Is PLing a Form of Cheating?

Statesman has spoken! Conform!

We are the CoH Devs, Posting is futile!

On a serious note. There will always be a form of powerleveling. You do nothing to curb lvl 40+ tankers taking a low level nub around the hazard zones and tanking for the nub while not grouped to get mad xp for the low level guy. Let powerlevelers do their thing. Instead petition for the Devs to ignore the powerlevelers when they complain about no high level content. Switch the focus of your complaint because the majority is against you. Circular motion man.

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Why do Powerlevelers feel like the people who have a problem with the concept are full of jealousy, that it's the haves vs. the have nots?


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Because they feel that if what they do doesn't affect you, then you shouldn't have any objection to it. In this post you're suggesting that it will affect you. I'll address that later. When the original poster said he was a little frustrated or whatnot with the debt he had gained one night while some power-levelled person gained several levels, it feels like I'm reaching when I try to think of another reason it would bother him. They're not trying to tell anyone how to play, but that is being done to them. It's not fair to call them cheaters when they're not cheating.
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Is it so difficult to see that we fear the changes that other people's exploitive gameplay could bring about that can affect ALL players, including those who have no desire to PL in the first place?

I'm opposed to AFK PL'ing. I'm not jealous of anyone for being able to do so.... Some of us aren't JEALOUS. we just don't want to see changes made to the game mechanics that will stop this type of gameplay and at the same time make it tougher on those of us who want to play the game as it was intended to be played.

In my mind, it's not at all about jealousy. To me it's simply a matter where my opinion is "Here is the game system, let's all play it as the devs intended for us to play it rather than seeking out ways to take shortcuts, or they're likely to make changes to the system that will make the game more difficult for us in order to eliminate potential shortcuts."


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Statesman's post indicates that the higher levels are easier than they intended. They're going to make those levels harder to correct that, not to stop power-levelling. However, it will make power-levelling a little harder as a side effect.

I'd also like to point out that by objecting so vigorously to power-levelling, you're probably doing more than the power-levellers to bring about what you claim motivates you to object in the first place - a change that you wouldn't like. Anyway, I wouldn't worry. In an interview with Statesman I read, he said that one of the things he thinks is important is to know the consequences (effects) of your decisions.

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See, again, this is where you and many are misinterpreting Statesman's post. The game is horrendously easy post 32/33 for most builds. Sure, it takes longer to level, but that is just the requirement of more minions (which are too easy to take out). His post says that they are looking to increase the difficulty in the late game, which will have an impact on powerleveling.

As I said before, I am not sure the previous idea of increased HP and XP will accomplish that. I don't think you can stop powerleveling as long as you retain the SK system.

Again, for those who are having a problem reading:

The game has issues post 30.
They want to fix this.
This fix may curb powerleveling as a side effect.

Please, understand which is the cause and which is the effect.

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Then our disagreement is simply in how we interpret Statesman. From reading anything and everything i have been able to find that are from the horse's mouth, I feel like I undrestand his intention one way, while you read it from another angle and feel like he is fairily apathetic about the issue of AFK leveling.

We read him differently.
The way I read him, based not only from the quotes pasted here in this thread but from all the interviews and Q&A sessions and his posts on this forum, I see Jack as a game designer who would like to see his players enjoy the process of advancement. Like I said, that's just how I read him. *shrug*

Here’s a timely example! Many people are complaining that a group used cheats to kill the Hamidon creature. Using the logic that many have employed thus far, who cares if they did? If they found a way to enjoy the game by cheating and got a great victory then who cares?
Well many of us that want to play the game for real would care because their win would not be real. That group would be claiming to be something that it isn’t and that would be outrageous.
The same thing holds true for power leveling.
(I must say that I have no opinion about that group’s win, its just an example)

Also, I dare anyone to tell me how a person can play a game while not being at the site of the game. People can be 40 miles away from their computer and still gain ex! That’s cheating in the sense that you are creating a fraudulent character. Until someone can answer the question of being away from the game and having your character still be “playing” it makes no sense to continue any other argument. To me only the principle of the thing counts (please read my posts on ethics if you aren’t familiar with my stance).

The designers have weighed in, the rules imply that this behavior is an exploit, and steps are being taken to control this behavior. I have even spelled out the potential financial motivations of the company to figure out a method of control. All of this is important from many design and business angles and understandable by anyone smart enough to use a computer. If you are 12 to 17 just ask your dad about business rules and money matters.

My belief is that some people simply do not want to face the fact that PLing is indeed a form of cheating. It hurts to think that you are a cheater and other people aren’t. People are not jealous of cheaters and don’t want to be like them. As stated many times before its only a game! If you did it so what? If you realize that you were cheating and don’t like it then don’t do it again. If you want to keep cheating then who cares, that’s up to you, but don’t lie to yourself about it. The big thing is that the game is a simulation and it would be cool to play it that way. Pling violates any attempt at having a realistic situation.

Probably the most enjoyable way to play the game is to pretend that its real. Even the grind on the streets can be fun if you [censored] about it with your friends. Cheating is boring even in games that allow it, just like that team’s victory over Hamidon would be boring if it wasn’t real.


*note (Alert!)
I would love to hear comments about how a person can play and not even be in the same area code! I dare you to counter that argument.
If you can’t I suggest that you apply a cool towel to your forehead and call it a night.

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See, again, this is where you and many are misinterpreting Statesman's post. The game is horrendously easy post 32/33 for most builds. Sure, it takes longer to level, but that is just the requirement of more minions (which are too easy to take out). His post says that they are looking to increase the difficulty in the late game, which will have an impact on powerleveling.

As I said before, I am not sure the previous idea of increased HP and XP will accomplish that. I don't think you can stop powerleveling as long as you retain the SK system.

Again, for those who are having a problem reading:

The game has issues post 30.
They want to fix this.
This fix may curb powerleveling as a side effect.

Please, understand which is the cause and which is the effect.

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Then our disagreement is simply in how we interpret Statesman. From reading anything and everything i have been able to find that are from the horse's mouth, I feel like I undrestand his intention one way, while you read it from another angle and feel like he is fairily apathetic about the issue of AFK leveling.

We read him differently.
The way I read him, based not only from the quotes pasted here in this thread but from all the interviews and Q&A sessions and his posts on this forum, I see Jack as a game designer who would like to see his players enjoy the process of advancement. Like I said, that's just how I read him. *shrug*

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Your right that States would like the people who play the game to enjoy it. He has said that he does not think PL'ing is FUN, but more power to you. And the interpretation of the high end game being too easy and him trying to do something about it, is not interpretation. He has said those words. It seems that the rational folks on both sides of this argument(and we know who we are ) have agreed to disagree about the right or wrong of this. BUT, for the time being, it IS part of the game mechanic, and if anyone wants changes made, we will have to start a new post. BTW, I am on the pro PL side, because I like the SK system, and as a result my friends will level faster, but I am against people joining the game and getting there level 2 spandex behind over to a high level zone and then begging, spamming, harrassing players to help them level. Something should be done to corral that, and THAT does have an affect on others in the game.

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Also, I dare anyone to tell me how a person can play a game while not being at the site of the game.

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I'll take that dare. Have a high level friend SK you. Go sit on the top of a sky scraper while they sweep the streets for villians and you gain XP and have a sandwhich in another room.

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People can be 40 miles away from their computer and still gain ex! That’s cheating in the sense that you are creating a fraudulent character.

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A "fraudalent character," eh? You're probably going to have to go ahead and define what the [censored] that's supposed to mean before you use it like it actually means something.

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The designers have weighed in

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Indeed they have, clearly stating that this is neither a cheat nor an exploit. A fact you have conveniently chosen to totally [censored] ignore in your continued, repetitive, beating of this already dead horse.

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the rules imply that this behavior is an exploit

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No, you're backwards intrepretation and twisting of the rules imply that this is an exploit.

The lead developer's words imply it's a perfectly legitimate tactic, albeit easier to do than was intended.


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and steps are being taken to control this behavior.

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Key word is "control." If it was a cheat, it would be removed entirely from the game, and punished with suspension or deletion of accounts. Instead, as clearly stated by Statesman, he simply plans to make it difficult to do.

I mean, come on. Lets gather together a few of our brain cells here and consider Statesman's words. When was the last time you heard a developer refer to a CHEAT by saying, "We're going to make this a little harder to do, but if you still want to do it, BRAVO." Ever? No? Wow, I must say I'm surprised. Seems like they would say this about all kinds of cheats and exploits by your idiot logic.

Let it go, dude. The horse is dead, and so is your argument.

I'll take that dare. Have a high level friend SK you. Go sit on the top of a sky scraper while they sweep the streets for villians and you gain XP and have a sandwhich in another room.

My friend,
Perhaps you have not been here for the whole of the conversation. That is entirely the point of the subject here. Someone standing at the station or on top of a building is no different. Seriously, you have lost the argument. Are you not smart enough to see that you have restated my intial point. Frankly, I'm starting to feel badly about abusing people that have difficulty reasoning. However, I believe that many people believe that they are "cool" for continuing to fight on. At some point it will only become embarassing, this may be that point. The Pling in question was the type you mentioned. It's time to stop.

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Are you not smart enough to see that you have restated my intial point.

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Are you not smart enough to see that by restating your initial point I was trying to point out how cyclic and pointless your entire argument has been?

Oh, and please feel perfectly free to ignore the bulk of my post. You know, where I refer to your continued voluntarily ignorance of Statesman clearly stating that this was neither a cheat nor an exploit.

Pull the wool over you own eyes if you want man. Keep lying to yourself. Do it until you believe it. Just don't expect any of us to.

So, you did not meet my dare, but attempted to trick and cheat your way out of it. This is behavior that we are all familiar with.

The “what will you do” and “Geko...Statesman...whoever!!” thread heavily reflect that many people have read my thread, agree with it and are proud that they played the game fairly. Many are proud of the fair way that they play the game.

I suspect that you are a “last word” artist that can’t seem to stop. Again a cool towel can be very nice.

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It'd be a good idea to simply have a range requirement on xp gains, so you can't be across an area soaking up xp; that means you have to be at the keyboard to group up and gain xp, even if you're staying out of harms way.

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I agree with this...In fact, IMHO, I think that if you are out of combat level boost range while being sk'ed, you should revert to unsk'ed experience gains (i.e.; none).

After all, you're out of range...If you don't get the benefit of the sk'ed combat level, you shouldn't benefit from the experience earnings. That would, for the most part, fix it without hurting those people who actively sk/level, such as when my wife (level 41 now) sk's me and we do her missions.

And, by the way, to the person casting aspersions on the abilities of those sk'ed to actually help in a grouped situation...? You're completely clueless, apparently. My wife works the minions, I get the attention of the bosses and LT's and take them down while she works the lowbies with ae's. I contribute quite a lot.

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So, you did not meet my dare, but attempted to trick and cheat your way out of it. This is behavior that we are all familiar with.

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Haha. Shameless. No; I attempted to shed light on the futility and circular nature of your logic by showing you that you have gotten nowhere, failed to prove any of your initial claims, and essentially done nothing but state your opinion on PLing in page upon page of tripe.

You stated your opinion in the first sentence of your first post. Beyond that, you have accomplished nothing aside from dragging out a flamewar with your name-calling and baseless accusations.

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The “what will you do” and “Geko...Statesman...whoever!!” thread heavily reflect that many people have read my thread, agree with it and are proud that they played the game fairly.

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People agree with you. Congratulations.

This thread reflects that plenty of people agree with me, too. There wouldn't be much point for a discussion if there weren't people on both sides of the argument, now would there?

The important thing is the developers have responded, clearly stating that PLing is neither cheating nor exploiting; one point you have continually and conveniently refused to admit or address.

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Then our disagreement is simply in how we interpret Statesman. From reading anything and everything i have been able to find that are from the horse's mouth, I feel like I undrestand his intention one way, while you read it from another angle and feel like he is fairily apathetic about the issue of AFK leveling.

We read him differently.
The way I read him, based not only from the quotes pasted here in this thread but from all the interviews and Q&A sessions and his posts on this forum, I see Jack as a game designer who would like to see his players enjoy the process of advancement. Like I said, that's just how I read him. *shrug*

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Actually, I agree with your statements (regarding Statesman's view on the game) completely. Powerleveling is not something a game designer wants to see his game turn into. It will happen though, as some players prefer it and the system allows it with the SK feature. This cannot be stopped, minimized perhaps, but not stopped.

My disagreement is simply that you and others have taken his post as a banner to wave in the face of powerlevelers, when he obviously did not call it a cheat or exploit. It was just a tremendous leap and a desperate grasp to alter this in support of anti-pl argument. Powerlevelers are taking the words verbatim, anti-pls are using microscopes to read between the lines.

He did not even make a statement regarding stopping it, only stopping the ease at which you can level post 30. This will slow both natural and power leveling, although a powerleveled toon will still level many times faster.

Perhaps none of the vocal anti-pls have played in the 30s and 40s and this whole 30+ game ease is just way over your heads. I would understand this to be a cause for your misinterpretation.

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*note (Alert!)
I would love to hear comments about how a person can play and not even be in the same area code! I dare you to counter that argument.
If you can’t I suggest that you apply a cool towel to your forehead nd call it a night.

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Sorry whatever your name is..ad-something i dont mean to keep this going as i dont care anymore. This has became nothing but and opinion and flaming thread.

That said, just one program remote desktop :OD

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BTW, I am on the pro PL side, because I like the SK system, and as a result my friends will level faster, but I am against people joining the game and getting there level 2 spandex behind over to a high level zone and then begging, spamming, harrassing players to help them level. Something should be done to corral that, and THAT does have an affect on others in the game.

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This is exactly how I feel as well.

I have many a friend that have finally given up on EQ and are now coming to CoH, the problem is, myself and my 2 roommates gave up about 1 week after CoH went live, we are now 50th, 49th and 47th, they of course are starting out fresh.

We all want to adventure together and several of them have been busting butt to level up without PLing of any sort but we do have a couple that trickle in every now and then, this leaves a large gap between many of us so we have started PLing those new arrivals upto the largest mass of our guild which is in their mid 30s, we plan to continue to do this, even after whatever changes go in, we will find a way.

We don't do this for any other reason than we all want to play together and not wait the month+ it would take them going the normal route. If you want to call this cheating or exploiting, go ahead, the bottom line is, we want to play together and have fun.

To those crying about PLing, get over it, it does nothing to your game at all, the friends of mine that come over to CoH only group within our SG about 95% of the time just as we did in EQ when we were all guilded together, we are used to each others sense of humor, play styles, etc .. and like each others company, so I honestly can't even begin to see how PLing them even touches upon your game enjoyment other than the odd freakish jealousy some of the people complaining in this thread seem to exhibit.

If you want to say it isn't jealousy, ok, then tell me how someone that will never group with you, that you don't know and will probably never encounter in the game, getting PLed so they can run around with the rest of our SG in the high end areas of update 2 or go with us to start working on a Hamidon strat effects you?

The ones that just randomly show up in PI and start spamming public channels or sending tells constantly (I get more than I would like ...) asking for PLing, yes, I can see that as being a problem, but my friends getting PLed by the other members of our SG, how is something like that a problem?

Basically, if a friend of mine asks me to help them get a few levels quickly, I plan to find a way to do it, they are friends, just as I wouldn't tell friends IRL no if they asked for some help, I won't tell online friends no either and I'm sure there are many other people playing the game that feel the same way..

Ok, climbing off my soapbox =)

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Perhaps none of the vocal anti-pls have played in the 30s and 40s and this whole 30+ game ease is just way over your heads. I would understand this to be a cause for your misinterpretation.

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Maybe that is the case with "a lot" of people, but it's not where my input is concerned. Like I stated in a prior post, I have a lvl40 toon who could go out and strike up a PL for PL deal if he wanted.

Is the game easy post 30? or post 40, to me? Sorta, yeah. I find myself looking around for a hero passerby (or two) who I can get to team with me long enough to enter my mission and raise the bodycount, in lieu of the "mission difficulty sliders" we've been told will be coming in a future publish. It works. You can make a mission insanely hard if you try, with just a little short term cooperation from a fellow player or several fellow players.

I hope you can believe me when I say that my oppostition isn't about jealousy or haves and have nots, that my opposition to the practice of AFK leveling is rooted in concerns over changes that might be made to curb it which could possibly influence me.

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My disagreement is simply that you and others have taken his post as a banner to wave in the face of powerlevelers, when he obviously did not call it a cheat or exploit. It was just a tremendous leap and a desperate grasp to alter this in support of anti-pl argument. Powerlevelers are taking the words verbatim, anti-pls are using microscopes to read between the lines.

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I personally have never called it "cheating." I think that's a bit extreme. I may see it as lazy, but not as cheating.

It doesn't take microscopic analysis to derive the common sense notion that Statesman would rather see players playing than players sitting AFK in the railstation leveling up. For you to imply that that's a preposterous notion I'm wishfully extrapolating is, well to quote you, [a lack of] "reading comprehension."

Sure, if you *only* take into account the one or two liner statements he's made directly on the subject, I could see you thinking it to be a vague and questionable interpretation. But if you are somewhat familiar with how Jack has responded to other issues that "promote lazy play", it's not a far stretch to realize that he's probably not chuckling about AFK leveling and saying "Well those cute little clever kids! good for them, they're thinking out of the box." Give me a break, will you? Surely you can see that? You seem perceptive enough to be able to agree with a simple and common sense idea like that.

I'm still trying to figure out if you're just playing devil's advocate for the sake of a debate, or if you legitimately believe deep down that the game designers are glad to see this practice growing in popularity as it is.

Let me just ask in plain, simple form, your opinions - a simple yes or no would be all that you need give, as I will ask you these questions in a yes or no format:

Do you believe Statesman thinks AFK powerleveling is a good thing?

Do you believe that the development team as a whole foresaw such activity when they implemented the SK system, and just assumed it to be a fair and logical extension of said system?

Do you think that AFK-Powerleveling is a practice that the development team will try to preserve as a fair alternative to playing through the levels actively?

I guess if you can answer "yes" to those questions, then you indeed believe in the fairness and legitimacy of AFK leveling, and you of course really do feel like you would be "cheated" if the developers figured out a way to pull the rug out from under the practice.

regards,

*circular nature of your logic*

Do I have to explain circular logic now? I feel like a school teacher. We have discussed ethics, logic, and ways to develop one's character. I should be getting paid by your parents or loved ones!
The complaint that you can't play a game and not be at the game is not circular. It's just straight ahead logic.
Its a simple syllogism, which is one of the most basic forms of reasoning.
Syllogism
argument involving three propositions: a formal deductive argument made up of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. An example is “all birds have feathers, penguins are birds, therefore penguins have feathers.”

all games must have players present
Plers aren’t present at the game
therefore Plers aren’t playing the game

Your ego makes you say silly things. Its almost funny and is very childish. Have you been to school? This is now getting boring you have given two posts and have not been able to answer my dare. Are you daring---tenacious and persistent-- yes, but ahh... ?
to the rest:
Its nice that some people can now see the point.
I suppose that any rules can be changed for any game. If you where playing chess with a friend you could start making up new moves if you want-- who cares! Would you still be playing chess though? No.
The cheat crowd just won't learn! However, over the last few days I have seen almost no one PLing at the train station on my server. That's great, so at least some people got it.

Now
Lets take a bet when Icarus will stop posting.
1. when hell freezes over.
2. when hell cools down.
3.when he stops cheating
Oh well, betting is illegal in my state so we better not.

How many more posts will we see before my questions are answered? This is like the world's most boring soup opera...

Green_Jackal,
I get your point. No I don't think that Statesman intended people to be able to level in such a way. But he has also said that if that is the what you want to do, bravo. I understand the AFK thing. There is a radius for the SK to work. You have to be within that radius to be at a level to recieve XP from your mentor. They way that people get around this is for there to be a 3rd person who can SK, and then that person and the lowbie are both AFK, doing whatever. It is boring in practice, but the next time that person plays they are many levels higher and have access to many new powers. There addressing this by making the mobs harder, which will make it harder for the ONE person to be power leveling for the other 2. But it will not be impossible to continue this practice. You make a great point and your thoughts are very well thought out. Unfortunately you are being lumped in with Alderian.....

Alderian,
I have stopped reading your posts all together. You add nothing to this discussion and you continue to ignore obvious answers to your questions. You incite others to anger and are trolling. Your questions have all been answered and it seems rather odd that you only respond to those that are being negative towards you.

gull

This thing should have ended long ago. I only ask that the simple question that I posed be answered. For me and many others the answer is clear. All over the boards and in the game people talk about it.

Frankly, I am annoyed by the "I have to get the last word in" nature of the situation. Smug people that think they are intellectual feel that they can somehow spin that I am wrong or bad make me laugh. It is a simple cover for their inability to acknowledge that they cheat and whatnot int the game. Its such a male stereotype.
Almost 10K people have read this post that says something. Only ahand full of you guys still tone in to tell me I'm wrong. I covered almost every argument that there is to cover. No one has countered them except to complain that I use the word cheater. What fresh arguments have been brought forth ever? None.
If people cannot answer my questions then stop posting. clearly the topic bothers you is you keep coming back. I said that Plers were from UFOs the topic would have died in the beginning because that would have been stupid. The subject is correct and has merit.

Anyway, do you think that the Statesman would really have used the term "cheater" that would not be good for business.

Also, I don't think that explaining Logic terms is an example of trolling. Its a public service.

Cheater is definded as to violate the rules deliberately.

Now when I round up 75-100 baddies to be killed by my buddies when im on my tank isnt cheating my provoke is governed by the sames rules as everybody elses and my buddies AoE is governed by the same rules as your's how are we breaking any rules. Its called using my feaking brain. Not a hard mental exercise there
AoE + Lots of Stuff Stuck in Aoe = Uber Xp

Honestly I have helped power level and have had help getting levels. Anybody that I have power leveled through a level has already done that level ligit.
We all can agree that there are some terrible levels to be at, when your enhancements are all yellow and grey, when there is nothing that isnt purple or blue to hunt. Or you got 3 missions lined up that as you walk into the door they feaking chain hold you to death.

A call to end power leveling is like saying hrmm now every body play dumb close your eyes and type with your toes.

If I wasnt throughly intoxicated i point out how stupid this thread actually is but ill sink to your level for now.

Once you play the game through come back and talk.
Bean counters at cryptic are probably happy that we can still power level toons because if I had to go through newbie hell again I'd most likely cancel seeing that alot of other good games just came out.

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This thing should have ended long ago.

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You mean, like, when Statesman himself posted clearly saying it wasn't cheating or exploiting, and you continued on with your fingers in your ears as if he had never uttered a word of it?

Yah, I think you're right.

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Anyway, do you think that the Statesman would really have used the term "cheater" that would not be good for business.

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He didn't call it cheating because no rules are actually being broken.

He did indicate that it was undesirable player behavior. That's not necessarily cheating.

Steps will be taken so that AFK levelling will be an unattractive activity. That is all that really matters.

Personally, I am of the opinion that any problem arising from a design weakness should NEVER result in direct punishment of players. The design weakness should just be fixed.


-np

Well then its much like cheating. Its the whole cheating/exploit thing, I think this is splitting hairs. Also, as I have mentioned I see less people doing it and hear a lot of people talking about it. It is thought to be a cheap undesirable activity by many. Maybe we should invent a new word for the activity; something between cheating and exploit.
Really, Its an unethical exploit especially when you add in those people that make characters just to sell them and whatnot. The argument that most people are just leveling alts really does not meet with my experience and has softened the topic a bit too, as I don‘t really mind them doing that. My original complaint had to do with the ridiculousness and lack of reality of watching people level while doing nothing. Clearly the designers are trying to do something about this, so the subtext is that they think its wrong. A person does not have to say something directly for the meaning to be known. This happens in conversation all the time. I’ve had girlfriends that say, “I’m OK,” when in fact they weren’t, and I could tell by the surrounding context. People do not always speak in the most blunt terms. If someone says go ahead and have fun and then tries to stop you from doing what they just were taking about, then what does that say?

A troll would be someone who intentionally creates a topic with stupid or inflammatory content simply for the thrill of having people get upset. For the most part you seem genuinely concerned about the "negative effects" of power-leveling. But comments like these may lead people to believe otherwise:

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Smug people that think they are intellectual feel that they can somehow spin that I am wrong or bad make me laugh. It is a simple cover for their inability to acknowledge that they cheat and whatnot int the game. Its such a male stereotype.

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LMAO

What a bunch of ________'s in this game. Is PLing' cheating? HAHAHAHAHA

SO you have no friends and can't get powerleveled and your psychosis kicks into high gear and starts wispering to you that they are cheating. Does that actually make you feel better?

Oh, and, um lets see here... The person being Powerleveled is in an active SG instead of YOUR SG which you created yourself and has only your Alts as members right? They are on a Team that is working together toward a common goal right? They are Sidekicking, congratulating thier SK on each new level, they are helping thier SK to become a better hero.

Sounds to me like they might just be playing this game a little more "as the Devs intended" than you are.

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Here's my stance...

It's the developers job to ensure that fun play equals a reward.

It's not fun if you level up by doing nothing. Now, there will always be an element of this - but in general, spawns are based on team size. Which means that an extra person on your team that is not contributing anything to the battle is a severe detriment. BUT our high level game is a little too easy - which means that high level characters can team up with low level characters - go out and do missions/street sweep - with a high degree of success.

But we are going to be ratcheting up the difficulty of higher levels, meaning that someone trying to "power level" someone will find it more challenging. If someone wants to do that, bravo, but I think we'll see the issue resolve itself....

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TRANSLATION:

Folks are STILL levelling faster than we want, and we are gonna slow you down.

Prepare for city of grind *squared*.

-LM