Thing is it didn't used to be that way with MMOs until WoW came around and f'd it all up by introducing Vertical Progression. It's one of the reasons I stuck with Final Fantasy 11 for so many years - the last great MMO that just kept offering more and more sidegrades rather than outright replacing things. And even after they raised the level cap and brought in item levels, they STILL went back and adjusted the older stuff so you could bring it up to the new caps with matching power levels. I'm so sad that the story for that game is over at last and they're shutting down the console versions in March :