These are both good points, and I think they should still be kept in mind for whatever is done with the mission prereqs! My problem with the follower/exp requirements is that, aside from them just being high, follower/exp counts don't really have anything to do with the plot or missions. It's based mostly on monthly activity and prayers, with the occasional follower/exp bonus from monthly events. So it doesn't really make sense to me to lock characters out of missions based on their followers/exp when that mostly just serves to gatekeep newer/less active characters.
Training missions is kinda what I had in mind for how missions might be reorganized, so I 100% agree with you on that one. What I envisioned is something like this: the first "tier" of plot missions would be completely open to anyone, and would be stuff like investigating event occurrences or other things that are mostly common/public knowledge. Stuff that wouldn't really require the Heavens to give out much additional info, basically. The next tier of missions above that would require previous mission experience, like x number of missions completed to show the Heavens that they're trustworthy. This makes it so you only need to engage with the plot to unlock further opportunities, without any arbitrary follower/exp requirements to limit your options. It'd be kinda like mission chains, except you wouldn't have to do a specific mission to go to the next tier, any mission experience would be fine.
Another idea I had was a sort of "reputation/prestige" system based on a combination of mission experience and followers/exp counts, so that characters could either have previous mission experience OR a high follower/exp count to apply for more difficult missions. Something like +1 prestige for every tier 1 mission completed, and also +1 prestige for every 1000 followers/100 exp, or w/e. But it'd probably get a bit unwieldy to add even more numbers for everyone to keep track of, so simplifying it to just "complete x number of missions to unlock this mission" is probably much easier.
no subject
Training missions is kinda what I had in mind for how missions might be reorganized, so I 100% agree with you on that one. What I envisioned is something like this: the first "tier" of plot missions would be completely open to anyone, and would be stuff like investigating event occurrences or other things that are mostly common/public knowledge. Stuff that wouldn't really require the Heavens to give out much additional info, basically. The next tier of missions above that would require previous mission experience, like x number of missions completed to show the Heavens that they're trustworthy. This makes it so you only need to engage with the plot to unlock further opportunities, without any arbitrary follower/exp requirements to limit your options. It'd be kinda like mission chains, except you wouldn't have to do a specific mission to go to the next tier, any mission experience would be fine.
Another idea I had was a sort of "reputation/prestige" system based on a combination of mission experience and followers/exp counts, so that characters could either have previous mission experience OR a high follower/exp count to apply for more difficult missions. Something like +1 prestige for every tier 1 mission completed, and also +1 prestige for every 1000 followers/100 exp, or w/e. But it'd probably get a bit unwieldy to add even more numbers for everyone to keep track of, so simplifying it to just "complete x number of missions to unlock this mission" is probably much easier.