So I'm playing WoW. I've played SWG, CoH/CoV, EQ, AC2 & AC, along with a handful of other non-O games. This established zero credibility with you but my point was more to establish my sample pool for the data I'm presenting. So the topic at hand is, why XP accumulation in current MMORPG's is in need of improvement. A fairly high-brow statement if I ever did make one.
For those sans clue, in the current evolution of games, your avatar/toon advances in the virtual world by defeating bad guys. However, there is a sliding curve that matches your level such that if you magically happen to best a hapless ogre >5 "levels" above you, no reward for you. You may have had a really good day or figured out how to wedge the poor ogre between some trees and shoot him to death or whatever, either way, you get no experience reward for your achievement. The corollary is that bad-guys well below your station yield no experience either.
So, you say, seems fair, you shouldn't get xp for killing ants when you are wearing plate mail and have a +3 Sword of Something-or-Other, nor should you artificially advance in skill when your friends buff you to god-status as a level 1 neophyte. Perhaps, but there are problems with this.
MMORPG's are about exploring a world, it's more fun to explore with other people. Sometimes these people advance in the game at different rates... sometimes, well I mean always. So now there is no incentive for you and your buddy to do any "game-stuff" together because it's not worth it for one of you and odds are one of you will be dying a lot.
Options? How about AC1's xp model? Fixed XP for every MOB in the game. Doesn't matter if you're level 1 or 100, a Drudge Ravener is still 2000 xp. If you are level 1 and nail one of these guys with the help of friends, well then, now you're almost level 3, that was cool. If you're level 100 and you happen to run one over while you were muling, well, it's more than zero. Granted, the XP table goes into the billions if not trillians for AC1, but that's more a function of having a game based on relational skills without a level cap. (A story for another day)
There are issues with AC1's model, mainly macroing. EULA / CoC's aside, someone, somewhere will always figure out a way to do unattended macroing. Heck in AC1, it was the nature of the game with crafting skills or skilling up mages (don't piss in the mana pool). OK, so how do we address this such that l33t punx0r doesn't take advantage of the Time Value of XP and build a level 100 toon in exactly n days.
Easy... for me anyway, I'm a blogger, not a developer. Put quantity caps on critters in game with one of 2 options: A) after n kills, you no longer get XP, say n = 500. However, reward the player who gets to 500 with a "Ogre Slayer" title and XP bonus when they hit they mark. Make someone proud, especially when you are talking high-level content critters, not so much for bunnies. B) Tier the XP based on quantity such that kills 1-100 = 100%, 100-500 = 75%, 500-1000 = 50%, >1000 = 0.
Either option takes care of the Macro grinding element, as continuous spawns in games are almost always the same type of MOB. Of course if you implemented this XP model, you would insure this was mostly the case as variability counters your intentions.
The other half of this equation is to never, NEVER, limit xp from kills above your level. What do you have to strive for if you are basically only killing monsters that are your effective peers. I play RPG's to Role Play and not the "Huzzah, good king, I bow-eth before thee" bullshit, fucking Ren-Fest Freaktards, I play to be a hero in a world where I may not be one presently. That means that I can go against the odds and succeed, it just takes skill and a knowledge of game mechanics. I like figuring that stuff out, even though I suck at it and have never had any character reach the end-game of any MMORPG. Whatever, it's my blog.
AC's option of letting you choose to be the best in one thing, perhaps better than anyone else was your choice. There is no game out today that lets you do that. Level caps force everyone to pick from a template, there is no benefit to being different, mostly because you'll suck in some over-emphasized way. A game should let you develop a broad range of skills in the way you want, not the way the game forces you to. OK, so maybe I just miss AC1, fair enough, I like the new games too, I just think they new ones could be "more-different".
An Online game should emphasize spontaneous community as well as long-term relationships. By taking the one thing that everyone wants for their toon (XP) and creating an unnecessary divide between people playing, it causes frustration and isolation. Aka... The Suck.
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