Powerleveling with newish PC's

[Makzimia]

I have for sometime now been getting on mostly anonymously as a player to gauge various aspects of my own world. The main reason is to test area useabilities, costs, life in general. Anyway, a practice is in play, which I know will probably ( SHOULD) stop once 1.62 comes out and fixes the XP/Spawn bug, however the reasoning behind "training" as I have been pointed to by various long term, well known to me, level hungry players is LAME... latest incident prompted me to post about this... where a new PC was taken to the Southern Orc camp initially to be made invisible then marched down to the crypts and be told that is the Fredian training ground... what a load of S%^^%.

First of all, a high level player almost completely erases the new players chance to explore.. so we get another player who does not know there way around, and yes the person involved did however at least tell me SOME places to go that were nearby... however also.. where a level 1 PC would get say 200 XP or there about for an Ogre, killable by a Half-Dragon trust me he will get 3XP instead with a high level along... you are not doing the new players ANY favours at ALL. I do not want to see this happening with NEW players again. In other words if you do not KNOW them... you are not to take them on your little selfish trips.

Makz.

[Adyanna79]

I have to agree with this here...

I don't know how many level 25 or even a 27 once who didn't even know where castille was...

And would ask me direction to go to Whillem...Because I told them to go to the arena to fight each other...

I mean they have 10 level on me and I know more of the world... (makes very little sense)

It really makes me mad because My char is an easy mark for any newb who just started on the server when really they should give me a bit of respect...

I mean powerleveling is all good (I have done t and I understand why)... But some character devellopment is needed to balance the char.

[Percival]

I have to confess some guilt to the opposite end of the spectrum. I roll played a crafter for quite sometime establishing my character (Ore Minersmith for those who don't know). After I established the character I went on a powergaming tare the likes of which was probably not seen before (15-37 in 4 days). It almost ruined the roll play I worked hard to establish. Why did I do it? Mostly because there is no reason to be level 23-35. The server has some great starting quests, and some nasty ultimate battles, but a huge gap in the middle. There are still areas of the server I have not been to, because no need calls me there. But I like to think that I know the majority of it.

My thought on this is simple. One server I have played on has impossed a 5 level limit for party. If all players in the party are not within 5 levels then XP is seriously reduced to the point when 1 XP for kill is what you get if you lucky. Its not a bad idea.

There are some good rp'rs on the server, and I dont claim to be one of the better ones, but to many characters (Mine included) found the easy path and took it. Everyone wants to be a god.... but no one wants to earn it.

[Adyanna79]

Been there done that...

the whole 5 level thing is good but it also seperates a lot of the players into groups...And if someone plays more hours than his buddy he is pretty much... well in a couple of weeks he needs to find a new party...

Well I am just trying to make it clear than there is issues there too... they are just different...

[Zhoreb]

I totally agree.
As you may know, I have been trying out a lot of characters the last 2 months. And oh boy, I can't remember login on with a low level character without recieving one or more tells asking if I want to train.

And my first character said "Yes please!". I experienced first hand what Makz is warning us about. That first character was powerlevelled to level 15 or something close to that the first time he logged on.
There I was, quite powerful, but almost naked; no equipment, no money, no knowledge of the world. A level 15 newby. How silly do you feel then?

The next few characters actually had very useful help. In exchange for some training, some money or some items, I was sent on a few missions to retrieve flowers, pelts or other ingredients. That way I was beginning to know the world. I was also encouraged to start crafting, and because of that I started exploring. Now I know most of the world, and I have at least been once to every area, except for Ferrus (and the ones I don't know off

From now on, I will do the same to PC's my character has no history with. When they come to me asking for help, I will give them what they ask for, only if they perform a task first (and what they ask for is reasonable).

On a side note:
As soon as the Island of Fredian is patched to 1.62, I will start anew. The experimenting days are over then, and my current characters will all (semi-)retire.
I will start 2 new characters then, one will be good. One will be evil. Hopefully I have learned enough to RP them both. And please, don't give them tells if they want training. At least do it IC, let there be a reason why we are in the same party.
Just come over and *spank* me if I forget my own Rules of Thumb from now on!

--edit
Nerull will stay.

[Phoenix]

My thoughs on this are I'm pretty much not going to powerlevel. I understand it's the only viable way to get decent XP, but with the next patch coming soon (I read it's in beta on Bioware's site) I think we can all wait a bit.

On the level limit thing, 5 levels was a kosher limit when 20 was the cap, but with epic levels things have changed. It's real hard to say a 22nd level character is that far off from a 32. Sure there are differences, but some 22s could drop a 32, so I don't think it's a big enough difference to say 'why would these two be together?' They are both powerfull enough to respect the other's abilities. The same is not true with 12 vs 22, or 2 vs, 12... So 5 levels isn't a good enough break down. The more extreme example is a 30th and 40th level characters, both are extremely capable and would join together if there was a reason as the lower level person would not be a 'burdon' to bring along.

As for the comment that there is a gap in characters between 23-35, maybe thats just you. My character has just reached 33, and I just gained a lot of power. I just picked up 6-9th automatic still spell feat, that lets me cast all my spells in any amror. If I choose my feats a little different it could have happened at 28th or so. So different 'builds' of characters make power jumps at different spots.

[wingstriker]

Well I must pipe in also on this topic. Some of those that are powerleveling are not even making a pretence that it is training ( at least they are being honest ). it is pure and simple trying to get to the highest level as fast as possible. Why ? well it has been told to me when I asked them is because of the xp bug like Mak stated above. Some don’t like to drag their feet at 21st where now things don’t spawn or xp sucks. No fault this server but game bugs at fault that should we hope be fixed soon along with many others. Praise the lord. ;D

I have been so SO good about not power leveling for oh so long (22nd level character from almost start of server) but.... So many people came on the server with HoTu that Pooff!! in two to four days they are over 20th rofl!! At this time I still held off but sadly fell into helping some friends get there levels by bring in a low level character. We tried a different approach though.. we used the slave ability on this server. The master has a slave and brings him/her along to Carrie the bags and plunder
But we new we were cheating and I felt guilt when Mak caught us at it in the styne castle lower levels (was fun with the powers that be tried fairly to kill my 4th level with Bodaks Lots of Bodaks and I mean a lot I blame my part in this on the bug in the game that put a halt to the natural way to level . *hangs head in shame* Don’t hate me for it The game made me do it!

[Preedy1978]

I have to agree Makz....it took me a LOT of game hours to get Karl up lvl40.

I have spent a lot of time getting Zachaz to level 18.

Does it deem fair that people can just waltz in and hey presto have a lvl 25 char. in just a few hours, without knowing anything about the land at all?

I get amazed at how one minute i am walking around with Zachaz, seeing all these 'effortless' PCS, and the next hour, the same char. is rated 'impossible'.

It kinda makes me want to know what i am doing wrong.....or maybe i'm not? *sighs*

[Silentus]

Anyone that knows me knows that Vugor fights alone - always has, always will. I took out a newbe for about 20 minutes after I heard about the practice, and hated the experience. since HotU I have advanced about 5 levels, mainly from NPC quests. I feel guilty about those, cause I pretty much watch them and make the rounds when they free up, but its closer to an RPed excuse.

Simple fact is that most people here are likly to agree with the 'Powerleveling is bad' point of view, becasue the peple on the forums are generally a little more into the RP of it than others. If you dont RP, I dont care how you get to high levels I guess, but it still does hurt a little that Ive had Vugor since October and have watched many pass him by...

[Phoenix]

One more thought, be carefull of who you assume is powerleveling. You really-really can jump several levels in a couple of hours, solo. Phoenix went from ~14 to ~21 over a 2 day stint (only a couple of hours total play), all solo.

[Silentus]

You sure can! Up till aobut level 23 or so when you dont make more than 6 xp for 75% of the fights. Then by level 26 where you dont make more than 6xp for about 95% of the fights. Im like 28 or 29 now and 1 kill = 6xp period (there are a VERY few encounters abouve that, but still - you get the idea.

But that is a good point Pheonix I'm not pointing fingers, just expressing distress.

[Phoenix]

I just don't want people applying that title to all new people who are high level. You can go from 1-22 in a week of casual play (heh, casual is a relative term... as in not 7-8 hours a day ).

Of course anyone over 28 has likely done it some.

[Zhoreb]

Indeed, reaching level 24 solo is easy. Thanks to the equipment. Isn't the ILR just a bit too low, for items like golden circlet and the greater belts for example?
To me, this solo levelling has a powerish feel to it as well, but I am doing it all the same. Thanks to the equipment you can kill monsters for 600+ xp between level 10 and 20, and it's still good XP up to level 24, 25

Anyway, yesterday I started what is probably my last experiment before 1.62 arrives, and within the hour I recieved two tells if I wanted to train......

[iRboy]

Indeed, reaching level 24 solo is easy. Thanks to the equipment. Isn't the ILR just a bit too low, for items like golden circlet and the greater belts for example?
To me, this solo levelling has a powerish feel to it as well, but I am doing it all the same. Thanks to the equipment you can kill monsters for 600+ xp between level 10 and 20, and it's still good XP up to level 24, 25

Indeed, after having my first 3 chars (Danny, Dania, Danielle which i've decided to halt any more levelling unless something happens IC since they feel like settling down) being powerlevelled, i decided to do the justified and "HARD" way. Surprisingly, Damien killing bats and goblins, proceeding to zombies and bugbears, then curst and doom knights and the aforementioned "Fredian training ground", and then glacial people (where Makz tried to help me by increasing encounters by putting in 6 brawlers but unwittingly killed me instead lol) got him to L25 in 3 days.

Of course, by then he was averaging 6-20xp/ kill, and succumbed once again to the temptation of powerlevelling. Not that this absolves my guilt, but at least i did it IC, and RP with the new char, giving tours and little snippets of advice to the new char(lol i love it when the old player plays along and pretends to really not know anything, not even the way there. Conversely I've seen some "newbs" run straight to the fredian hunting ground before i could say GO). And also with the aid of quests, i got to L32. That's when i started killing bugs solo at 6xp each at my "private training place" (another form of powergaming, sadly) all the way to L38. I got 8000xp per hour, not bad for an epic (but a sore wrist for the same monotonous pattern of clicking over a total of 30+hrs)

The point is that people who dun do exploring won't know of places that actually are better! So it's their loss when 1.62 comes out. (oh BTW would like to sincerely thank Vugor and Mack for their constant help in finding certain places and items, and answering my queries both IC and OOC, for all this time now. Oh and percival too )

Well won't be playing much now anyway, got 5 projects looming over me and deadlines all in <1 month's time

Cheers

[FaithIsTruth]

I think I might actually be the one being refered to by Makz in his post. I've done it quite alot as all of you are sure to know, my character is drow subrace, I've had her for about 2 weeks or so and she's level 34 now I believe (that or 33). I just really felt a need to be high level for some of the RP we were planning, that and more recently, being chased around Styne by the entire town really isnt that fun when you're only around level 25, specially when Mack and Karl are both at it I apologize, sorry if I ruined anybody's experience I do normally try to show people around when I level them, I'll take them to the desert, then either or both of the two crypts. . . then maybe " drop" some gold IC to get them some items with, or maybe even drop an item or two if I have the right type. I have in the past also charged several thousand gold/level, I didnt think to assign tasks. I stopped doing it though, when people normally dont have enough money to pay for it.

In the view of most of you, is getting a friend to log as a low level character to help level you OK?