New option: Disable Patrol XP

SO, to even it all out and make you feel you have earned it, (Until they make a change to accommodate your suggestion IF they ever do.) just turn off XP 1/3rd of the time you play! Problem is resolved for the interim! Though be warned it may end up being a long term fix as I really don't think this suggestion will fly.

Mainly because Patrol XP is an add-on rather than a correction. With regard to smoothing, the devs looked at the curve and said, "Something's wrong," and they fixed it. But with regard to Patrol XP, there's nothing being fixed -- this is a nice-to-have, like a Day Job or the Invention System or Color and Weapon and Power Customizations and PVP and Mission Architect and all other sorts of things...except you can opt out of ALL of those extra things, and you can't opt out of Patrol XP.

I wasn't aware of the ten-bubble cap on Patrol XP. Thanks to everyone who pointed that out. I'm glad that's there. I thought Patrol XP just went on accumulating forever.

And if you're not, it's a bigger blip...maybe even a blot, or a swatch, or something -- gosh -- downright noticable!

The 100 pushup difference is what enabled you to qualify; what you did after you qualified is something else entirely. Think of it this way: Used to be, valedictorian meant that you had the highest grade point average in your entire class. Now some schools give out the title to any senior who carries an A average. There have been classes with literally dozens of valedictorians. Result? Not as much prestige with the title. The fact that some of these not-first-place valedictorians will go on to surpass in success their truly-first-place valedictorian peers doesn't mean the accomplishment of being valedictorian hasn't lost its luster.

Do you really think that the devs don't have a clue how to prioritize their work? Because, really, it seems like you're shaking in your boots over the possibility that the devs might actually think this suggestion is more important to work on than the other fixes, improvements, and nice-to-haves they've already got on their plate, and I tend to think they're not that into making bad judgment calls like that. Honestly, if a thread like this is going to have that kind of power, then maybe the people who want all those other things need to be crying louder about them on the forum -- squeaky wheel gets the grease, and all....

And you have the corresponding bragging rights, even if you don't choose to use them.

P.S.: If I could go back in time and negate any one of those items in your list, I'd put debt back to starting at level 5, as that's the level at which the character is ready to "leave the nest" of Atlas/Galaxy/Mercy and start heading out into the real, unsafe world. But I know that'll never happen, so you won't see any "start debt at level 5" threads from me. (Heck, I'm surprised they even have debt anymore.)

Most people ignore someone who goes on about "uphill in the snow both ways."

These aren't something to "brag" about. The game experience changed. Big. Freaking. Deal. Again, if you're looking so hard for something to brag about, head outside and do something significant. Volunteer somewhere for a year. Help build a house. Go be a mentor. Those are worth mentioning, not "I got to 50 in a video game without using patrol XP." Because, y'know what? They could shut the servers down right now, and old-50, no-patrol-xp-50, brand-new-50, PL'd-50, none of it will mean a damn thing - doesn't really now, honestly.

Put your pride in something worthy of it.

See my Guides and Tutorials

And yet here I am, impressed with all the level 50s you got under all those "uphill in the snow both ways" conditions you listed, and not impressed at all with any of the volunteering, homebuilding, and/or mentoring you may or may not have done. I guess different people find different things "significant" or "worthy of pride."

For example, to me, levelling to 50 without Patrol XP would be like solving a TV Guide sudoku puzzle without using the extra clue they provide -- I do that quite frequently, and I take pride in the fact that I can solve the puzzles without help from the clues. That's what the "Disable Patrol XP" switch would be like -- it's the difference between being able to choose whether you use the clue or not, or (as it stands now) having the clue filled in for you already whether you like it or not. Sure, you can always liquid paper the clue out, but you'd rather not have to go through the trouble.

Or mock him.