Earning A Level Per Month

[Pankoki]

There is just one fundamentally flawed argument in this whole deal.
  First of all, Layonara is an announced RP server, in reality however we all know that it is an RP server with a lot of action involved, where RP is very encouraged and expected of the community. But still allowing for the prime way of advancement to be action and the many quests that are ran in the world.
  Now, I'm not naive. I know that there is a quest problem in that far too many series are being ran, far too many CDQs/WLDQs are being ran, and far too many "by-invite only" quests. This is a current issue with the calendar and one that all DMs are fairly aware of and trying to address. The number of impromptu quests and single session quests is beginning to rise and will rise even more so as the new DMs get into their proper pants. And they will start running more, and then eventually start running series for a new batch of players, and eventually some people will move onto other things and we'll get new DMs to replace that need.
  This thing is cyclical.
  We as DMs try to strike a balance and I can assure you that Leanthar is very aware of this issue and constantly encouraging people to not run so many close ended quests when possible. Bottomline is however, DMs have to have fun as well, and if they are forced to run a quota of "whatever" type of quests, there wont be a happy DM crew, I can assure you that as well.
  With that said however, I think the thought behind your system is fundamentally flawed. Advancement through levels has a very mechanical aspect attached to it. You need to DO stuff in order to LEARN stuff. We cannot, in no manner whatsoever, put a measuring stick on the different concepts of RPing, and much like dorganath said above, someone's concept of RPing might be the ultimate form of theatrical display, and some might just be talking and chatting to people while RPing situations. There's no way we should ever ever fall into judging who is doing better, but ultimately the second does not qualify for the mechanical aspects of level advancement.
  How does someone talking and being a member of the chatting community of the Hlint benches learns how to channel the power of the weave into an arrow and make it magically enhanced? You don't, that's how. And in order to keep a balanced field for everyone we have two means which are the best way to get XP. Which are, Quests and Adventuring. With slowly more systems coming into place to encourage advancement and with bonus perks here and there to keep the mood up and encourage roleplaying.
  This system doesn't encourage roleplaying, this system you're proposing is an entire rework on level advancement in this type of online game.
  It is unfortunate that you can't or don't want to join quests. I'm sure that there are reasons for this both personal and administrative. In the end we can't aim to please everyone with what their view of level progression should be. It's just the nature of the game.
 
  With all that I've said above... there is one thing that I really don't agree with you here. You say that Bumblebee has been played for about 6 months and he is level 11ish or 10 and almost there. He is quite fine for the time he has been played for and his advancement. So I'm not entirely sure where the issue is and why you think that there is a problem then.
  And as a final addendum, if your concern is that ultimately you want to RP and be rewarded for it. Isn't roleplaying the reward for that sort of mentality in the first place? Do you really need to be level 55 in order to RP properly? That might just be a pet peeve of mine, but it sounds to me that if you're already able to do what you like to do and there is nothing stoping you from doing so, why does it need to be adjusted?
  *shrugs*
  There are a lot of things that Layo needs to make it a better place, and we're working on it. However, this I don't think is one of its problems.

[Pen N Popper]

No I dont need to be a higher level to write a newsletter. Seeing as how all the rewards of the world are level based, I suppose I should just not want to participate in them? He'll never be a World Leader. He'll never sneak or evesdrop better than he does now. He'll never disable a trap that he can't already. He'll never use some of the many interesting items that can be found. Yes, it is absolutely true I do not need another level to remain exactly where I am.
  You mention that no one should be put in a position to judge RP in general. The system I suggested does just that. Does all the information gathering, sneaking, evesdropping, and such not make me a better rogue? Are three hours of a monk RPing meditating and speaking on philosophical topics meaningless? How about three hours of bow practice on a combat dummy? How about three hours of discussion on the Hlint benches regarding deities? I'm not sure I want to be judged.
  The fact is I spend far too much, in my opinion, having Bumblebee learn how to fight giants and far too little time having him learn how to evesdrop. One grants XP, the other is just fun.
  Obviously I have given this topic some thought; perhaps too much. For the record, I check the calendar daily for quests in the hopes that I can join one.
  Edit: I realize this has degenerated to be about me and that was not my intent. My PC wouldn't actually gain anything through the system except going forward. I was more thinking of players with much less playtime then myself, thatview leveling as an indicator of success, and that would enjoy RPing in this fine community with us a couple of times a week.
  I'll not comment on the topic further. The idea is there to stand or fall on its own merits.

[Etinfall]

I like the idea. But that is probally because I fall into that catagory. Been here over 2 years with Cole Etinfall and am still lvl 14. I have never spent more than a few weeks away at one time. And it is very rare that I do not log in to play at least once every two days. I do not like going out and bashing, it just feels fake to me. I like story driven quests but I can not guarentee that I can be on every thursday at 9pm. I definitly can't stay on a quest until 4am. I come across someone I helped get the rat king a few months ago and they are now helping me not die a horrible death somewhere. I like that I have been here this long, I like that I am loyal to Layonara. But it does get hard to act young and still learning with characters that have been here for 6 months. That is probally just bad rp on my part.

I believe a system like this would help me in this situation. Question is how many like me are out there? I think more people make lvl 14 in less than six months than not. That means we are in the minority and the gm and devolopers will be making a system for a few. Good idea though. I am glad you actually proposed this instead of just feeling left out and doing nothing about it, like me. Well thought out and propesed in a way that is helpful.

Thanks Pen N Popper.

Etin

[Talan Va'lash]

... rise even more so as the new DMs get into their proper pants.

My pants are just fine thank you. ;P

I intend to spend all of my GMing time for some period addressing this exact need. Running spontaneous quests, running short one off quests, and giving out RP xp.

So this statement is definitely true:

This is a current issue with the calendar and one that all DMs are fairly aware of and trying to address.

I also agree that it is cyclical. I remember times when there were many spontaneous quests and short one off sessions. I also remember a time before that when there were mostly series'.


A system similar to this one that I saw work pretty well was a timed xp system. When you toggled the system on you gained N xp every Y minutes. The number was low and you stopped recieving xp if you became idle (not moving not talking) for 2x the time period (2Y minutes.) You also recieved 0 xp for any kills made while you had timed xp on. Also once you turned it on, it was on for the next four hours and you couldn't turn it off. This prevented the exploit of bashing for xp, then turning it on everytime you stopped bashing then turning it off when you went to bash again. It was a pretty abuse free system. I -tried- to abuse the system because I was skeptical that any timed xp system wouldn't be ripe for abuse and I found the features I listed above (the system wasn't documented) and it worked pretty well. You got some xp, but less than half the xp you would get from bashing in a decent party and a bit more xp than you could get soloing.


Anyway, I hope this issue can be resolved to a satisfactory degree as new DMs come in and hopefully more short or spontaneous quests are run and more rp xp is given out, I just wanted to inform about the timed xp system I'd seen before.

[jjkolb]

Etinfall - 10/8/2006 11:12 PM Question is how many like me are out there? I think more people make lvl 14 in less than six months than not. That means we are in the minority and the gm and devolopers will be making a system for a few. Good idea though. I am glad you actually proposed this instead of just feeling left out and doing nothing about it, like me. Well thought out and propesed in a way that is helpful. Thanks Pen N Popper. Etin

 I, for one, am like you. I have played one character, Klaug, for 20 months and hehas just reachedlevel 17.

[Hellblazer]

Guardian 452 - 10/8/2006  2:34 PM  What bout the people who...   Cant make quest times?  Cant devote 2 to 6+ solid hours in front of their PC?  Dont know the people involved with the CDQ, or WL so they are not welome?  Its the 4th month of a 6 RL month on going quest and they arent allowed in (and franlky wouldnt know what is going on anyway) ?  ..And dont want to go grind hours on end killing everything that yeilds good EXP reguardless of it makes RP sense or not...  What about those people?    Their has been a lack of small one timer quests recently... not that I really have anything against series quests... im sure for those who make them they are beyond amazing... but for the those sitting on the sidelines watching all these series quests, invite only quests etc etc... we are left where we are in level... or forced to take other means to try and advance our characters.  People ARE going to abuse ANY sytem that is in place, and the part that makes me sick to my stomach is how the entire world has to suffer because of them.   I like the principal of the idea mentioned here... Though I will not say if its time frame is right or wrong... Just saying I like the general idea.  Lets give people something... yes its going to be abused by some!... but they are already abusing everything else! That's what I think my wild ramblings are trying to say... instead of taking all these steps to put the brakes on the minority... lets give the majority something to smile about... instrad of just watching the power gamers make laps around us.   G-452  

 I totaly agree with your post, just 3 days ago i was looking for a quest to join and most of them were either on invitation only or closed to the people that where there the last time.. It's kinda hard to get into making your character known and integrated in to the development of the world if you cant attend the quest. There was one that I could hae atteneded at 6 am edt but then again I woork 4 hours later so it wouldnt make sence to join up a quest to leave it in what could possibly b the middle part and interesting part of it.

[Acacea]

Warning: this is a long ramble and it's like 8 in the morning (pre-sleep!). Confusion and tired eyes may result.



Questing XP is different from sitting-around XP. I know the time where my character was a good example of the latter is long past and forgotten and she's now seen as an overbearing epic for the most part, but there was a point where she spent all of her time doing nothing but chatting with people (levels made no difference) and throwing stinkbombs and greaseballs from the top of the courthouse.

Are the levels I gained around that time different from the later ones? At the risk of offending those who prefer to level while sitting around, absolutely yes. I don't think gossiping XP should be given near the rate of adventuring XP. I had a huge amount of fun with Acacea and had no limits based on level regarding who I could or could not hang out with (something that became less true the higher level I got), and my roleplay was rewarded with roleplaying rewards, not adventuring XP. I'd be much more inclined to toss out levels for free if one could take them in Commoner.

If I could have advanced my Gather Info, Lore, and Prank skills separately from leveling then I would have been much more interested in being 'compensated' for my time.

When I finally decided to try out questing, I dove in headfirst. I went on Milo quests, Pan quests, Storm quests, Dezza quests, Lonnarin quests, Vyris quests, Rhiz quests. There were some heavy level jumps over the period of several months and a few of those less than happy with me cried foul--in one breath complaining that I went on too many quests, and in the next wondering loudly how I was levelling so fast, despite that each answered the other.

Do I think they should have been more spread out, pushing some of those back to where she had even more 24/7 Hlint time than Ozy? No... Her quest levels were gained with blood, sweat, and tears, so to speak. From goblin raids to missions into Roldem, corruption in Velensk, the Mount of Sorrows, Rakshasa diseases, mindflayers, gnomish time machines, pre-cataclysmic remains of races or languages or civilations, facing down the Soul Mother-- do I think there was a difference in my quest levels and what would be my idling levels? Yes!

It's not discrimination or oppression or not wanting the non-questers to feel like they can progress. Nor am I failing to see that this suggestion is based on months. It's just the obvious fact that there is no separation between what you want to call roleplay-levels and adventure-levels mechanically, when I feel that there should be, especially when considering things like this.

I didn't intend for this post to be a rant, but while many repeatedly say they are discouraged by x and y, I get repeatedly discouraged by how many people ignore whichever rewards they have--people who bash their way to high levels get disgruntled that they don't have roleplaying influence and power where someone else their level or less does, someone who hasn't spent nearly as much time questing in x area is angry that someone is in a higher position than them here, someone who spends their time achieving such roleplay-only positions wonder why all the bashy people get the levels, the poor complain about the rich and the rich that there aren't enough items to spend their money on, lower levels complain that high levels get all the quests, high levels try to remember the last time they were on one.

This isn't a rant directed at a single person, and not the original poster--it's more of a vague hope that instead of wishing for a bigger island, coinpurse, or level, people would find interesting ways to completely take advantage of what they have.

I have seen systems like these also, similar to the sort Talan mentioned except it was something you chose at character creation--you chose at the beginning, for all time, whether you would gain XP by kills, or by per time spent in game. Idling didn't count there, either, but the time-spent route would likely end up being a bit slower...which I don't mind. I don't mind having the choice, I just think the difference should be clear.

As I said, I don't mind things like this, honestly, and I don't mean to come across like I want everyone to stay level 2 for all time. I just get grumpy when the general impression I get from a thread or IRC comment is "I can only come on two hours a week and spend that time talking, but that should be considered the same as x y and z so we all have the same opportunity!" Because it's not the same. This is not me saying "I don't ever want something like this in place," but me saying that going into it with the argument that they should be equal is just false, and systems should not be adjusted with that goal in mind.


So, I am not against trying to make things a good time for people, or accomodate different playing styles. I just want to strongly suggest careful consideration of the mindset one is in when discussing desired changes, in as objective a way as possible.

[Strykr]

I understand where Pen N Popper is coming from, especially with Bumblebee.  But on the otherhand, I somewhat dislike the idea of free experience for existing.  With the World Leaders being able to grant RP exp now, perhaps that is the route in which Bumblebee can be rewarded for his RP.  Quite frankly, I think Bumblebee has earned some RP experience from my few interactions with him.

I am one of the few/many (I don't know) that can't make many quests in this wonderful world.  Due to RL responsibilities: Work 45+/wk, school 2 nights per week, wife and 14 month old daughter, misc. other things in life, I get very little time to play during "normal" questing hours.  And as stated, with so many "series" quests going on, the few times I have been on when a quest is going to happen I have been denied because it is a series quest and I would be out of the loop, or it is too dangerous for me, or too much is at stake, etc.

I have had the opportunity to participate in 3 quest in the last 3 months or so.  One of which I didn't really get to participate in due to having major modem issues that only allowed me on here and there during the quest and became way too frustrating for me and I am sure the DM/adventurers.  The 2nd was more an impromptu quest that I happened to be available for.  The 3rd was Cymeran Vrinn's CDQ which was put on at a time that worked for my normal play hours (10pm+ PST).  I would love nothing more than to participate in many quests given the chance.  It is a great change of pace, typically requires one to pay attention to details, think outside the box in some cases, respond with thought, etc.  Plus you get to experience uncharted territories, fight monsters never before seen on Layonara by the normal traveler, and RP at a different level.

For now, Eredel, is a wandering wizard in search of knowledge.  He gets plenty of exp. fighting off creatures he comes across in his travels and even finds places that are little known.  (For example, a dungeon I found that was later traveled by a group of adventurers, many of which met their demise, based on Eredel describing the new found place to his traveling friend Cymeran)  

And as stated, in other terms perhaps, crafting is a great way to gain experience.  It is not like questing, or purely bashing of course, but it does allow for more RP.  You also may require the assistance of other adventurers to acquire materials that are out of reach due to it being guarded by creatures beyond your means.  But it does however, keep you busy, offer exp. in getting materials, experience and feeling of accomplishment when actually producing items you desire to make, provides for more RP in selling wares others may seek.

Lastly, of late, I have been traveling from time to time with Lillian, Ket...(the robust dwarf), and a few others at random into the Firesteep Mountains in search of Adimantium Ore.  But for Eredel, these adventures are good for RP as well.  When Akki (my favorite bard) comes along, she sings us songs to pass the time.  Lillian talks of pie (which I have now).  Ketilbourn (spelling), well he is colorful at the least, and fun to be around.  Others I haven't gotten to know well enough yet, but it is a great opportunity to meet new adventurers and establish new friendships.

[stragen]

It is clear from my interactions with Pen N Poopers characters, ‘Pig’ and “Bee’ that he is one of this server’s premier roleplayers.  His characters are interesting, believable and well played, with excellent attention to detail and plenty of additional effort in adding value to the community as a whole.

That he would suggest such a system indicates that there is indeed an issue.  This game should be fun and rewarding to play.  It should not be frustrating for one of our premier players.

The simple answer would be to provide quests at all hours of the day and night, with a variety of durations and level requirements, so that all players get the enjoyment of being involved in the best part of the world; Questing.  Attending a GM run adventure is a reward in itself for the fun involved.  The additional experience awarded is a bonus.  

However this is simply not possible.  Most GMs have real-lives outside of Layo and provide Quests at times when they are not working/sleeping/eating/playing*.  Being able to attend Quests is simply a matter of luck if your schedule/time-zone/sleep-pattern matches with that of one or more GMs.  

Good roleplay should be rewarded.  I believe this server is moving towards methods to do this.  The introduction of the World Leader experience wands are a nice bonus and a pleasant surprise when someone provides a reward that was not looked for.  

However the number of World Leaders in a time-slot/time-zone/ is directly proportional to the number of Quests in the time-slot, and the number of Quests in that time-slot.  So many characters will never interact with a World Leader or go on quests.

With that in mind, I agree to the principle, that any attempt to roleplay should be rewarded.  Pen N Poopers suggestion tries to reward involvement in the world, without judgement on the quality, at a rate less then that gained from killing monsters.
However, from the other responses it appears to be overly complicated, and disproportional generous for the world of Layonara.  I don’t agree that the system is open to abuse.  Those who would seek to benefit from the system are the power-levelling crowd, who would not likely have the patience for such a scheme.  

However as an alternative, Talan’s suggestion appears to be a good option.  The trick would be to select the numbers correctly for world of Layo.  The rates selected should be far less then Quest experience and Adventuring** experience.  As the server already has the hunger, thirst and cold scripts, an additional, ‘roleplay bonus’ script might also be added.  As an alternative I suggest that the system be fully automated and discreet.  Only activating after X1 minutes, and deactivating if experience is gained in any other way, (combat, crafting, quest, world leader wand), the rest would be similar to how Talan described.  I would NOT be infavor of such a system if it added to the LAG of the server.  

Talan, could you please start another Thread detailing the system you suggested, and the difficulty/ease to implement, as well as some on the appropriate numbers for Layonara.

Such a system would only be useful to the small minority of players/characters who prefer roleplay over Adventuring**.  However, as some of these players are the servers best roleplayers***, it would be worthwhile to reward them in some way.
I personally enjoy Adventuring** with dialogue.

*Some GMs live breathe Layonara and do not exist in any form outside of this server.
** Adventuring:  Killing things and taking their stuff.
*** There are a few that I know of, and I delighted as my characters surpassed them in level.  Seriously, guys like Pen N Pooper, deserve something for the contribution they add to the world.  Pen N Pooper isn’t the only one, but I won’t name them in fear of causing their heads to explode.

[Leanthar]

I understand the request and why the request is coming. We will think about it some more as I do understand and feel for those that fall in this sort of category. But I want all of you to go back, with an open mind, with a mind of seeing the bigger picture, and read the post from Acacea. If you read with balance, all the different styles that come in to play, and just the overall bigger picture you will agree with what she stated and you will see the real problem of us having to 'react' to every style there is out there.

RP'ers we want to encourage and support, but I just don't know if there is a good way to do this as it is right now. One possible solution is the 'start a character and choose xp from bashing or xp by RP' sort of thing, I can see where that would work and I can see how we could have a system running to work with that sort of thing...but to combine both it is very difficult (pretty much impossible) to balance and get it right. That recommendation is actually not a bad idea. And we might be able to grandfather people in to it....*goes back to thinking*

[Strykr]

Leanthar, I really admire (honestly) your efforts in maintaining this world, as well as all the other DMs that offer up their hours, many without notice to players like myself.  That is all.

[Hellblazer]

I read what acacea said and althought she wasnt pointing to anyone I jsut felt like saying that My post wasnt a rant or anything just a little disapointment that I am not able to attend some quest ot have fun with more people than the one I regularly rp with everyday.
 
 Although I might have an idea that could maybe help with the quest.  
 
 What if WL could do quest that could be rewarded by them or later on by Gms?
 
 This could make more quest available at diferent time zones and less urge on the gm to make more quest to supply the increasing demands.
 
 I personaly think that unless all of the people gets to try out the choice of bashing xp or rp xp before hand, might be more of a headached than a solution. What if after some time, you see that your character is more suited for rp than just going bashing around, having choosed the bashing would prevent you to fully play what you character has become over time and vice versa. It could work if at some points you could chose to change what type of xp rewards you recieve.

[Acacea]

1) Your post just happened to be on top of mine, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be able to make more quests. As stated earlier, the current calendar IS an issue and is being worked on so that there will hopefully be a better range of open quests for people in different times, and a few that want to focus on spontaneous questing. As I mentioned on IRC, I also don't think there is anything wrong or even unusual in someone trying to think of how one's peaceful Aerdinite healing diplomat is going to progress if he can't make quests often and doesn't want to break character by killing everything that twitches red.

If such a system had ever been in place and I had the choice, my character (CG Lucindite (former Shadonite) rogue/bard) would receive no XP for kills, and would instead have slowly gained XP from her interactions, storytelling, swindling, and yes even bartending. She gets much more out of those in terms of her best skills, than from slicing open demons...and much more out of quests than bartending and storytelling. So I do understand some characters feeling unsuited for bashing, in addition to simply not having time.

2) As for the WL quests, you can see in some-other-thread-that-I-can't-seem-to-load-right-now that it's not a new idea actually, and not a bad one, either. I know Triba wanted to do some dungeon scavenger hunt type things for people to do, and there are probably other WLs that have ideas on how to send unsuspecting victims out on a quest and be able to reward them for it.

3) Regarding it being a headache, all changes are headaches. It's just how it is. In this case, it should never be a choice between RP and bashing. This is an RP server, you take the RP with you when you go out adventuring. When you take a feat in your early levels, does it not cause you a headache when you realize you've outgrown it? It's a part of the progress and growth, and reasons to choose carefully. They would need good explanations and warnings, though.

In this case, since it's not implemented, you can try to foresee when such changes might occur. The system Talan observed was something that could be toggled every few hours, mine was chosen at creation for the rest of the character's life. In both cases, you no longer collected xp if you went idle for more than a few minutes.

I'm biased towards it being a very long term choice rather than an "I feel like gaining XP for chatting now," and instead considering it as a full time choice of how exactly your character best progresses. Perhaps at certain milestones in levels there could be an option to reconsider, in order to leave some small wiggle room for significant character changes. (Fighter becomes...bard?)


I think the odds of it going in are probably low at this point, but discussing how things can fit from more than one side rarely goes completely to waste (if it can be kept productive), as even if the idea is unused, the points brought up can be considered in later projects.

[Talan Va'lash]

Leanthar - 10/9/2006  8:18 PM
*goes back to thinking*

Uh oh...


*runs and hides*

;PP

[Hellblazer]

Acacea - 10/10/2006  2:44 AM ...perhaps at certain milestones in levels there could be an option to reconsider, ...

 That's what i was thinking, like giving the oportunity to chage that system every 5 lvls untill lvl 15 would give the person a good time to feel how his character developped and at 15 then chose that lasting mention, or simply leave it at every 5 level for those ebuerundecider in life.

[Pen N Popper]

Since making this post, I put aside my non-combat PC and dusted off Pig, a halfgiant fighter. He's 14th level and even with my ineptness at the game he can hold his own in most battles. While I intended to stick with bashing only, I just couldn't resist trying to get some things going for him RP-wise.

[jrizz]

looks to me like you found a great balance of RP and bashing. 325000 xp in 14 days (12 really) is great. You spent time on quests and in groups. I bet you  had a lot of fun too.

[MJZ]

I think the point to remember is the number of hours spent playing, not the number of days. Sixty-nine hours could well be over a month for another player. I ranted about some of these points here, too.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Posting in the proper place.

This is for a sidebar in the discussion, revolving around the idea of Level-A-Month.

It's been suggested that the LaM thing be togglable at major levels... And that, of course, one wouldn't get any XP for killing things. One would get XP for DM quests, though, and for spontaneous RP XP handed out by DMs and WLs...

So. It occurred to me.

At level one, you get an item that you "Use", that sets whether or not you are going to progress via Adventuring or via LaM through a conversation. After that, you don't get another until level five, then ten, then fifteen, then twenty, and so on and so forth. (Though it could just be for blocks of ten levels, or whatever.) If you set that you'll get XP via Adventuring, it works just like it does, now. If you set that you'll get XP via LaM, then you keep the item (which affects XP as described below), but you're not allowed to A) enter the world or B) actually progress to the next level until you've gone through the convo. (Edit: Also, to prevent abuse, i.e. going Adventuring then selecting LaM late to accrue more XP, the convo would auto-set the character's XP to the start of whatever level, plus however much over the very last XP gain was.)

Let's assume you set LaM. Okay, so you don't get any XP from kills. Sure. But can't people still make loads of XP from crafting? Well... At lower crafting levels, sure! And in certain crafts, like Enchanting. So... How about eliminating getting Adventuring XP from crafting with LaM? XP would still accrue for the craft, but not as an Adventurer. Or, perhaps simply reduce it so that the character receives half the XP they would otherwise get from crafting. They would still receive XP normally from quests and WL/DM XP.

When their month was up, they're awarded the amount of XP that it would take them to progress from the start of their current level to the start of their next level. This could also, perhaps, be automated.

Now, let's take Eric the Generic Cleric. He chooses LaM at level one and spends a portion of every day making potions. Before a month has passed, Eric is level two in adventuring, just from Enchanting! But at the end of his first month, Eric still only gets enough XP to take him from level one to level two (I believe 2k XP). Six months later, Eric is level nine, as he's attended a few quests and stayed on the LaM track, not to mention continued in his Enchanting.

Let's compare this to Cronk, the Half-orc Monk. Now, Cronk chooses Adventuring at level one, and goes all the way with that. He earns XP just like everyone does, now, and stays just as active as Eric. But, depending on his activity, he could also be between levels 6 and 9.

The crux of this system is the assumption that the average career Adventurer makes enough XP in each calendar month to earn one character level.

Now, the system described above would make for levelling much quicker than the previous application of LaM (i.e. only eligible for a boost to 9th level on your 9th month)...

But I'm interested to hear thoughts.

[Pen N Popper]

What do you think, could this work now in the lower player population?

I'd love to see some of my old comrades be able to come back and revive their legacy. Sometimes RL catches up and squashes the time one can spend online. Personally, I'd like to see famous characters hanging out in Center for a few hours a week and interacting with the world.

Would it really detract from the server if players just naturally gained levels over time? With level-per-month it would take three years for a PC to reach 40th. I vote that's a win if we get a player to be online for three years.

Pretty please?