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Author Topic: For those fast leveling characters out there  (Read 6365 times)

Leanthar

For those fast leveling characters out there
« on: December 07, 2004, 08:48:00 pm »
I will remind you once again, and a final time--don't say you have not been warned. 
  We want RP here, we want your characters involved in quests and the plot.  If you are not interested in this then it is time to leave, find another world that is more fitting to your style of game play.  While it is not a bad play style it is not what I want on this world/server, that is not what we are about.
  On top of that... You will never be approved to go Epic (ie. more than 20th level) with such shallow characters.  When you are all about powergaming and leveling you have little to no time to RP and define your character and I simply will not approve your character going epic. And yes, I have to approve all characters before they can go to Epic Levels.
  I am not speaking to those that level fairly quickly but still also put in a good strong effort to RP and join quests and/or the plot quests here on the server.  As well as continue to respect the community of players. 
  I am speaking to those who are leveling so fast it is just plain silly, getting so rich (by exploits and/or pushing the boundries of reasonable harvesting) it is just disgusting and to those who rarely (if ever) join in a GM quest or plot.  All you want to do is level and power game, that style of game play is not encouraged here.  We have a great group of players and RP'ers, lets allow that to remain so and give them the respect they deserve.
  Please don't send me a PM asking if I am speaking about you because I will not answer them.  Sit back and think it over and decide for yourself.  90%+ of the people in the community are just find and/or great... but it is the 5%-10% that is starting to harm the community and I am not going to allow it to happen.  It is time for this group of people to sit back and think about things and make a tough decision. 
 

Leanthar

RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2005, 12:48:00 pm »
Bumping so it is not deleted.
 

jan

RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2006, 10:46:40 am »
As i had nothing better to do then browse the forums ,i found this thread again .

I cant help but notice that the rulechange from epic to world leader has been responcible for the levellers under the players to get a free hand in powerlevelling.
With the change from epic to worldleader the rules on levelling further have been thrown out , resulting in characters beeing able to keep gaining exp and grow bigger then they ever could become( lvll wise) with the epic rules .
there is a post somewere out on the forum that states that "getting to lvll 12 in 5 weeks is clearly not rp but powerlevelling"..or something close to that .
It saddens me that getting high in lvlls fast is now sooner seen as normal then anything else .
Characters going from lvll 20 to lvll 21 in about a week or two (over 3 million exp)others going from zero to 18 in about 8 weeks,to me it seems silly and bad roleplaying to get that high so fast .

When on an adventure in the underdark the group i was with was talked to in a friendly manner by a dm telling us that the character range we were travelling with was to wide spread ( ranging from 13 to 21 on east)for the place we were.
And after thinking about it the dm was right (server recomendation for chars going to east is lvll 18+ i think and for central its 14 or 15+)

Lot of text for a simple question realy .Is it possible to get back some rules on levelling so that the powergamers
 ( read levellers) can be stopped ?

I personaly find it a slap in the face for those that do roleplay and work on their character that others that are only concerned with levells and how high they are get free play.

( This is not aimed at any one in particular and if one of the examples might be recognisable for any one then i appoligice for that , but i hope you will ask yourself in that case if it is according to the serverrules that you are at the lvll you are now)

Jan

 

d20mushroom

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RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2006, 10:53:17 am »
Quote
Leanthar - 12/7/2004  4:48 PM    I will remind you once again, and a final time--don't say you have not been warned.
  We want RP here, we want your characters involved in quests and the plot. If you are not interested in this then it is time to leave, find another world that is more fitting to your style of game play. While it is not a bad play style it is not what I want on this world/server, that is not what we are about.
  On top of that... You will never be approved to go Epic (ie. more than 20th level) with such shallow characters. When you are all about powergaming and leveling you have little to no time to RP and define your character and I simply will not approve your character going epic. And yes, I have to approve all characters before they can go to Epic Levels.
  I am not speaking to those that level fairly quickly but still also put in a good strong effort to RP and join quests and/or the plot quests here on the server.As well as continue to respect the community of players.
  I am speaking to those who are leveling so fast it is just plain silly, getting so rich (by exploits and/or pushing the boundries of reasonable harvesting) it is just disgusting and to those who rarely (if ever) join in a GM quest or plot. All you want to do is level and power game, that style of game play is not encouraged here. We have a great group of players and RP'ers, lets allow that to remain so and give them the respect they deserve.
  Please don't send me a PM asking if I am speaking about you because I will not answer them. Sit back and think it over and decide for yourself. 90%+ of the people in the community are just find and/or great... but it is the 5%-10% that is starting to harm the community and I am not going to allow it to happen. It is time for this group of people to sit back and think about things and make a tough decision.
 Well said L, well said.
 

crazedgoblin

RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2006, 10:54:02 am »
Quote
Leanthar - 12/8/2004 4:48 AM   I will remind you once again, and a final time--don't say you have not been warned.
  We want RP here, we want your characters involved in quests and the plot. If you are not interested in this then it is time to leave, find another world that is more fitting to your style of game play. While it is not a bad play style it is not what I want on this world/server, that is not what we are about.
  On top of that... You will never be approved to go Epic (ie. more than 20th level) with such shallow characters. When you are all about powergaming and leveling you have little to no time to RP and define your character and I simply will not approve your character going epic. And yes, I have to approve all characters before they can go to Epic Levels.
  I am not speaking to thosethat level fairly quickly but still also put in a good strong effort to RP and join quests and/or the plot quests here on the server. As well as continue to respect the community of players.
  I am speaking to those who are leveling so fast it is just plain silly, getting so rich (by exploits and/or pushing the boundries of reasonable harvesting) it is just disgusting and to those who rarely (if ever) join in a GM quest or plot. All you want to do is level and power game, that style of game play is not encouraged here. We have a great group of players and RP'ers, lets allow that to remain so and give them the respect they deserve.
  Please don't send me a PM asking if I am speaking about you because I will not answer them. Sit back and think it over and decide for yourself. 90%+ of thepeople in the communityare just find and/or great... but it is the 5%-10% that is starting to harm the community and I am not going to allow it to happen. It is time for this group of people to sit back and think about things and make a tough decision.
 
 i think this covers it perfectly
 

jan

RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2006, 11:02:13 am »
On top of that... You will never be approved to go Epic (ie. more than 20th level) with such shallow characters.  When you are all about powergaming and leveling you have little to no time to RP and define your character and I simply will not approve your character going epic. And yes, I have to approve all characters before they can go to Epic Levels.( stated by Leanthar)


Since this allinea is nolonger in place i think that a new rule should be made for those reaching the lvll's 20 and up
Since there are no rules preventing people from getting there nomatter what they do,it has been exploided .
That is what i think anyway.
 

Dorganath

RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2006, 11:48:22 am »
@jan:
  Your observations are probably in some part correct, though not completely. The problem is, however, that we could not maintain the Epic system due to a growing number of characters becoming epic-qualified (the right way, mind you) and not enough GMs capable of running the quests in a timely manner.  Due to reasons beyond the control of the players themselves, the Epic system was essentially a roadblock of titanic proportions, blocking all leveling (and all character progress in the eyes of some) until such time as a GM could get the time to run an ECDQ for each character.  ECDQs take a LOT of planning and interaction on the part of the GMs and players, and to put it briefly, they're very time-consuming.
  So we changed it, and yes, it makes things more permissive in terms of leveling, but it also made the whole process optional for those who did not wish to attain the extra status...for those who think that Level 21 and above are "just another level".  While I don't disagree that the Epic levels should be something special, being stuck for completely OOC reasons is simply not fun.  This is a game, afterall...we're here for fun.
  To put it another way, no option is really ideal. We can't have a restrictive Epic system with the size of the community we have now and handle things in a timely manner with the resources we currently have. This is a big factor in why we changed Epic to World Leader. It simply could not be maintained.
  Shortly before that we had the Soul Mother go on a little hiatus.  The intention of this (which by the way was the outcome of an ECDQ), was to give the Dragoncalled a bit of a respite as the war against Bloodstone entered its final phases...to take some of the fear of one's permanent demise away for those who were meeting the enemy and his generals on their own territory.
  Sadly, this produced an entire "generation" of players who had absolutely zero regard for their characters' safety, who would take disproportionate risks seeing the potential of significant rewards (XP, gold and items) with nothing to risk except the loss of a little gold that really wasn't theirs in the first place. These players knew the bindstones would bring them back safe if anything bad happened, and they could just wait it out and go back the next day to do it all over again, hoping to luck out and hit a big score of gold and treasure.
  The Soul Mother came back and perhaps some extra caution was shown, but by now those who took those risks were stronger, had learned how to handle the foes better and knew where to go to get the better score of returns.....and then they started taking their lower-level friends...which is a whole other problem.
  That initial post from Leanthar was made almost 2 years ago...when Epic still meant something and long before the Soul Mother went away for a bit.  Powergaming/powerleveling happened before the rule change, and perhaps with awareness it will subside for a while, but is does come back now and then.  While the change in Epic rules may have had some impact, it's not really accurate to lay the blame fully on that change.
  But thanks for bringing it up again.
  And as Leanthar said a long time ago, don't PM me asking me if I was talking about you.  I won't answer either.  But perhaps if you think it does pertain, then perhaps it does.
  And so that this thread doesn't turn into a litany of reasons and justifications on why one's character has leveled so fast, why they have dragged characters of significantly lower levels to East for the XP and loot (or who have themselves been dragged and benefited substantially as a result)....trust me, we've heard all of them. No need to list them.
  It may not matter, but someone who rockets up in levels is not going to get approved to attempt to become a World Leader just because they make the level requirements.  It just isn't going to happen.
  To everyone else, I know it's hard, but don't worry too much about what everyone else is doing level-wise.  If you're leveling slow, so what?  In my experience, most of the most interesting characters level slowly and take a RL year or more to reach level 20.  There's no hurry folks.  Like life, it's all about the journey, not the destination.
 

DMOE

RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2006, 12:06:21 pm »
Quote
jan - 9/18/2006  7:02 PM  On top of that... You will never be approved to go Epic (ie. more than 20th level) with such shallow characters.  When you are all about powergaming and leveling you have little to no time to RP and define your character and I simply will not approve your character going epic. And yes, I have to approve all characters before they can go to Epic Levels.( stated by Leanthar)   Since this allinea is nolonger in place i think that a new rule should be made for those reaching the lvll's 20 and up  Since there are no rules preventing people from getting there nomatter what they do,it has been exploided . That is what i think anyway.
 Not sure I agree with this.  While yes I agree that power leveling is not in the spirit of the server and not something I like to see there are people who reach 20th lvl and don't apply for WL for a very good reason.
  I am one of those.
  Ireth reached 20th a month or two ago and my year of being on server was up in August but yet I haven't applied to take Ireth WL.
  This isn't because I don't think she could be (although I am bias  :p ) but because I don't think she has a viable strong direction in her life that she can move along.
  She has lots of intresting bits in her past that could be worked into a WL quest, a very strong link to the Toranite Church which could also be used but no CLEAR path to move along at the moment.
  Now this may simply be because I'm too close to her to see one (feel free to PM me any sensible suggestions  ;) ) or that at present there isn't one.
  So rather than bother the over worked DM Team with discussing my WL application to refuse it on being too weak or having no direction I have decided to wait until a direction presents itself, if it ever does.
  Now, love or hate Ireth....I RP...Or at least do my best too!
  Should I be penalised for not trying to force my character in a direction just so I can apply for WL Status?  Trust me if there is a rule in place that means people have to apply to go higher than 20th then people will force their characters into directions and the teams workload will increase as well as those who are refused getting cheesed off when really they probably shouldn't have applied in the first case.  I'd like to point out I am NOT talking about anyone who has applied for WL and been refused now...talking about if we went back to having to say, having be WL to go past 20th.
 

Leanthar

Re: For those fast leveling characters out there
« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2006, 12:07:23 pm »
Well stated Dorganath.
 

jan

RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
« Reply #9 on: September 18, 2006, 12:31:16 pm »
Quote
DMOE - 9/18/2006  9:06 PM    
Quote
jan - 9/18/2006  7:02 PM  On top of that... You will never be approved to go Epic (ie. more than 20th level) with such shallow characters.  When you are all about powergaming and leveling you have little to no time to RP and define your character and I simply will not approve your character going epic. And yes, I have to approve all characters before they can go to Epic Levels.( stated by Leanthar)   Since this allinea is nolonger in place i think that a new rule should be made for those reaching the lvll's 20 and up  Since there are no rules preventing people from getting there nomatter what they do,it has been exploided . That is what i think anyway.
 Not sure I agree with this.  While yes I agree that power leveling is not in the spirit of the server and not something I like to see there are people who reach 20th lvl and don't apply for WL for a very good reason.
  I am one of those.
  Ireth reached 20th a month or two ago and my year of being on server was up in August but yet I haven't applied to take Ireth WL.
  This isn't because I don't think she could be (although I am bias  :p ) but because I don't think she has a viable strong direction in her life that she can move along.
  She has lots of intresting bits in her past that could be worked into a WL quest, a very strong link to the Toranite Church which could also be used but no CLEAR path to move along at the moment.
  Now this may simply be because I'm too close to her to see one (feel free to PM me any sensible suggestions  ;) ) or that at present there isn't one.
  So rather than bother the over worked DM Team with discussing my WL application to refuse it on being too weak or having no direction I have decided to wait until a direction presents itself, if it ever does.
  Now, love or hate Ireth....I RP...Or at least do my best too!
  Should I be penalised for not trying to force my character in a direction just so I can apply for WL Status?  Trust me if there is a rule in place that means people have to apply to go higher than 20th then people will force their characters into directions and the teams workload will increase as well as those who are refused getting cheesed off when really they probably shouldn't have applied in the first case.  I'd like to point out I am NOT talking about anyone who has applied for WL and been refused now...talking about if we went back to having to say, having be WL to go past 20th.
 I was more thinking about looking at a char if it is roleplayed at all or just levelld up for the levells itself . That way , yes ,there would be more work for the staff and yes, they could use the time better . But i realy think it would stop,or atleast to a reasonable extend delay,the powerlevellers.  This suggestion was never intended to force people in any direction other then rping itself.
 

Dorganath

RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
« Reply #10 on: September 18, 2006, 12:44:25 pm »
Quote
jan - 9/18/2006  2:31 PM  
  I was more thinking about looking at a char if it is roleplayed at all or just levelld up for the levells itself . That way , yes ,there would be more work for the staff and yes, they could use the time better . But i realy think it would stop,or atleast to a reasonable extend delay,the powerlevellers.  This suggestion was never intended to force people in any direction other then rping itself.
 It would to a degree, but the problem existed before that, as I said before, and is certainly not a magic cure-all for the issue. We simply cannot sustain the pace the old Epic system, so the chances that it would come back, at least in its previous form, is slim.  It had become too great of a strain on the already over-booked GM Team.
 

Allorian

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    Re: For those fast leveling characters out there
    « Reply #11 on: September 18, 2006, 01:32:06 pm »
    How about players who spend much time on a server? They will get a vast amount of EXP in any case simply because of the amount of time spent playing their character. I would not consider such actions as powerleveling. Some nights I spend near 10 hours on my Character, doing so allows a vast amount of RPing (you can usually find my wizard, Raine holding chats with Ozy in Hlint or voicing his mind to others near the bank for a good amount of time) However, when a player is on for such lengths, they is no doubt that their avatars will be invited to multiple adventure groups. Many characters, as paladins, or rogues find themselves unable to resist such invitations simply for RP reasons; Paladins many times feel an obligation to characters in need (or should for that matter) and crafty rogues and bards would find the profits nescessary. There is nothing outside of roleplaying with those decisions.

    Furthermore there are the Rangers and Druids. These two classes should, through RP reasons, feel an obligation to combat the many threats to the woodlands, ex. fighting through undead crypts or removing ilk from their beloved forests.

    In short, people who spend a great deal of time playing their character and achieving a hefty amount of EXP deserve such; however A character who decides to continously kill the same creatures for no reason, or a created reason which seems out of character should definately be penalized. But the people who rack near 100 hours a week of playtime deserve some reward for their dedication to Layonara. Note that I am not advocating power leveling (I do not think characters should step out of their bounds based on their level and aformentioned exploitation/exp farming; I am advocating the fact that I see many players advancing quickly, but through a means which would seem proper. With my character Raine, I find myself venturing out on many quests, however he is quite poor and spends a good majority of his time in Hlint participating in discussions and learning from Ozy...)

    I guess I just gave a long synopsis to create a background for the question I pose. Is their a penalty for such characters whom advance quickly due to dedication to the game rather than powerleveling?
     

    Guardian 452

    Re: For those fast leveling characters out there
    « Reply #12 on: September 18, 2006, 02:28:47 pm »
    So long as there is something more to be obtainted it is human nature to want it, and want it as fast as possible.

    Those who make it past level 20 in 7 months.... well... I hope it was a fun ride. Your never going become a WL simply because you can mow down a spawns of eneimes by yourself on East Server.


    Some people will never make it to high levels because of RL, and the fact that EXP has been cut down so many times already by the Power Leveling croud.


    All I can say is go play your characters, RP and have fun. Don't get hung up on others.


    G-452


     

    Dorganath

    RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
    « Reply #13 on: September 18, 2006, 02:31:20 pm »
    @Allorian to quote myself:
     
    Quote
    And so that this thread doesn't turn into a litany of reasons and justifications on why one's character has leveled so fast, why they have dragged characters of significantly lower levels to East for the XP and loot (or who have themselves been dragged and benefited substantially as a result)....trust me, we've heard all of them. No need to list them.
     If one spends a lot of time online, one can also spend a lot of time RPing. The first few levels are fast. It should slow down about 7th and take on a more normal pace. We're not saying don't adventure...we're not saying don't have fun. But this server is about RP. So RP first, and if an adventure breaks out, then so be it. Just keep RPing as your goal. And if you think you're leveling too fast, then stop gaining XP. It's really not all that hard to do. My own character went about 2 months once between levels....and that was with frequent play time. It can be done.
      Trust me...we've heard all the "what if's".
     

    Allorian

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      Re: For those fast leveling characters out there
      « Reply #14 on: September 18, 2006, 03:02:15 pm »
      I think I was misunderstood. I am not promoting power levels, am I just saying that a person who dedicates a good deal of playing will level fairly quickly. I have made alternate characters trying to prevent that from occuring, but I find that if you spend a long period of time on Layonara, you will advance quite quickly do to simply playing and participating in the World. Game events give huge amounts of EXP and it is not like I neglect to RP my character, I spend most my time RPing and you can see in the character development forum I activily update Raine's posting...

      I am not truely speaking from personal experience, just playing a bit of devil's advocate to players who advance quickly through plot related instances. People who just play to go out and level though I have found to be quite annoying. I will not mention names, however I have sent a few tells saying for them to perhaps go to another server; they ruin groups and the over all Roleplaying experience....Exp for events is pretty substantial I have found; its why I do not do so many.  One event required only attendence and no speaking for 2 hours and yielding quite a hefty EXP bonus. This is the only reason why I have brought up the topic; if a character participates in multiple events each week they will find themselves advancing very, very quickly.
       

      Dorganath

      RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
      « Reply #15 on: September 18, 2006, 04:46:48 pm »
      Actually, you were not misunderstood.
        My point was though that one does not need to gain a single point of XP while playing. One can choose not to participate in quests. One can chose not to go out frequently and gaining XP. There's really no excuse for leveling quickly...there are a lot of reasons, but no real excuses. We know that a lot of time in-game often translates to more rapid leveling. But know also that it's permissible to refuse quest XP, it's permissible to ask a GM to remove XP from one's character, and I personally know several people who have intentionally slowed their own leveling and still played just as often.
        I understand completely what you were trying to do, but in this case, the devil needs no advocates. It has plenty as it is.
        As I said using my own example, I have played for two solid weeks (pretty much every day for several hours each day) and gained little or no XP during that time. I've taken months to gain levels, and that was playing actively. It can be done. Most of us did it that way. Only a few did not. But those few make other people, good players, take notice and wonder why some other people who started after them get to gain so many levels and they do not. It inspires jealosy and a desire to obtain what others have. It inspires a culture of fast leveling and that is simply not good for this community.
        Oh, and to be clear, my last response was in no way an accusation against you personally. I have no idea what kind of a player you are, and so no judgements were being made.
       

      Allorian

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        Re: For those fast leveling characters out there
        « Reply #16 on: September 18, 2006, 05:35:20 pm »
        Well in that case, I understand completely.
         

        Tanman

        Re: For those fast leveling characters out there
        « Reply #17 on: September 18, 2006, 05:42:05 pm »
        I  concur, and just would like to add a few things of what I do.

        At one point, I spend a vast amount of times in weekends and week nights playing Layonara and have been invited into quests. I try to RP to what my character would think, and even at some points walked away because my character did not like the other characters in the group.

        While I still join quests, I make sure that everything is RP, even when there are party invites. I will often reject the party invites if they are blatantly given without any RP andgive a friendly reminder to the other party that they please RP the invitation first. I think everyone likes levelling, but I feel it is cheapened if it happens quickly. Gaining a level should feel like its earnt and to me power levelling doesn't do that. I also get sick and tired of the things that people will do in order to power level, I remember in one circumstance we had a party and one of the members just turned invisible for the whole trip without doing anything and just collected XP from the monsters killed

        I am not saying don't go invisible while in combat. I have a friend that does go invisible, but as a bard, he casts spells and heals people/and plays music to raise morale for the benefit of the group. He will interchange between invisible and being visible for RP purposes. He uses it appropriately.

        RP should be encouraged, which is the reason why I am all for this magic wand that WL and DM hold so that they can reward good XP in exceptional circumstances.
         

        Hellblazer

        RE: For those fast leveling characters out there
        « Reply #18 on: September 18, 2006, 11:47:04 pm »
        Quote
        jan - 9/18/2006  1:46 PM for the place we were. And after thinking about it the dm was right (server recomendation for chars going to east is lvll 18+ i think and for central its 14 or 15+)  
         And there i went thinking that because the lowest level you needed to be, to get quest on central was 10 it made that part of the world lvl 10 recomended...  :o  
          Well Been here 6 month yesterday, yeah  8) ,played well over what my xfire stateand still lvl 12, guess im not part of that category.

        Pen N Popper

        Re: For those fast leveling characters out there
        « Reply #19 on: September 19, 2006, 03:36:11 am »
        Once you hit level 10, central is a great place to travel with a party.  If you solo then I guess you'd need to be higher.
         

         

        anything