1- yes NPE needs to be adjusted, the "curve" might not be the solution however. I think a matchmaking tier system is best, with an emphasis on the battle academy being longer, allowing for all weapons and classes to be open at std level and there should be a default on the current drop suit fittings to include all types of chars and weapons. Let new players mess around with the default blueprints and see what they like, how to play certain classes, and how to counter certain classes/AV. The idea is to open up the game early and close it off after the battle academy so players will be encouraged to play.

The curve really must be adjusted, though. NPE suffers SO much by someone just having more SP. A new player can't possibly as deadly as a veteran player--who has had much more time to learn the maps, weapons, nooks, crannies, strategies, etc. The power curve is an essential part of an MMO, yes, but it doesn't really have a place in a FPS.

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There is a difficulty in making a deep sandbox play with a welcoming NPE.

This is the one piece that I disagree with from the original post as well. There should be a reward for spending points on a particular play style and specializing, as well as taking your medicine and upgrading core skills. That choice of how to progress is one of the draws of the game! Combined with map knowledge, team play, and all the rest it certainly is OP to train up skills. WIth matchmaking and longer academy that could get softened (although the first is a significantly hard problem).

I think you misread what I mean when I say the power curve should be removed. I'm not advocating the removing of advancing your character or progression. There definitely should be both advancement and progression.

However, that can easily come about in the form of diversity in weapons and suit choices, roles on the battlefield, and through non-damage-increasing weapon variants. Talent and skill progression should definitely be present, albeit the skills should be bonuses like tanking increases and hacking, speed, etc. that we currently have. Don't forget, too, that fitting option free up better equipment (lower scan profile, etc.), but I'd eliminate adv and prototype weapon tiers that serve to just increase the power or damage curve such that it widens the gap between newbro and veteran. Advancement should be the availability of specialized suits and equipment. But as any fps designer will tell you, "a new player has to feel powerful right out of the gate." Currently, we have that new player feeling in the academy--where emphasis is placed on player skill--and that feeling radically shifts as soon as the newbros leave the Academy and are pitted against proto deathsquads.

I agree, too, that it is an issue with matchmaking, but the problem there is that WP/SP totals as a basis for matchmaking doesn't necessarily mean that gearing would be the same; a higher WP/SP vet isn't necessarily always going to run proto, and a lower skilled player may not always use low gear (due to the availability of AUR variants). Emphasis really needs to be placed on player skill, as in all games.

Looks like I did misunderstand you. The main "removal of the power curve" you are advocating is related to the weapon tiers, right? Perhaps variants are unlocked at higher skill levels (maybe more granular than now), but there is not a purely better option than the base model (or at least in terms of damage). I think this is swell, and harkens back to the EVE concept of Tech II ships being about specialization.

Does this apply to other modules, equipment, vehicles or dropsuits? Or is tiered damage the main beef?

I agree about the difficulty in match making that you describe.

Most of the consensus about the Academy since inception is that it is way too short. I guess this is probably right on, but don't really know.