Sorry I'm a month late to this discussion! I wanted to give my "two cents" anyways. I have well over two thousand hours in CRPG's as well.
Personally I agree that the level cap of 25 feels very low in the game. Hitting 25 can be done
without doing any side quests, and comes well before the end of the game. Perhaps raising the soft
cap in the expansion to 30, and the hard cap to 35. (Hard cap being Vet Levels, and Soft cap
being regular levels)
Those extra 5 regular levels could still be reached by completing only a few sidequests, and then the
veteran levels could be attained beating the rest of the side quests in the game. Making the "veteran"
levels a proper veteran challenge.
Anyways, excited to see more of the expansion(s) in the future. Keep up the good work guys.