I don’t dislike the idea of a soft level cap, but I think the devs went for hard cap to reinforce the low-fantasy, hard-life theme of the game.
The way I see this, having a hard level cap means every soldier (being normal humans) has his limits, and that your veteran 11th level farmer, the one you hired at the start of the game despite him not really being that talented for mercenary life cause you couldn’t afford better, has not the same potential of your new expensive sellsword recruit, despite being stronger thanks to his experiences.
But that’s just my opinion.
