(Edited to prevent pissing everyone off)

Jonathan takes a step back, counts to 10...

I am utterly and completly against having anyone start here that doesn't start at first lvl.

I know that this board is set up to be a democracy (of sorts) but dammit, I am one of the the founders. And when it comes right down to it I was the one that came up with the Idea to have this online game. And time after time I have been voted down for the options that all seem munchkinism to me and things that quiet honestly I would never allow in a table game.

80 point characters, concurrent timelines, freestyle playing and GMing, 250 gold with a huge starting package, double exp, ect...

I keep on hearing that the players want this and the players want that.

You know what I have a 15th lvl paladine / monk that would love a +5 holy avenger. Does that mean that I should get it. hell no. This game is about struggle, survival, overcoming in a world where everything is out to kill you.

So now we want to give players multiple lvls, for what so that they can fight bigger monsters. Hey guess what... this game isn't for you. Go buy a playstation or an Xbox.

This game is for people that want to role play. That want to figure out riddles, disarm traps, talk their way out of death, come up with plans of action.

I can hear people out there right now saying, "But this isn't a table game..." Really... I hadn't noticed... Oh but wait, oh yeah, when we set it up that was exactly what it was supposed to be like. We didn't set this game up so that we could be 10th lvl in a year. We set it up so that we could play our game whenever we had the time to get on the computer. We wanted a game that we could play with all of our friends that lived in other states. We wanted a fix for not being able to get together for table games. And this is what we made. And now every couple of months something else comes up that pulls us farther and farther away from that original ideal of a place for us to play our version of the table game.

So yes, I think that, "this is the way that we have always done it", is a very viable answer to why somethings should not be changed. There are alot of people that this type of play is not for. But you know what. it seems like we have been pretty succesful thus far and alot of gamers love that we stick so close to table games.

I am sorry if I have flown off the handle but this has been building up for awhile.

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And as for the difference of running a high lvl character from the beggining or starting out as one is huge.

i have played in both. I have a 21st lvl fighter that is pretty much utilitarian and from time to time i have to re-read his history to remeber what it is. On the other hand I have a 22nd lvl sorcerer that I know inside out. I have spent years with the character and love him. If my 21st lvl fighter dies I really wouldn't care...