Emmm i am unemployed and have been putting quite a crazy amount of time into Layo in between college/next job. I dont think it is unlikely i will be level 10 or even higher in just a few weeks but i also role play. My character does not craft to show that i spend my time killing evil and adventuring. I can see your point, i have seen people powergaming but i think it is wrong to discourage people getting levels quickly unless you have seen them do something wrong. At one point i thought about not logging in for a few days because i was worried about getting another level and getting flamed, i think this is a bad idea to put across, i realised that it would not happen because i RP but i have heard a few people describing the same thought i had.
I have noticed certain "clicks" in layo and i dont see it as a problem i go find someone else to party with. Or i try and RP with one member and see what happens. I was RP with Tash in hlint and Darkchild and some others came along and started talking about things i had no idea about so i walked off and did something else.