If the primary goal of LTs is to encourage player retention, then in addition to (and separate from) the XPboost, there should be a "learnskillBoost" that is allowed. I don't know about anyone else, but I can GM a sorc in 30ish hours of grinding, but then it takes an additional 60ish hours of grinding to get my spells to mastered. A heavy armor priest, conversely, would take much much longer. I lost count of how many hours it took me to master retreat on Rall or kip up on Berr, and most of that grind involved wrangling other players to help me grind the same skill over and over again (Bilauphan and Berr had a "perpetual motion machine" that involved a bunch of giants, refreshing, and kipping up). A higher chance to improve on skills would be a much more effective reduction in grind to returning players than the XPboost system.
I echo the sentiment that LTs should never, never, ever, ever, ever give mechanical benefits that cannot otherwise be obtained. I don't think that's in danger of changing, but I feel like making that clear.
I also think that there are certain mechanical options that LTs should be able to be used on the character that earned them. redeem revive and redeem unspecialize are two of them (Although I'm really not a fan of redeem revive for what it's worth, seems to violate the principle of "letting you do things that are otherwise impossible). Those two options should be able to be redeemed on the character that earns them.
However, as another option perhaps in the realm of my suggestions on "Good vs Bad PvP," I think that it would be neat to see some cosmetic options provided to characters through LT application. Here's an example below.
Quote:
redeem redesign <item> (5 Loyalty Tokens)
This command allows you to redesign an item to have a different short description and be targetable by a set of new keywords. The item retains all of its physical and magical properties and original long description, including its original keywords for the purposes of locating and interacting. Scripted items cannot be redesigned.
If the redesigned item is destroyed, then another item of the exact same base item can be redesigned with extra loyalty token cost. If the redesigned item is lost or stolen, then redesigning a new base item will cause the first redesigned item to revert to its original short description. You cannot redesign a single type of item more than once in an OOC 24 hour time period.
There is no limit on the number of different items that can be redesigned for a single character.
It is against the rules to use this to make an item appear as something it is not. For example, you cannot redesign a sword to look like a bag, or redesign a bow to look like a tiger. Abuse of this ability will result in a revert of the redesign and a warning. Further abuse after the warning will result in a revert of the redesign and a permanent disabling of redeem redesign on your account.
Other ideas could be custom room redescs that last for the life of the character and that can be only applied to rooms marked as houses like in Everclear (Higher loyalty token cost), adjective changes, adding a custom roomecho to an item that only applies when you hold it, etc.