Faction Base RP
Regardless of your level, if you are RPing in an area that is considered your faction base, your RP XP should not be penalized. Garda, for example, should be allowed to gain RP XP in all of Vallaki. These are areas that the characters should be expected to play in, and to penalize them for accurately portraying their character by restricting their progression feels short-sighted. This would then apply to other factions based, so that if you're a member of the Red Vardo, you would get full RP XP in Vardo areas. If you're Wayfarer Kinship, you'd get RP XP in the lodge. This would also allow those areas to become mini hot-spots for faction members, further encouraging roleplay. As someone in the Kinship, I would not hesitate to sit in the lodge all day and chat with those who recently joined, giving them small tasks to complete or even just chatting. While yes, I could do this now, let's not pretend that the incentive of experience-based character progression isn't a huge motivator for a LOT of things that happen on this server. That motivator is what was leveraged to try and get people out of Western Barovia, afterall.
I understand the team wants to push people out of Western Barovia at 14+. While I disagree with the idea of pushing people out of a setting without having at least a somewhat similar area for 14+ people to congregate, allowing people who have an in-character reason to be in Western Barovia to still benefit by sticking true to their character feels appropriate.
This is a DnD game. A big part of these games alongside roleplay is character progression. To be someone that is rooted in Western Barovia, has backstory in Western Barovia, has literally no reason to leave Western Barovia, but goes to the Mist Camp to queue into the local group finder just for character progression feels like it breaks the spirit of the server.
I've spent the afternoon trying to think of the proper way to respond to this, because I appreciate it is a difficult subject to many people and one I struggle to emphasise with, having only once had a level 14+ PC in Barovia, for whom I was not bothered they didn't recieve any RPXP. Still as a Community Councillor, it's important for me to be able to understand and represent the views of the player base, even those I disagree with.
For what purpose is this additional XP saught? The Dungeons designed for level 14+ characters are not found in Barovia. If you want higher levels to access more server content, your character is going to have to travel to non-Barovia areas anyway. AMPC's are specifically started off roughly in the 12-15 level range, having multiple higher level PCs hang around the servers primary hub actively hinders their ability to create atmosphere, so I'd hope it's not for that. And if it's for PvP, you're all equally advantaged/disadvantaged. I'm certainly not aware of many instances where people who primarily RP outside the capped areas return to Barovia simply to PvP those who are lower level, and if you're aware of this I would encourage you to report it to the DM Team.
I struggle to advocate for your interests because I don't understand the motivations behind them and given the balence implications, it's important we have a well thought and reasonable consideration to change things.
Also, as I know this will come up - Port rp is in no way similar to Barovia rp.. the push to “go to Port” for your next rp hub to enjoy wine and cheese mixer mixers or fresh baked baguettes, is different then what goes in a backward country like Barovia .. I would get rid of rpxp moratorium altogether, but that said I’d settle for faction bases..
This sort of post really causes me a great deal of sadness. Aside from any concerns as to if its degrading to those who do enjoy port, it really isn't representative of what transpires at all. Approximately sixty players turned up in Port just this week for a dueling Tournament. We have regular academic lectures. A recent plot just concluded which was entirely about the underground trade of illict drugs. There is certainly noble intergue, and I confess on exactly two occasions I can recall there was a wine tasting event for some of the noble PCs, but we have everything from criminals, researchers, mad scentists, bodyguards, merchants, and more, in addition to the handful of noble PCs. Describing it as you have done is a significant diservice and misrepresentation.
Further, Port isn't the only non-Barovian option. The Dev team have just put significant time and effort into redesigning the Mist camp and the Red Academy to allow both to function as alternate non-Port hubs. Now I can fully appreciate if none of that appeals to you personally, no-one has to enjoy port or the mist camp, or Hazlan, but to say there are no alternatives just isn't true, just as if it is to say those alternatives only offer one dimensional roleplay.
ah, so you're saying enable rp xp for those characters who are more restricted in when and where they can travel in order to compensate with the characters who still leave to dungeon elsewhere? definitely something worth considering, and i would agree if not for the fact that there are still characters (arguably few characters, but they are there all the same) who roleplay similar restrictions or inhibition but aren't a part of an official faction and would still be left with the exact same problem
I assume this suggestion is primarily aimed at the Guarda, as they're one of the factions which is truely tied to the setting. [There is an Ezrite Cathedral in Lucine, for example] But the Guarda are not meant to be a merchaically powerful faction. Nor in my experience are they needeed to be one. They're actively discouraged, much like the Gendarmie in Port, from participating in dungeoning, so the only application of levelling would be PvP and again I've not experienced any issues here. It's also worth noting the pace of RP XP is painfully slow. You're not going to even come close to catching someone who dungeons regularly, so the addition of it would really only take shape over the very long term. Once it has however, you could have level 20 Guarda walking around, and I don't see what that adds to the 'Fear of the Night' aspect of the setting either.