I do however promote that gear breakage or in my opinion a consumable based treadmill IS a damper on power creep. Power creep is a treadmill, consumables is a treadmill. What's the difference between acquiring more levels or more wealth? Consumables can allow for temporarily power creep, imo, it's the best of both worlds. Both are just numbers going up.
In this context, there is no difference between acquiring more levels and more wealth. They are just getting bigger numbers. But that is the wrong question. The difference we are looking at is between having a level of power (wealth/level) that could potentially be lost verses having a level of power (wealth/power) that you can only go up from. The difference is between something being temporary verses something being permanent.
Ask yourself the simple question: What is more interesting to the average player, getting something objectively better than what you currently have or keeping what you already have? I'd wager the answer is obvious. Which is more of an effective motivator? Again, I'd wager the answer is obvious.
Now let's clarify a few terms along with their the cause and effect here.
Gear breakage is when the gear you wear breaks and cannot be repaired, forcing you to acquire new gear.
Forced obsolescence is when you acquire new gear that is objectively better than your old gear so you have no reason to keep old gear.
Both are systems of acquiring new gear.
Ok. From an economic model perspective, both gear breakage and forced obsolescence of gear can be used as a reason for players-to-keep-chasing-gear mechanically. Gear breakage is effective at keeping the economy moving properly going but not really effective at keeping players interested in actually doing it (I.E. motivation to log in and play the game). Forced obsolescence is not really effective at keeping the economy moving properly (I.E. leads to hyper inflation) but is generally effective at keeping players interested in actually doing it. Ultimately, these two things solve different problems. They do not supplant each other.
That is why when red 5 added in gear decay (to serve the economy) they were still planning on raising the vertical power ceiling(to serve player motivation). That is why in Fortnight there is gear decay/breakage (to serve the economy), but still a lot of vertical progression(to serve player motivation). On the other hand, this is why in countless mmo games with just forced obsolesce they still end up with hyper inflation.
Understand that if you add gear breakage you do so primarily for the economy, not for player motivation.
Understand that if you add vertical progression you do so for primarily player motivation, not for the economy.
To be clear, I'm not arguing against using the "best of both worlds" at all, I'm making it clear what function each mechanic serves.
Last point-
Vertical progression and Power creep are not synonyms, and the former doesn't inherently lead to the latter.
Power creep is when the player's new power
makes earlier content irrelevant. I see how that may seem like vertical progression inherent leads to that. It can, it often does, but it doesn't have to. Thing is, if the game includes a scaling system that allows lower level areas to retain their challenge and it ensures that the rewards in those early levels are worth acquiring even to high level players, those early levels do not become irrelevant. By definition, while there has been vertical progression there has still been no "power creep", because no areas have become irrelevant.
Note, a game can have gear breakage and still have power creep. Example: fortnight. Gear breaks, but because the materials from the earlier levels are no longer needed for the high level recipes, there is no reason to go to the early levels.
Alternatively, a game can have no gear breakage yet not really have power creep. Destiny has no gear breakage. But they have a scaling system so no matter how strong you get, low level enemies can still kill you and there are some basic resources found everywhere that still hold use to level up even the highest quality weapons. Old, obsoleted gear can be dismantled for useful components. Plus the "dungeons" have hard modes keeping them relevant. Power creep, of a sort, only comes into play for the pursuit of the very last few points of power.
It's important to understand what does what, and not accidentally equate the solution to one problem with the solution to another.
