I could point out how easy it is for someone to craft who lvls first and learns crafts later. I know that's not for everyone because not everyone wants to lvl, they wanna craft. but if crafting is your thing, then craft. If lvling up is your thing and you happen to wanna craft a bit, it'll be easier to lvl first and craft later-but nothing is stopping you from doing crafting first, or even during! Hell I figure the crafting is set up to scale along with your lvl ability so that if you don't try to sit down and grind out either to max asap you can slowly work both up together fairly easily. The gold you have available to fund your craft will generally rise with your level-at least your ability to accumulate it will whether you take advantage of it or not. Also, your ability to get the ingredients for harder things will as well.
Example: I started herbalism at lvl 7. I worked on it some throughout each season, never sitting down and only doing that for long periods, just gathering what I could here and there and working at it. At lvl.. oh 15-16 I could make elixirs of life and only needed a three or higher to make it. By lvl 20 I could do it without fail. This is with me focusing lvling on said character over crafting or any sort of balance between the two. I know that some crafts are more difficult to get through, but I've also helped other players get through smithing, leather working, herbalism, alchemy and woodworking. This isn't something that was done before lvling or instead of, it was something that was done while lvling over time, and both increased together as neither was focused over the other.
Example for lvling first-same character who took 10 lvls to almost max herbalism is able to in a few weeks after starting alchemy at lvl 19 to get the craft up to where he can fairly reliably make the hardest things, and that's without grinding it out to try and max asap.
I know that people don't get as much if any rp xp from crafting. It can be difficult to get people to help, but speaking from experience with multiple players and player groups both helping and being helped I can fairly confidently say that it's possible given the right determination. It's also a lot easier if you aren't a low to mid lvl trying to craft stuff that's made from things you just can't get yourself. Like I said, crafting scales with your lvl. That's why the easiest things are made with the materials -anybody- can get and the hardest things are made with materials only the toughest people can get. Other than using the economy to make it happen, which includes the opportunity to create rp around your obtainting these resources.
Actually the thing you mention is not necessarily allways true.
A number of times In game events, information, happenings can prohibit someone from actually being able to level, or make it very hard for him or her.
Like getting RP bans to visit certain places. (eg. : you die if you come here again, from DM posessed monsters. I have been literally RP banned on 3 different characters from the vampire crypts:P)
Like learning things that make your character seriously distrustfull of certain other characters, factions, elements whatever.
In these cases depending on your class, it may quite easily be literally impossible to level, or very hard. You may actually invest in crafting this heavily to have a slight chance of getting xp, or to be able to do something once in every month or half a year.
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Also, basicly what you are just describing to level first, or to level while doing crafting, is basicly couraging you to grind for xp. This in my humble oppinion is a bit...meh. This should be first an RP server, and not a grindfesting MMORPG.
Also, sad to say this, but your reasoning basicly just brings up some things i allready encountered in game. "The first level, than you can back it up with rp" mentality.(=Or i first get some levels, I can thereafter start RP ing.)
Which is basicly makeing the game less RP-ish, and more powerfest style. Anyone can roll dices, and say one worded stuff. Or just plainly do a no-brainer assasination. -> I wonder how many folks actually know that with such methods, they usually limit their own RP, instead of enhancing it.
(E.g. I had a character who had in game information about how to destroy a Darklord. But he never got the chance to tell anyone, simply because he was murdered in such a lame way, I just felt disgusted. I also lost all my dedication to play him, simply because I was not able to trust the majority of the playerbase to interact with him normally ever again.)
If you try to reason with you can do it if you gain xp, level, items etc., then the problem may be that your focus is shifting more towards the "my character is this and that badass" than RP. There are other matters to obtain items, of course they may take a while, may cost gold, interaction, time whatever. However set in a wider perspective they may be quite more fitting RP-like. (I've seen hostile factions go into raids with each other simply because of the sheer xp value, or the rare item to be found there, which RP wise is hardly justifiable, however sometimes at least they do try to do so.)
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And about the stuff of obvious things. You are right in that term. I know that respawnaholic knows what i told, and that it is obvious for him, but perhaps for the developers, for DMs, or for Blue it may not be so. That is why i felt that i should add that extra bit tile of information, to give a more better understanding of the problem and situation.
About the items you make and sell to NPC-s. Currently you can do that, however sadly most of these items are bought at such prices, that it can make you come out with quite a huge negative sum in the long run.
I remember that i used to do the math, counting out all items what it would cost me to make, at which different settlement. And it has occured that I bought the templates at one town, and had to venture to another to obtain the resources, simply because the templates may have cost me less, or because the resources were found more easily at the other. Allthough sadly buying items applies only to a limited number of items.
Perhaps a good or better solution would be if it would be spreaded out a bit. Giving for instance certain other residents, for whom it is more RP like fit, to buy those items. I am fairly sure that basicly in Barovia there are about three places where you could be able to sell your alchemical stuff to "locals". These also would make certain places perhaps more visited. (For instance the mage tower residents may buy from you the varnishes, allthough it is a rarity that varnishes are not sold, however perhaps the lower level ones some folks may find to have a large EXTRA number of.) The elves and Nadezdha special bows. (To support special hunts, elves/ranger.) Cure disease potions/poison/remove fear etc. or simple herbalist ingreds by certain priestly factions. (allthough to not find herbalist ingredient buyer is quite rare, however it still happens sometimes.) So forth.
And what respawnaholic said, that quite often my guys died because i was out to set out for ingreds, it is sad but true. Quite often I was not able to overcome things even if i had a decent gear for my level, simply because the dices felt it was the time for me to fail. Like getting killed basicly 4 times in a row, while trying to reach a certain coal source.(not the one under dvergenheim.) Where a craig cat jumped me and each time managed to crit me 4 times in a row for over 30-40 hp. Even being level 10 did not help. (And animal empathy rolls failed, drinking potions got me AOO and again critted, wasting that CCW potion and so forth.) I basicly wasted more invisibility potions against craig cats than anything else! (And that with a char who had animal empathy, quite a good AB, and AC but the dice factor rolled in. Heh my animal companion died so many times along with me i did not even bother to raise him after a while, simply because i was not able to make that much money with trying to advance in smithing.)
