TheScientist

[ QUOTE ]
However, I have gained some sympathy for people and their alts. It would be nice to have options for those people. I like the idea that you can have an alt that is the same level to an existing character. However, few games of any kind allow you to restart in the middle, so I'm not sure if that's fair either.

[/ QUOTE ]

Acutally DAoC allows people who have accounts with level 50 characters to roll /level 20 Alts, and even lvl 30 Alts on more underpopulated servers.

But I see this would create as many complaints in itself, much like the "You can't have Capes till level 20" or "Auras till level 30" debate. The casual gamer would cry out at the higher level characters getting something that they cannot have.

As stated by myself much earlier in an initial post in this thread, Powerlevelling requires the willing assistance of a much higher level character. And thats what this thread really boils down to. People being concerned that higher level characters can do things that lower level characters cannot.

I would suggest there is a reason why there hasn't been a "plethora" of posts from people with level 50 characters complaining about PLing.

The war of the "Have's" and the "Have Not's" wages on.

[ QUOTE ]
The cheaters are wriggling like a fish on the hook

[/ QUOTE ]
I honestly think you should rename this thread to "My opinion is that PLing is a Form of Cheating", as it plainly seems to me that your opinion was fixed before you asked the question.

In the end it will make little difference. The higher level game will be made more difficult. People with the means, ability and willingness to make use of the game mechanics to achieve levelling their characters at a rate higher than that of the casual gamer will adapt.

People will still advance faster and for little effort.

Casual gamers will find the increased difficulty more challenging? Or in the future will threads such as "Why did the Devs make this game so hard" become more prevalent?

Either way - It make no difference to me. I have levelled my main characters the hard way, and now I have the ability to level my alts quickly I choose to do so. I will adapt to any changes made to make this more difficult. I just hope that in your attempt to assert your opinion you havent succeded in making the game difficult for the people who are least able to adapt to future changes. IE : The Casual Gamer.

Is PLing a Form of Cheating? No.

Why?

Because one of the main facts that has been omitted from every person complaining about people PLing is that there usually is a high level person involved. Thats right. Someone who has levelled a character to a high enough level to be able to PL another character.

Wait, I already can hear you saying "But that high level character was probably PL'ed by someone else!". Well, that could possibly be true in some cases, but in the end somewhere along the line someone used a legitamately levelled character to level another character via existing game mechanics (not exploiting).

So if thats the case, what is the real problem here? I think it has more to do with the fact that people don't like seeing others achieve something via a means, or at a rate, that they cannot. This dates back to when we first started to see higher level characters on our servers. When the first lvl 40s started appearing (prior to level cap being raised), there were a lot of posts complaining about "Person X exploited to lvl 40", and "Person Y doesnt have a life". Fact remains that people level at different rates. Some people put a lot of time into this game to level high level characters, and I think its sour grapes to suggest that they are "cheating" when they use their characters, or their friends characters, or their Supergroups characters to level up alts.

I'm not advocating that its a good thing to stand around broadcasting "I NEED PL MAEN!!" every 10 seconds. However, I don't see anyone here complaining about the constant "lvl XX Portal group forming - need healers / blasters / etc" spam that permeates Bricks and Peregrine Broadcast and Request channels. Is grouping in a mission with unlimited mob spawn, and constant free flowing / low risk exp cheating? No.

If someone wants to say that PLing is against the "spirit" of the game, or that its unethical etc - well, that will remain an issue of personal interpretation. I agree that PL'ing shouldn't have a negative impact on the casual gamer, and I would be suprised that Cryptic are taking that view. If anything, they realise that PLing is in actual fact a source of revenue for them, due to the extra accounts being used by people, and that it's keeping a reasonable percentage of their player base still playing the game.

Lastly, this game above most other games should be applauded for the fact that there is NO End Game. Thats right folks, you can basically play this game and experience all the good and bad of it from level 1. What do you think happens when you reach level 50? You get a badge? Its about the journey folks, and believe me you will enjoy your own journey a lot more if you pay more attention to what your character, and friends are doing, than what someone else is doing.

Remember, they raised the cap from 40-50 ages ago. Thats because they knew how many level 40 characters already existed. And that was LONG before PLing even became fasionable. Did some of them exploit to get there? Undoubtably! Did some of them level to 40 legitimately? Most Defiantely.

Disclaimer - This is only my opinion and should be acknowledged / dismissed accordingly