Yeah I think that can happen at different scales, and of course MMOs didnt just increase the numbers higher and higher, they added more damage sources per second, per target.

It gets to the point you need a meter and graph to really tell much of a difference with anything, but you won't be able to create enough data points to make a real determinstion.

So the end result I think is the same you are describing. You get a new upgrade and it looks like it will be a substantial difference but you end up not being able to tell.

The game you are talking about, is the exponential increase a feature of the game? It sounds like it goes up very quick from what you described.