the_me wrote:
I personally don't like the whole "The game doesn't start until champ+" mentality at all. There really isn't anything other than skills, spells, and stats that you gain from leveling. It is just by champion status, when you have everything, you can be used like a tool by the veterans.
I mean other than skills, spells, stats, areas, items... there's nothing that you gain from leveling! Except for the fact that this game is made of skills, spells, stats, areas, and items, RP and PK. And I'm not sure I get what you mean by "used like a tool by the veterans."
I am a proponent of prolific, deep, and consistent RP more than most people who play now would ever really know. I love to RP all the time, and do so when there are people along the way to do it. That doesn't mean that it's right to dismiss 6/7s of the game's construction in favor of it. Leveling very tangibly unlocks a large portion of the game in the most literal sense. There are some things you mechanically can not do without the levels, areas you cannot visit, stories you cannot be told/uncover, spells you cannot use, stat points you cannot get. This is a MUD, not a MUSH. You are even limited to the areas your level can enter and survive.
The four corners of a MUD personality are: killer, achiever, explorer, socializer. When the entire spectrum of socialization is only unlocked by the coalescence of PK respectability...there's a reason the motto is "where roleplay and tactics collide." You can't really roleplay a despot if a bakemono can rip your throat out, you know? And those other three corners rely on XP at the outset, so please:
Keep a healthy head about you, always RP, interact, and enjoy the game. Just don't let the idea settle in that you can enjoyably experience any more than half of it (and probably a lot less) in the low level brackets. Enjoy that visible half thoroughly, just keep in mind that other half exists.