice is: don’t worry about it. You’ll get there eventually, without earning anything of consequence along the way, and then you’ll be frustrated that you’re just repeating level 100 over, and over, again. At least until you realize that just riding Zwift, and reaping all of the other benefits, is enough. At least that’s my take.

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Hopefully they throw away that idea because they will choose the most convoluted way to do it with a method that is upsetting the most users in the process.

By my counting I’m at level 140 (and halfway to getting 141).

if I go by the numbers then with well more than 2 million XP I should be even higher than that. I’m certainly not “XP farming” - just doing my usual same old rides which sometimes gets me a set of wheels (1000XP bonus).

There are better things to spend development time on like more HC mountain routes in Watopia that are linked to Alpe du Zwift (replicating real life climbs) and stomping out cheating (bots, power hacks, distance cheating, impossible power data, etc)

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Levels are pretty much pointless above 40, when you have all the “best” wheels and frames available. They will matter again when this changes.

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I’m sure a good old nerfing of all the current bikes (and halo bikes) and a new bunch of halos that take 5 years to unlock will solve all that and get forum discussion traffic through the roof. :unamused_face:

I have to say I’d prefer no new levels if it’s going to result in a complex level up scheme that doesn’t factor in the years of riding we’ve already done. I’m at over 2 million XP, others even far above that. Just put them straight to the corresponding level and avoid complication.

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Agree…and save us all from a bunch of threads (complaining/How does it work?/etc).

But I am at 69 and it does not affect me…unless they wait until After I hit 100.

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On the other hand, I’ve always argued that levels should increase continuously instead of being capped at Level 100 or any other ceiling. For people who stick with Zwift long term, the app is more of a training tool than a game, so levels are a way to show ongoing progress rather than bragging rights. As someone who reached Level 100 a long time ago, it gets boring not to see that number move at all.

Whether someone is Level 10, 50, or 100 is mostly irrelevant, but seeing the same number ride after ride, despite how much I train on Zwift, really sucks. So if you’re still seeing progress, enjoy it while it lasts.

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I just turned lvl 97 today, will miss looking forward to the XP clock winding down after I hit 100

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There are plenty of riders who got caught chasing level 60 for a long time, only to have Zwift change the requirements. It took me a year, when it would only take about 2 or 3 months now. That’s just the way the game has been reset.

The best option would be to insure there are no more fake leveling up by using bots to gain the mileage and xp needed.

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There was a period when Level 100 was first introduced where it was not uncommon to get a level up with only 40-50 miles of riding.

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There are some people who really do a lot of riding and genuinely get the XP properly, but there are also a lot who just zoom along with fixed high power for 200km or more. And others who have random power and cadence generation for similar long amounts of time. They are trying to avoid being detected as bots.

I’m getting about 600-1600XP per ride (30.5km), depending on if I get the wheels at the top of ADZ which I’m having reasonable luck in getting at the moment. Someone will probably grumble about that being XP farming, but that’s just me doing the challenge I planned to do for this year, no work out modes to try and get more XP, no tricks.

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Some of the smarter people zoom around offline and mysteriously get 3000 m up and 200 km a day.

I know some real riders too.

Who is for real in the men’s mileage?

Tim Searl is the only one I have heard is real

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Cat Allen is an absolute machine - she is definitely for real.

What about the ones doing 2000km a week with miracle power levels at times… And week in week out they do that, no injuries, no fatigue? Makes me wonder.

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I’m trying to contact D.A. as he and Cat seem to be the real contenders to the first man on the moon challenge I talked about a long time ago….

“The shortest distance to the Moon, called perigee, is about 363,300 km when it’s closest to Earth,”

We are looking at a landing sometime in March!

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I’m not sure who mentioned it first ( maybe Zwiftinsider), but it would be a good idea, for any future lvl upgrades //to lvl 150, 200, 500, 1000 or unlimited // — not to take into the consideration any previous to upgrade milage.

So that people will just start fresh, from their actual level, once the upgrade is pushed.

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But people still have banked xp they are working through, so you are suggesting people lose all that xp they rightfully earned?

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