Update: we now have official word that this change will be reverted.
It seems there’s another significant change that was not mentioned in the patch notes today.
What’s Happening?
Many players are reporting that they can’t move to World Tiers 3 and 4 after completing the Capstone dungeon. Instead there seem to be level requirements implemented. This is only the case on new characters created after the patch.
Update: the Actual Limits Are 40 and 60
It seems the limits aren’t quite that high as we original assumed. Zach Bitango and his group tested the numbers and found out that the level requirement for World Tier 3 is 40 and World Tier 4 is 60!
Original Post
This information is coming both from a thread the official forums and from many, many posts in the Sanctuary Discord, as players are unable to move into the tiers without meeting the level requirements.
We also tested this ourselves, albeit with a level 8 character trying to get into WT3, and they could not. They definitely could before the patch.
The official screen for the transition has not been changed, and still only shows “recommended” level ranges. Also, characters created before patch 1.1 are not affected.
One of the more fun things you could do in the game was pushing the Capstone dungeons and getting into the next World Tier early. Having to deal with the increased difficulty and deciding whether you want to stay there was probably the most fun I’ve personally had in the game. This decision seems to have been removed from players making new characters (including seasonal ones). Many players (including myself, at level 56 for WT4) were moving on to the next tier sooner than these levels.
Why Is it Happening?
We can only guess at the reasons behind this, since there was no mention of it in the patch notes. I assume this move may be aimed at boosting in general. Many players just get carried through to the next tier by either friends or players they paid. This has been an extremely popular form of speed leveling since… well since forever. It is also possible that the level limits were intended to be there from the game’s launch. It’s possible that getting into higher World Tiers sooner was an actual bug that has now been fixed.
While lower than previously thought level requirements of 40 and 60 aren’t THAT bad, I still think it’s not a great decision. Not that many players will be able to move on before those (without boosting), but for them having to sit on easy content, not being able to progress until you gather enough XP will feel terrible. They’ll also be getting much worse loot, stuck without any Sacreds/Ancestrals, or Uniques and Aspects that unlock on the next tier. Couple this with the XP nerfs from the patch notes, and you have a problem on your hands. If you’re one of the players that can make it through earlier. The impact to boosting is also very significant, but that seems very intended on Blizzard’s part.
There’s a developer campfire stream scheduled for later this week, so hopefully we’ll hear more on the subject.