Quote Originally Posted by IZ42 View Post
I never denied that I was optimizing for a higher per level than the rest of the party when my DM mentioned it, because I saw what he was saying, my first character (guess what class?) was as powerful unbuffed as the rest of the party was buffed, except for maybe the Druid. Which still wasn't the intent of the original question.

Yeah, this wasn't a player help "My DM wants to nerf mah character ermagurhd"(not to sound rude), there was no issue between us, it was my character being powerful without me realizing it that sparked the question, which would be better phrased as "Have you ever made a character that was more powerful than the rest of the party without realizing it, and/or what are your thoughts on it?"
My thoughts are pretty much exactly what Segev suggested you do - have a dialogue, find out what the DM and/or group considers to be reasonable, and aim for that. And if you feel like doing that is playing down or hobbling yourself, start with a weaker base (e.g. a low-tier class) and scale it up.