Brainstorming: Alternatives to RP XP Restriction

[Exordium]

Personally, I find myself liking the debuff idea the more I think of it. It's pretty easy to explain IC and would be a more significant barrier to high levels than simple RP XP restriction is. On the technical side of things, it's possible to e.g. fully block level 8 and 9 spells from working, lower the effective caster levels, decrease skill ranks, and decrease ABs accordingly. Barovia could essentially have kind of a "soft" cap of level 14. Some abilities could continue to scale - like saving throws, HP increases, - giving some power to levels higher than 14. Some characters such as the guard members could be an exempt to this.

We haven't talked about this on the developer side so I'm 100% talking of my personal view, but I'd accept a 2/4 RP XP restriction with the debuff system in place.

If that is do-able, are you able to lower it further in Vallaki? Say to like, 10 or 12? Even if not I love the idea of the Debuff zone because it has great potential both IC and OOC as a ways to even the playing field. How simple would it be for the Devs to make this happen?

It's not technically difficult far as I can tell, but we've a very discussion heavy way of approaching these things. We really do try to look things from multiple different angles. There may be viewpoints that I am missing here - might simply be that the result of our future team discussions is that this isn't a supported idea. So hence I can't speak in behalf of the team as we haven't discussed this particular idea.

[SardineTheAncestor]

If we are going to debuff people who are in Vallaki at a high level, which I think is a great idea, we should also consider that a solo level 8 with the right gear or spell setup can kill a pack of werewolves without taking much damage unless he's seriously unlucky. Three or four level 12s can mob on a fresh AMPC at 13, but it will obviously be more dangerous than if they were 17-20 and he was at 14. That said, reducing spell levels is a great idea, too (but you will cause me physical pain if you make it so PC clerics can't resurrect mutilated corpses by setting the bar too low ).

Scaling players down is really popular in MMOs. Letting friends play with friends without the higher level ruining the experience is, unsurprisingly, a huge thing for community feel. On an RP server this goes even further. High levels don't need to feel guilty or that they're a detriment when they've spent months and months on their characters, and in cases like mine, have barely even seen MPCs, even when mindfully taking my time when I'm alone and I see they're online & could pop out at any moment.

[Khornite]

If we are going to debuff people who are in Vallaki at a high level, which I think is a great idea, we should also consider that a solo level 8 with the right gear or spell setup can kill a pack of werewolves without taking much damage unless he's seriously unlucky. Three or four level 12s can mob on a fresh AMPC at 13, but it will obviously be more dangerous than if they were 17-20 and he was at 14. That said, reducing spell levels is a great idea, too (but you will cause me physical pain if you make it so PC clerics can't resurrect mutilated corpses by setting the bar too low ).

Scaling players down is really popular in MMOs. Letting friends play with friends without the higher level ruining the experience is, unsurprisingly, a huge thing for community feel. On an RP server this goes even further. High levels don't need to feel guilty or that they're a detriment when they've spent months and months on their characters, and in cases like mine, have barely even seen MPCs, even when mindfully taking my time when I'm alone and I see they're online & could pop out at any moment.

So the idea is "Any stat/item you have above X will result in nerf". I'm going to be honest, I'd rather have the RP EXP restriction.

[FinalHeaven]

If we are going to debuff people who are in Vallaki at a high level, which I think is a great idea, we should also consider that a solo level 8 with the right gear or spell setup can kill a pack of werewolves without taking much damage unless he's seriously unlucky. Three or four level 12s can mob on a fresh AMPC at 13, but it will obviously be more dangerous than if they were 17-20 and he was at 14. That said, reducing spell levels is a great idea, too (but you will cause me physical pain if you make it so PC clerics can't resurrect mutilated corpses by setting the bar too low ).

Scaling players down is really popular in MMOs. Letting friends play with friends without the higher level ruining the experience is, unsurprisingly, a huge thing for community feel. On an RP server this goes even further. High levels don't need to feel guilty or that they're a detriment when they've spent months and months on their characters, and in cases like mine, have barely even seen MPCs, even when mindfully taking my time when I'm alone and I see they're online & could pop out at any moment.

So the idea is "Any stat/item you have above X will result in nerf". I'm going to be honest, I'd rather have the RP EXP restriction.

The argument then is why do you need to worry about stats if you're just there to RP?

Not directing this at you specifically, just highlighting where the next step in the conversation is likely to go.

[Iridni Ren]

Personally, I find myself liking the debuff idea the more I think of it. It's pretty easy to explain IC and would be a more significant barrier to high levels than simple RP XP restriction is. On the technical side of things, it's possible to e.g. fully block level 8 and 9 spells from working, lower the effective caster levels, decrease skill ranks, and decrease ABs accordingly. Barovia could essentially have kind of a "soft" cap of level 14. Some abilities could continue to scale - like saving throws, HP increases, - giving some power to levels higher than 14. Some characters such as the guard members could be an exempt to this.

We haven't talked about this on the developer side so I'm 100% talking of my personal view, but I'd accept a 2/4 RP XP restriction with the debuff system in place.

It may be somewhat easy to implement on a technical level, but I don't think it's so easy to maintain balance. For example, preventing 8th and 9th level spells from working versus removing some amount of AB: how much is equivalent? With all the Prestige Classes we have, multiclassing, etc., and varying builds, this sounds like a nightmare. I have heard tell of an NCE in which one item was accidentally left in the loot table, and the result was mayhem because it was so disproportionately powerful in the resulting neuter that is NCE.

At least currently there is a certain amount of mutual deterrence that prevents the hypotheticals such as BSR and Khormoite talked about in the other thread:

To be fair, if you have a gang of level 20's who show up at the outskirts and play the PvP rules to the letter, they can get rid of the entire Garda faction, kill all the NPCs related to them if they fight back, kill off all of the level-appropriate characters and declare themselves the pauper kings of the area until a DM gets other level 20's involved, or decides to take out an NPC to squander the PC. There isn't any good reason, logically, why a Gendarme can be level 20, but a Garda can't, other than the domain has a restrictor plate attached to it with a lot of leaky holes. I think Vallaki shouldn't be designed to house level 20's, but I think if that's the case, level 20's need to be kept out of Vallaki more firmly to facilitate the low-level experience the server wants. This half and half approach is pretty useless.

Let's be honest, a single level 15 wizard who is skilled at PvP can do this. A well equipped fighter can do this with the right potions. Don't even need a party of level 20s.

One reason the above doesn't happen is other high levels are around to prevent one OP'd PC from going ham on all the low levels.

How would the system compensate, say, for being fully enchanted? Such a PC is much better off than another PC of commensurate level.

To quote Aprog:

[T]he measures currently in place are a sledgehammer because they're easy and quick to implement. More precision and qualitative assessment requires time and effort from the Dev team, and at any rate are inherently subjective, since quality of RP is derivative of many variables, of which the presence or absence of high levels is of unclear weight.  As doing away with the system altogether doesn't seem to have Dev support, any improvements to the system need to be cheap (in terms of Dev manpower) to implement.

Personally, I am skeptical from experience that any change of this magnitude won't introduce an entire set of new unforeseen problems much worse than the minor unhappiness the current sledgehammer causes.

[APorg]

The deterrence argument assumes a problem that doesn't really exist.  Besides, in my experience, the level 20 "deterrent" in the Outskirts is the one blowing up AMPCs and low level antagonists.

[Khornite]

If we are going to debuff people who are in Vallaki at a high level, which I think is a great idea, we should also consider that a solo level 8 with the right gear or spell setup can kill a pack of werewolves without taking much damage unless he's seriously unlucky. Three or four level 12s can mob on a fresh AMPC at 13, but it will obviously be more dangerous than if they were 17-20 and he was at 14. That said, reducing spell levels is a great idea, too (but you will cause me physical pain if you make it so PC clerics can't resurrect mutilated corpses by setting the bar too low ).

Scaling players down is really popular in MMOs. Letting friends play with friends without the higher level ruining the experience is, unsurprisingly, a huge thing for community feel. On an RP server this goes even further. High levels don't need to feel guilty or that they're a detriment when they've spent months and months on their characters, and in cases like mine, have barely even seen MPCs, even when mindfully taking my time when I'm alone and I see they're online & could pop out at any moment.

So the idea is "Any stat/item you have above X will result in nerf". I'm going to be honest, I'd rather have the RP EXP restriction.

The argument then is why do you need to worry about stats if you're just there to RP?

Not directing this at you specifically, just highlighting where the next step in the conversation is likely to go.

My points on this topic is that Vallaki is the hub of the server for a lot of things, mainly crafting. I personally go there for herbs and steel and mercury as its the best place for all of that even when compared to other domains. Having to go "Hey, my high level character now needs to bring a full part to go get some coal and cinnabar which SHOULD take 10 minutes now takes a half hour and requires a party" is bringing a nuke to kill a fly. I think if you flesh out the other areas in the server to be competitive with Vallaki on the crafting side, you'll see less high levels going to Vallaki. The RP EXP system is already a harsh measure, why counter it with an even harsher measure? It seems counterproductive. Some of the points I've seen here were about characters tied to Vallaki (Like guards and Morninglord church members) still being able to progress and not being effectively capped. This proposed method -still- caps those characters but differently. I think what does the MOST to keep high levels out is knowing there is a belief that DMs don't want to see high levels there and the fact that dungeons scaled to higher levels are not in Vallaki. I personally try to go to Vallaki as little as possible, my character hates the place and refers to the need to go back there to gather herbs or other materials as the "Vallaki Curse".

In all honesty, I saw a suggestion a while back that the Mist Camp is the issue and I'm starting to come over to that side of thinking. I think building a new hub area elsewhere or converting another area to serve as that new hub might be the way to go. Maybe nerf Vallaki in regards to how plentiful crafting stuff is, remove Yoshek so people have to go towards the new hub or towards the mist camp to sell when they have stuff that's too valuable for Petre. Entice people to go elsewhere, don't punish them for going to Vallaki, I say. Think of all the new RP and factions and opportunities that can come from a new hub city! Maybe a bunch of the merchants who leave Vallaki end up setting up a small merchant town somewhere. That lets the setting feel like it's growing, like the NPCs are living lives, expanding businesses or closing shop. Maybe merchants and such who were tired of all the chaos of Vallaki decide it's better to make some wagon town elsewhere to escape the fact that Vallaki is a giant magnet for disasters and monster attacks. Hell, maybe even just get rid of the mist camp entirely, merge the services it offers with the Tser pool Vistani camp and build from there?

[MAB77]

The current system is hardly a sledgehammer either. It is a server design to have the Vallaki area catter to low and mid-level characters. There is no punishment for high levels roleplaying in Vallaki, but there is a carrot for those taking their roleplay elsewhere.

The bigger issue, and I think we are all in agreement on this, is that we need to develop more options for high-level characters to pursue their roleplay elsewhere. Trust that the Dev team is keenly aware of this, and works toward that end.

[Iridni Ren]

"Sledgehammer" was Aprog's word

The connotation, however, is not meant to imply that the current system is particularly heavy-handed--I, in fact, think it's mostly psychological--but it's also not a precision instrument.

It tells all high levels their RP is less valued (quantitatively) in certain areas than the RP of low levels, regardless of the actual content of that RP.

A low level standing and smirking in the Outskirts gets RP XP for that.

A high level running a player-initiated event in Degannwy attended by 50 PCs would receive no RP XP (assuming a DM does not show up and bestow some).

[SardineTheAncestor]

I totally respect the point of view behind not wanting to be nerfed. Though it's popular in MMOs like I said above, it's also highly divisive. People unsurprisingly do not like feeling like they worked and worked and now their character isn't even any stronger than when they began.

I, on the other hand, would find a lot of value in being permanently locked to a certain power level, in certain areas, which lets me help in dungeons without eating XP, when all I'm doing is standing around or healing. It would let me participate a bit more without being overbearing. For me, RPGs aren't about becoming strong enough to kill gods and all that, but the opportunities different types of characters & combinations of different types of characters can take advantage of. I think that's really important in a persistent world, because we have a max level where nothing specifically opens up as a result of that, and there's got to be this, "now what?" sort of feeling where you know if you dungeon anymore, the perception is that you're just slowing down XP for everyone else, and any interaction with a fresh AMPC that involves combat is you either pulling punches or being a bully. To me that seems counterintuitive. The more focus on horizontal progression, the better.

So that ties back into my previous suggestion of lowering the cap massively so that 10 or 14 are your endgame, which I think would be highly unpopular (too much dev work, players losing levels they spent years of their lives earning, etc) but there is some merit to preventing power levels in certain areas from becoming too high. The nerf would be simpler than retooling the entire module, and it wouldn't change anyone's gameplay who doesn't hang out in Barovia at a higher level.

A proper balance will be difficult. A blanket nerf wouldn't be that bad to start with, if we could have iterative change.

The bigger issue, and I think we are all in agreement on this, is that we need to develop more options for high-level characters to pursue their roleplay elsewhere. Trust that the Dev team is keenly aware of this, and works toward that end.

I appreciate and trust this. Though, loaded question: what do you mean by options? I'll state the obvious for the purpose of veering the conversation away: Port is already, in game terms, highly appealing to PCs of all levels, especially high levels, since a high level can collect easy money here with combat that isn't even slightly risky. It has a black market with tons of valuable items. Every single domain points to it as a destination via Fogg's boutique. It has the archivist position which is attractive for obvious reasons. The only reason it doesn't get more attention is probably because adventurers stomping around in steel armour don't do well there long-term, imo. On the other hand, high level steel stomper murderhobos could just go RP in Sithicus, Ghastria, or Har'Akir, couldn't they? So as far as options, I think we're not looking at adding more domains, but condensing what we have and giving it more purpose. Port's purpose is clear, and it does have sparks of activity which are absolutely brilliant when they're there, lots of fun to be a part of, but a lot of people come and go since the small amount of core characters means if people don't get along IC, they aren't likely to stay, even if they're RPing a Dementlieuse character. At the same time, plenty of Barovian natives just leave the domain behind once they're high enough too. So for all the people who are saying the Mist Camp is overpowered, with its perfect merchant, a couple crafting stations, its rest stop... I have to agree. I get that most characters are adventurers, and that "background-wise" they are based in this or that domain, but on any given day, I can find like 4 or 5 times the amount of people in Mist Camp as there are in Port, and usually, the Mist Camp is usually equal to or just barely more populous than the outskirts nowadays (from what I have seen during my timezone of course). I have no idea where I'm going with this, but I just want to make sure I'm on the same page as the reality, am I wrong about any of the above?

[Khornite]

I appreciate and trust this. Though, loaded question: what do you mean by options? I'll state the obvious for the purpose of veering the conversation away: Port is already, in game terms, highly appealing to PCs of all levels, especially high levels, since a high level can collect easy money here with combat that isn't even slightly risky. It has a black market with tons of valuable items. Every single domain points to it as a destination via Fogg's boutique. It has the archivist position which is attractive for obvious reasons. The only reason it doesn't get more attention is probably because adventurers stomping around in steel armour don't do well there long-term, imo. On the other hand, high level steel stomper murderhobos could just go RP in Sithicus, Ghastria, or Har'Akir, couldn't they? So as far as options, I think we're not looking at adding more domains, but condensing what we have and giving it more purpose. Port's purpose is clear, and it does have sparks of activity which are absolutely brilliant when they're there, lots of fun to be a part of, but a lot of people come and go since the small amount of core characters means if people don't get along IC, they aren't likely to stay, even if they're RPing a Dementlieuse character. At the same time, plenty of Barovian natives just leave the domain behind once they're high enough too. So for all the people who are saying the Mist Camp is overpowered, with its perfect merchant, a couple crafting stations, its rest stop... I have to agree. I get that most characters are adventurers, and that "background-wise" they are based in this or that domain, but on any given day, I can find like 4 or 5 times the amount of people in Mist Camp as there are in Port, and usually, the Mist Camp is usually equal to or just barely more populous than the outskirts nowadays (from what I have seen during my timezone of course). I have no idea where I'm going with this, but I just want to make sure I'm on the same page as the reality, am I wrong about any of the above?

I'd say you're pretty much on track. The way I see the issue is this, you mention how the mist camp is about as populated as the outskirts. But from the outskirts you can go in any direction and accomplish what you need to do. In the mist camp, you go to another domain and then people get spread out thinner and thinner across the various domains so RP becomes harder to find outside the mist camp. The mist camp is not a hub like Vallaki is, it's more like a temporary resting station or a waiting room. Then the resource issue. I was talking with another herbalist earlier today who was needing bleak caps. The caves and environments needed for bleak caps are rarer and rarer outside of Vallaki. You can get a full bag of 20 bleak caps in maybe 45 minutes in Vallaki if you hit one cave after another. Try to do that in VoB or one of the other domains? It will take a TON longer. Another example, when I was trying to cap out smithing, I got like 13 EXP per suit of full plate. I had to make suits in batches of 20+ at a time to make any real progress. Go to Dverg and hit the two iron seams? That's 220+ steel ingots in one trip. Where can you do that outside of Vallaki? No where. Best you can find outside of Vallaki is the hidden cave near the VoB that has 5 iron rocks average. Why am I going to bother with the smaller cave when I can go to Vallaki and churn out a ton of suits in one trip? Furthermore, if someone wants something gilded (Which is EVERY weapon and armor sale) a smith has three options: Dvergheim, the silver mines or Port. TWO of the THREE are located in Vallaki.

[SardineTheAncestor]

Crafting is a whole new level of ridiculous when we're talking hubs and why people keep ending up in Vallaki at too high of a level even with no interest in ganking AMPCs. I can run from the Mist Camp to the fishing lodge north of Vallaki 5 times in a single real life day and I might gain a single woodworking level from those antlers. What am I combining it with? Cobweb palm I found in Har'Akir. There's nothing else (besides begging for alch. arrowheads or buying them from a smith - who experiences the problems you listed). Running up and down the Avenue in Port, I found 3 to 6 deer spawning with racks, but I also found something else. Tons of open map borders with no transitions on them.

I know Port's not meant to be heavy on natural resources in the lore, but adding more forests around it by expanding these areas seems like a good idea for the health of this part of the module in general. One of Vallaki's strengths, and why I like RPing in and around it so much, is how many ways there are to get in. I run into dead ends in Port far more frequently. On the other hand, there is the distinct problem that in Barovia, the moment you peel out of Tser Pool, if you take that right turn, you are following breadcrumbs of resources all the way back to Vallaki and beyond.

As for how this relates to the topic? There's one of the options, I think, but it's only really for crafters and their minions. It could theoretically benefit other players if these areas are flavoured up. Zeklos is such a fantastic crafting hub that has fostered so much RP for me, I'd love to see another place I can turn into my team's logging camp for up to a week at a time with other non-crafter players passing through on their way to some other vital area like Krezk's border outpost, for its dye vendors, stationer, and flophouse, which would be a destination somewhat more frequently visited, I think, if the door/gate bugs I reported were not occurring & the night spawns weren't so tough, or alternatively if there was a dungeon or two in the area, maybe some kind of abandoned building complex with bandits for levels 5-8, and some resources guarded by them; another cave with mostly iron perhaps, since Zeklos usually has so little.

Despite how far away from everything it is, I really like this area west of Vallaki. It was so weird heading into Edrigan and seeing a church and an inn with interiors & NPCs I really liked when I was visiting the general store for woodworking. They had great dialogue set up and everything. But who visits these places? There's a woodworker in Port already, so many different rest stops and unique shops, presumably the Ste. Mere des Larmes is playable, along with all the other attractions. What with the OCR rating and its effects on gameplay, I would really like to see some more villages to hang out in and wander through as adventurers are wont to do when they need a break or a shortcut. The only thing I'm sad about is despite them being given a spattering of resources & a good amount of vendors with the items we really need on them (I will be making a thread about the blacksmith apron soon), people probably won't visit them, just like they don't visit Edrigan. One reason--Khornite lays it out flat, you would have to design a massive dungeon complex with several areas just for parity with Dvergeheim. You might even need to nerf the usefulness of certain areas and vendors to smooth things out, but you will also have to take a look at how crafting XP is rewarded as a result; Khornite's post, and the beginning of my post explains why, but I think everyone knows already.

[PrimetheGrime]

The issue with Port'a'Lucine being a hub is that
1) It's stereo-typically against anyone who his not born of the city (Not necessarily in an outwardly agressive way but they are still prejudice enough to anyone outside of the city)

2) It's underground isn't nearly as fleshed out as Vallaki's drain, particularly with crafting

3) The countryside is already well and truly established in the lore, and would only allow few PCs the chance to live around there.

It's not really an every mans hub, more a city for those wishing to play nobility or simply port citizens.

Back on rpxp topic, I really want to hear more about a plan of a debuffing field around vallaki or even all of barovia.

[Khornite]

As for how this relates to the topic? There's one of the options, I think, but it's only really for crafters and their minions. It could theoretically benefit other players if these areas are flavoured up.

Not necessarily just crafters. Nearly every low level characters sells herbs, it's one of the best ways for low level characters to earn coin. How many people do you see selling herbs in the mist camp? No where near as many. Now consider merchants or people who just want to buy from a merchant. Potion merchants tend to see a lot of business. Healing potions are pretty sought-after. In order to get enough herbs, specifically Viccar's caps, to keep up with the demand you have to go to Vallaki as Viccar's caps are rare to the point of non-existence outside of Vallaki. sure, you can go with the alternative recipe for healing potions but why would you when the materials for the other recipe when they can get to 10 times as many herbs in one day in vallaki?

[Iridni Ren]

Nearly every low level characters sells herbs, it's one of the best ways for low level characters to earn coin.

The truth is, most interactions between low levels and high levels are highly beneficial to the low levels. What is the constant refrain but "FOIC"? Without high levels interacting with low levels, this would be reduced if not impossible. How do those wishing to acquire crafted goods or learn a craft do so? How do aspiring Weapon Masters and other Prestige Classes find mentors? How do errant PCs who die trying to do things they weren't capable of most often get rescued?

If the sole measure of success is reducing average level count in the WO, then that's easily accomplished by looking at NCE when high levels are banned entirely from that part of the server. A way of doing that would not need any coding at all (just use NCE restrictions), but would POTM be more enjoyable and more respectful of the setting with permanent NCE? I don't think so.

In point of fact, most high levels try to help preserve the setting and model good behavior for new players and new PCs. Established players who have been here long enough to develop characters to level 15 and above are rarely given to the cheesy names and RP we see from true newbies. Frankly, PCs who swarm in and out of the Sanctuary getting smashed by an AMPC and instantly healing and/or raising do not demonstrate a lot of fear of Old Noapte.

I personally don't think enforced segregation of high levels from low levels is desirable or widely supported by the playerbase. When I ran a poll about the XP RP penalty a while back, as I recall only around 1 in 5 players endorsed it.

What I hear as the actual problems with high and low level mixing is the difficulty for DMs, antagonists, and AMPCs.

For DMs, the remedy is at hand with all the tools they already have. I remember, for example, a time when a DM teleported a bunch of high levels from the Outskirts to a random place in the Mists. The reason for DMs rather than systemic tools is this kind of enforcement of particulars. If a DM isn't running an event, then clearly a high level cannot be having a negative effect on a DM's event. (Moreover, I have not seen any DMs weigh in on this topic at all, which if it were distressing them greatly, I expect they would.)

For antagonists, we have very good PvP rules in place to protect all. But good or evil PCs both know that part of the game (and especially PvP) is that you are not always the same power level as your opponent. Shouldn't evil PCs experience the same tension and fear of the server as good PCs do? Sure, we need them to provide Gothic Horror to the good guys, but it works both ways. Those who go into the antagonist role with the belief they will only be dishing it out have the wrong mindset. If you are an evil 8th level, do you leave all the 2nd levels alone? Then why do you think a 14th level is a bully for "picking on" you? If the cutoff for Barovia becomes 14th level, then what do 14th levels in Barovia have to fear?

That said, if someone treats your PC unfairly, you have the CC and DMs to appeal to.

Regarding AMPCs, as they are not on equal footing with other PCs--requiring applications, having predetermined lifespans, existing to facilitate the roleplay of others, and in general being a special case--perhaps they do need additional tools to contend with the mismatched high level who tries to flex on them without RP. As they are presumed by the application process to be exceptionally trustworthy, the Devs could give them some tool to penalize high levels.

Perhaps it could be of the nature of a debuff as we've discussed or that they can inflict an XP penalty, both applying to any PC of substantially higher level who is near and hostile. The temporary debuff would be to equal the playing field, the XP penalty would be for poor or no RP before attacking.

I'm now done with this topic because I personally would prefer the Devs concentrate on the other, more positive and universally supported ideas they have indicated they intend to work on.

[APorg]

The whole premise of this thread is to accept that encouraging high levels away from Vallaki is stated Dev policy, and that the RP XP Restriction succeeds to that effect, at least from the Dev team's point of view; therefore the purpose of this thread is to attempt to find an alternative solution that is more palatable to everyone as a whole.

There's been other threads challenging that premise, and they've gotten nowhere; so repeating the same arguments over and over again in the hopes that the Dev team will back down and simply repeal the RP XP Restriction is, in my opinion, the real waste of time.

We've had creative ideas from new and existing players; and there's been positive feedback on some of those ideas from individual Devs. Let's please not hijack this thread but continue towards that positive purpose.

[SardineTheAncestor]

Sorry if it was off topic. My suggestions above were not to create any kind of segregation, simply to flesh out more areas and provide alternative places to hang out which are inclusive to both high and low levels.

The issue with Port'a'Lucine being a hub is that
1) It's stereo-typically against anyone who his not born of the city (Not necessarily in an outwardly agressive way but they are still prejudice enough to anyone outside of the city)
2) It's underground isn't nearly as fleshed out as Vallaki's drain, particularly with crafting
3) The countryside is already well and truly established in the lore, and would only allow few PCs the chance to live around there.
It's not really an every mans hub, more a city for those wishing to play nobility or simply port citizens.

Back on rpxp topic, I really want to hear more about a plan of a debuffing field around vallaki or even all of barovia.

1) Although this is true, I am talking about increasing the appeal to temporary visitors and travelers, especially outside the city in village/forest areas nearby.
2) I think its underground is heaps better. A few crafting spots slapped in there is exactly what I'm talking about. The Drain is missing plenty of stuff that a dev could add to Port's underground if they so chose to.
3) It is less about living, more about temporarily staying to get their work done, as per my post. If you can stay in a dangerous place like the Wachter lands, gentler peasants like those found in Dementlieu's countryside would probably be happy to have you there, or at least indifferent to you being there; villagers in Har'Akir and Ghastria, too, have plenty of reasons to expect outsiders aren't all bad news, too.

Nearly every low level characters sells herbs, it's one of the best ways for low level characters to earn coin.

The truth is, most interactions between low levels and high levels are highly beneficial to the low levels. What is the constant refrain but "FOIC"? Without high levels interacting with low levels, this would be reduced if not impossible. How do those wishing to acquire crafted goods or learn a craft do so? How do aspiring Weapon Masters and other Prestige Classes find mentors? How do errant PCs who die trying to do things they weren't capable of most often get rescued?

You are completely right about this and I have it fresh in my memory as a new player. The generosity of high levels made things a lot easier for my character to get some basic equipment. Now it is a given for me to dump thousands of gold into resurrecting confused new players.

High levels under the debuff can still accrue ludicrous amounts of gold in other domains and return to help lower levels out. If it is finely tuned then we can also see high levels helping out in dungeons without messing up the XP/challenge (in there for fun, rather than progression of one's own levels -- what dungeons should be about anyway, as I posted about before with the level 20 problem). The most obvious thing would be them not being quite so safe against more vulnerable AMPC types should they choose to hunt them even so.