What is High-Level Play Actually Like at the Table?

[Quertus]

Playing this game at the level of optimization that this forum demands seems, to me at least, outright boring. I'd rather play Exalted, so that it is at least patently obvious that I am already a divine super being.

My current tables don't play beyond 12th level because 7th level spells and powers generally start to warp the game into pudding, and 8th level spells and powers can do this in a literal sense. This can be applied to 3rd level spells as well, and even more so to 4th level spells, so the fact that this applies to spell levels beyond that is totally unsurprising. The commonly accepted solution of course just being "ban those books then" or "play core only", but is core really anymore balanced than expanded play?

"Core only, for balance" is an oxymoron at best.

"Balance to the table" is my mantra on this topic.