Allowing character progression without trivializing content is a very difficult thing to do, and one that ZOS seems to be trying to model this game after. I remember playing games like everquest where that shiny new content would come out and it would take a 50 man raid force to fight through tooth and nail to complete. Fast forward 3 years and people are soloing that very same content. It had become trivialized by player progression and power creep. Allowing players to progress and become more powerful has its down side, but what if it could be partitioned off so that it didn't have an impact on the entire game. What if this type of player progression could be utilized in very specific parts of the game, while not being used in others. I believe this game has most of the elements to do so already in the game, and it starts with CP.
Remove CP from the entire game except for group dungeon/trial content. Before all the CP pvp players get their grundies in a bundle, I too am an avid CP Vivec pvper and will get to how to address that down further. The other thing that needs to happen is that all of the stats that you gain from the first 300 points of CP need to be incorporated into the first 50 levels of leveling. Dungeons and trials are the end game pve progression, and this is the only area of the game where CP needs to have progressive influence. The way to do this is to have more than two tiers. The tiers would need CP entry level requirements. Tier 1, currently Normal, would have a 0 CP requirement. Tier 2 would be somewhere between the current normal and vet and have a 300 CP entry requirement. Tier 3, now veteran, would have a 600 CP requirement, tier 4 would have a 900 CP requirement. CP, only being used in dungeons and trials, would no longer need to be front loaded like it currently is. it could be a linear progression combined with ever increasingly more powerful gear that for this part of the game allows for the everquest type power creep without affecting the rest of the game. The ever increasingly more powerful gear could have modifiers that reduce it in open world or pvp areas by ever increasingly higher ratios, or only allowed to be worn in group areas. This type of progression is important to end game pve'ers.
More tiers could be added as CP max values increase to dictate that more tiers need to be added. Older dungeon/trial content could have those added to them as well. It could be as simple as adding to the hp and damage of mobs similar to how it is with normal and vet now, or additional mechanics could be added. Another approach to higher tiers could be to randomize when events take place in scripts so that some group of mobs that spawn when the boss hits 75% health now spawn somewhere between 65% and 85% so that they aren't as easily timed. There are numerous ways that advanced tiers could make the same content more difficult and challenging.
Open world would forever be balanced around no CP. Open world is a place for questing, and story telling, and discovery, and lore. It is now, and still can be a place where by and large you can go there with a level 20 character and not be overwhelmed by the content. Expansions that are added to the game for the open world experience do not need to get more difficult, they just need to provide something new story wise. A new place to go, and beautiful new areas to explore is all that is required here. This is the perfect place for telling the story that is Elder Scrolls. It is the perfect place for quest driven content that immerses the player within the Elder Scrolls world. It is a place for role playing and laid back leisurely adventures, and all of the little things that make MMORPG's great.
For pvp there would also now be no CP and only no CP. No balancing pvp around the two. Rather than using the CP system for character progression, which is just as important to every pvper as it is to every pveer, use the Alliance rank system as a way to allow for character progression. This would be done by acquiring AP in Cyrodiil, Battlegrounds, and Imperial City just as it is now in advancing through the ranks. However, additional ranks would now also grant players additional power. There are so many ways this could be done, but just to start out every rank could do something like grant the player 0.1% damage done, 0.1% damage mitigated, 0.1% healing done, 0.1% healing received, 0.2% to all stat regens, and things of this nature. It could be done where each level a player receives 5 weapon and spell damage as well as 40 stamina, magicka, and health. This could really be a topic of conversation all on its own, there are just so many things that could be done. PVP player progression is important, but it has to be a marginal gain in power. You can't have Grand Overlords being 3 times stronger than privates. In my mind 20% is enough of a progression that still allows for competitive play, so small continuous gains in power spread over 50 levels that ends up around the 20% mark seems ideal to allow progression and gain in character strength, while still maintaining the integrity and competitiveness of ESO pvp.
Doing something of this nature allows for character progression without trivializing any of the game's content. It allows players to watch their characters become more powerful, but always ensures that anywhere they go in the game can be a challenge without being overwhelming. There will always be a spot, or a tier that challenges them while allowing them to play the lower tier content with their friends who are newer to the game, as they still meet the entry requirements for the tiers beneath them as well as their current max entry required tier based on their individual CP. Balancing becomes more streamlined as now all pvp and open world content are no CP. Dungeons/trials are now balanced exclusively with CP, and this is the only area of the game that needs to be balanced around CP. It is done by adding increasingly difficult tiers to current and new content which allows the most hard core veterans the chance to revisit older content under new and more difficult circumstances. Maybe even see new twists on higher tiered gear drops from some of the old mainstay gear that also has become trivialized.
Remove CP from the entire game except for group dungeon/trial content. Before all the CP pvp players get their grundies in a bundle, I too am an avid CP Vivec pvper and will get to how to address that down further. The other thing that needs to happen is that all of the stats that you gain from the first 300 points of CP need to be incorporated into the first 50 levels of leveling. Dungeons and trials are the end game pve progression, and this is the only area of the game where CP needs to have progressive influence. The way to do this is to have more than two tiers. The tiers would need CP entry level requirements. Tier 1, currently Normal, would have a 0 CP requirement. Tier 2 would be somewhere between the current normal and vet and have a 300 CP entry requirement. Tier 3, now veteran, would have a 600 CP requirement, tier 4 would have a 900 CP requirement. CP, only being used in dungeons and trials, would no longer need to be front loaded like it currently is. it could be a linear progression combined with ever increasingly more powerful gear that for this part of the game allows for the everquest type power creep without affecting the rest of the game. The ever increasingly more powerful gear could have modifiers that reduce it in open world or pvp areas by ever increasingly higher ratios, or only allowed to be worn in group areas. This type of progression is important to end game pve'ers.
More tiers could be added as CP max values increase to dictate that more tiers need to be added. Older dungeon/trial content could have those added to them as well. It could be as simple as adding to the hp and damage of mobs similar to how it is with normal and vet now, or additional mechanics could be added. Another approach to higher tiers could be to randomize when events take place in scripts so that some group of mobs that spawn when the boss hits 75% health now spawn somewhere between 65% and 85% so that they aren't as easily timed. There are numerous ways that advanced tiers could make the same content more difficult and challenging.
Open world would forever be balanced around no CP. Open world is a place for questing, and story telling, and discovery, and lore. It is now, and still can be a place where by and large you can go there with a level 20 character and not be overwhelmed by the content. Expansions that are added to the game for the open world experience do not need to get more difficult, they just need to provide something new story wise. A new place to go, and beautiful new areas to explore is all that is required here. This is the perfect place for telling the story that is Elder Scrolls. It is the perfect place for quest driven content that immerses the player within the Elder Scrolls world. It is a place for role playing and laid back leisurely adventures, and all of the little things that make MMORPG's great.
For pvp there would also now be no CP and only no CP. No balancing pvp around the two. Rather than using the CP system for character progression, which is just as important to every pvper as it is to every pveer, use the Alliance rank system as a way to allow for character progression. This would be done by acquiring AP in Cyrodiil, Battlegrounds, and Imperial City just as it is now in advancing through the ranks. However, additional ranks would now also grant players additional power. There are so many ways this could be done, but just to start out every rank could do something like grant the player 0.1% damage done, 0.1% damage mitigated, 0.1% healing done, 0.1% healing received, 0.2% to all stat regens, and things of this nature. It could be done where each level a player receives 5 weapon and spell damage as well as 40 stamina, magicka, and health. This could really be a topic of conversation all on its own, there are just so many things that could be done. PVP player progression is important, but it has to be a marginal gain in power. You can't have Grand Overlords being 3 times stronger than privates. In my mind 20% is enough of a progression that still allows for competitive play, so small continuous gains in power spread over 50 levels that ends up around the 20% mark seems ideal to allow progression and gain in character strength, while still maintaining the integrity and competitiveness of ESO pvp.
Doing something of this nature allows for character progression without trivializing any of the game's content. It allows players to watch their characters become more powerful, but always ensures that anywhere they go in the game can be a challenge without being overwhelming. There will always be a spot, or a tier that challenges them while allowing them to play the lower tier content with their friends who are newer to the game, as they still meet the entry requirements for the tiers beneath them as well as their current max entry required tier based on their individual CP. Balancing becomes more streamlined as now all pvp and open world content are no CP. Dungeons/trials are now balanced exclusively with CP, and this is the only area of the game that needs to be balanced around CP. It is done by adding increasingly difficult tiers to current and new content which allows the most hard core veterans the chance to revisit older content under new and more difficult circumstances. Maybe even see new twists on higher tiered gear drops from some of the old mainstay gear that also has become trivialized.