what would you consider a powerleveler?

[sadboy]

Im not a power leveller as my logs seem to be full of me sitting about talking to players or helping newbies like me in a constructive not game destroying way.
Its not the type of game that lends itself to power levelling I would have thought. There arent that many monsters, so unless someone stands wacking away at respawning monsters in the arena I dont see how they could power level. Although I am too new to really know. Its ver unusual game in that the owner set out to create an excellent roleplaying game in the true sense. Very unusual in the present online games. I think it is extremly commendable and without exception something I have never seen in a games developer.  When the community on here is good it is very good. Already I have met some extremly nice interesting people who have made the gaming experience very pleasurable. Not the same can be said about some of the forum community though.
Powerleveling its a choice I suppose not gonna let you meet many people though and there are lots of other games which are more suited to this. Again what do I know.

[wolfeedarkfang]

My definition of a powerleveler in ANY online game, not just PS: Someone who rushes to the end of the game without taking the time to look at it. They usually make it to the maximum level of the game within a week. If they find the game too challenging to achieve this goal, they usually go onto youtube and complain on videos on the game how much it sucked in comparative to WoW...

I might have stretched the definition just a little but I've met a few like this.

[Ecolem]

A person who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.
They fuel the in game economy.
They make the game feel more alive.
I like them.

You shouldn't treat them as second class citizens. Personally i think most of you guys are putting a negative slant on power-levelers but in all honesty without them, there would be little more then a few dedicated role players who enjoy spending their time talking about the few in game events that might be happening.

[Sangwa]

MMORPG. This means it's a game where role play occurs. Playing planeshift without role playing is like playing cards without using cards. It's dumb.

Power-levelling is required for some characters. I think it's silly to play this game only to hack n' slash though, but I see nothing wrong with it as long as the people involved do not disrupt the role play. It's always cool to have people as background.
The existence of power-levellers, however, should be controlled. In a realistic environment you shouldn't have half of the population being uber smiths/warriors/etc. So to this effect, becoming powerful should be _very_ hard and it should be quite meaningless, unless sitting with a character's purpose.

Power-levellers are people who have the time and patience to upgrade their char a lot. They're not good or bad. They're just there.

[wolfeedarkfang]

A person who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.
They fuel the in game economy.
They make the game feel more alive.

That doesn't sound like one to me, but like said before we all have our own definitions. What your describing sounds to me more like someone who prices everything very highly to raise the market value. Usually this leads into making it harder to aquire items. Thus people end up giving into buying from gold farmers (or what ever currency the game may have). The type of PLers i disclosed in my last post don't contribute anything to a game. and are only there to rush to the end and get bored, possibly making money providing a service to other players that goes against the games EULA. A laxxed game development company like Sony usually falls victim to this often. EverQuest 1 is a prime example.

[Velh Krome]

A person who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.
They fuel the in game economy.
They make the game feel more alive.
I like them.

You shouldn't treat them as second class citizens. Personally i think most of you guys are putting a negative slant on power-levelers but in all honesty without them, there would be little more then a few dedicated role players who enjoy spending their time talking about the few in game events that might be happening.

well, people leveling up there char i dont mind, yet leveling them up "power-like" i consider to be the ones who take for instance 3 npcs at once (with arrows, dazzling light and the like), while other players wont have a chance to train at all.
people like them destroy the experience for me, and quite some times make me ponder to leave, right as i just could witness a roleplayer leave.

[Zwenze]

Actually, I dont mind what a power leveler is. There are people which presence I enjoy, others i dont. It happened to me, that some older player came and spoiled an rp i had with contant advices. Is it really imporant if a player likes to have a strong character and be able to kill an ulbernaut with one strike or if a player is a good role player? I think not. Imporatant is, if a player helps other players to enjoy the game.

[Sangwa]

It is important to role play. We're playing a Role Play Game.

But anyway, this is where most people are wrong: Power-levelling doesn't mean not role-playing. They aren't incompatible or opposite.

A mighty warrior will spend most of its time at the arena. A mighty craftsman will spend most of its time crafting. That's why they got so mighty. You can role play these characters, and they should exist indeed. But it should be very hard because most people shouldn't settle with a life of training. And the devs should be in charge of making people feel that lack of comfort. There should be ways of making people feel more realized without training.

This is what I believe is the problem around here. Making things harder for people who want to powerlevel seems to be a difficult decision for the devs because they don't want to upset anyone. But if we're playing a RPG, the last thing we want to care about is people who should be playing Hack n' Slashes, FPSs and RTSGs.
Powerleveling alone should be made to be less gratifying, whereas having a closer relation with the setting and the other characters should count for the best form of entertainment. This can be done by tuning the level system (removing PPs for isntance) and by adding quests and events more compatible to role playing (Instead of having a Kran that asks a thousand times for the same poetry [which is something you can't role play with other people] you have a kran that knows adventurers well and will have them make deliveries and such because he knows they want to, and because he knows he'll pay less for it.)

[Noriin]

Actually, I dont mind what a power leveler is.

When I am alone in the tavern and my 'Next Player' shortcut can't target a soul, I move to the smithie and it happens the same, but when I step to the arena people is queuing to take a free NPC.. then I do.
27 of the 140 players online at this very point are in the Oja-road mine. But once I move to Hydlaa I will maybe find maybe 10 at the smithie and 3-4 at the tavern?
Something is certainly going the wrong way...

Power-levelling doesn't mean not role-playing. They aren't incompatible or opposite.

The definition most PS players give to power-leveling is basically about denying roleplay in favour of the senseless leveling/piling tria. They are opposite in that sense, since I doubt nobody will tell you how wrong you are to max your weaopn skill when you are roleplaying a warrior, they will most likely dislike you having maxed all your weapons' skills. After all devs put great effort into improving game mechanics and not using them is probably despising those efforts.

adding quests and events more compatible to role playing

How could I disagree? no way.
But it brings me to another point which could be considered. Other forms of powerleveling, give it the name you prefer:

• Questing: Doing each and every available quest, not caring about if your character's personality fits or not for it, just because there may be a fancy reward.
  A Vesper of Laanx helping Zak or an Outlaw helping Datal aren't really making sense (nevermind the guild names, just used them as examples).

• Events: Partaking in each and every GM event just because you see a yellow/red tag (fancy item alert!) without caring at all if the even't story-line fits for your character.
  I can stand at Harns asking for help for hours and I will rarely get more than 2 or 3 players around me. Normally the ones who know me. Player events? What is that? ;)

• Items: Wearing certain clothes or equipping certain items just because they are special or new.
  Looking cool is sure comforting, but does it make sense that an old businessman bears a wand or a miner goes at work in plate armor? Certainly not.

In my eyes, these things are similar to powerleveling as they are basically OOC in most cases and have little to do with every character's common behavior, no matter if the player roleplays it (which often makes it even worse) or not. They damage the atmosphere and inmersion just as much as the player that can only say "Sell gold for *putyourpricehere* each" and run to the arena to smash his sword against some mobs. They just don't happen as often, or they aren't as easily spotted.

[theirah]

I'm a little curious as to whether you would group people like those below as a powerleveler:

Someone who loves to learn: and therefore trains everything they can as high as they can, although time limits them
Someone who is somewhat selfish and does things only to their own benefit: therefore doing all the quest, helping people out in hopes of getting something good from them
Someone who is quite old, has died many times, and lived long enough to understand most of the world: maxed many levels, know where to find items, have an idea of how to say things in order to make people like you, understand you, etc (skills needed both in quests and diplomacy)

[Noriin]

Someone who loves to learn: and therefore trains everything they can as high as they can, although time limits them

Well, depends on how do you mean that time limit to happen. If it's reduced to that all they do in-game is to train, then they are powerleveling.

Someone who is somewhat selfish and does things only to their own benefit: therefore doing all the quest, helping people out in hopes of getting something good from them

That is just being selfish. If the player is then is probably OOC, therefore a powerleveler/quester in my eyes. If the player actually roleplays it (Epyrion for instance) Then it's not.

Someone who is quite old, has died many times, and lived long enough to understand most of the world: maxed many levels, know where to find items, have an idea of how to say things in order to make people like you, understand you, etc (skills needed both in quests and diplomacy)

For a start they need to RP it in a feasible way. But how many players do actually RP old characters? I've known maybe 5-6, there are surely more but yet not biggest range of average players.

All those examples are about very sensitive and particular cases and I don't think you can make categories for all of them :P

[Sangwa]

Im not a power leveller as my logs seem to be full of me sitting about talking to players or helping newbies like me in a constructive not game destroying way.

someone stands wacking away at respawning monsters in the arena

Just like this shows, some people have no idea what role playing is. But everyone knows full well what Power-Leveling is about.

This is a problem in PlaneShift because it's easy to identify how you will go about power-leveling, and because the system incites you to remember one and forget the other. Quest-Attainable-Only items, inspire some people to make them just because they want the damn item, even if it makes no sense for their character.
Are there quests where you get conned and stolen? Are there quests with no rewards? Are quests capable of being role played along with the rest of the players?

Plus there is a clear, unrealistic line of thought where doing everything and trying everything will only bring fortune, therefore making you stronger and adding to your social standing within the game. Because you can beat the crap out of other people, or you can buy houses when you are filthy rich and that is currently about what the system can offer in player relation.
But if we focus on diverting people from those sources of entertainment, we'll certainly bring power leveling to a healthy percentage and improve everyone's experience, including the power levelers that will feel their characters are special like they should be.

"How do you propose going about that." The community needs to create distractions with what we currently have: writing, social events, etc. The developers should devise means to distract from power leveling and point towards community and role play. Eating, drinking (as in made required), could allow for chances of gathering, magic that does not interfere in combat, other systems that will require focus and time wasting like fishing and cooking, instead of new armors new clothes, etc.

[Pizik]

Why do people care so much, Power-Levelers will always come to PS, they will level up, get bored, turn to roleplay or leave. After maxing stats and completing quests they will have nothing to do. No one in PS is silly enough to move to different races to PL them (i hope) because fundamentally they are all the same, and classes dont exist so no  picking different classes to get different abilities.

The problem eventualy solves itself, sure there are more people to fill in the holes left by the ones who get bored and leave, but even if only one in ten power levelers stay and learn to RP I think that is a great thing for PS.

 

[Velh Krome]

Why I do care quite a bit about that topic is, that I prefer to base and reason my RP with levels as well. I do know many players who do RP their training in the arena, at the anvil, the furnace, where.. for instances, and I emphasize and second that. In fact there is enough room and space for everyone.

Though, I have seen also a lot of players who, lets take the arena, rush through it, and take all npcs in reach, the ones other players are about to train with.. no, even the ones not in reach. I even know of players who intentionally attack npcs for the only reason to take them away from others (proper example is the use of Dazzling Light spells), without finishing them at all (sic!). So that behaviour I call the one of PLers, reckless and destroying the atmosphere completely.
Besides the fact that I am forced to bend my RP with a doubtful reason, the plain experience of such an immature behaviour annoys me that much, that not long ago I was pondering seriously to leave this game. I have a few friends in PS, and I like the very decent amount of deep roleplay there, not to mention the joy of watching the game improving, hence why I care.

[Sangwa]

I feel hopeless.

Why should we care? Because improving Role Playing experience is important in a MMORPG so we should work together for that goal.

The problem does not solve itself. Power Levelers keep playing because they keep being best than other people. More so in a game where the fighting system and the crafting system are more developed and therefore more prone to be used for fun. Hence my emphasis on requiring to improve a greater diversity of systems, to divert people's attention. Obviously working the setting is a great help too, since quests should attract people to role play, and the community has a hand too.

Power Levelers aren't people who steal kills. If anyone is abusing the system, that person is simply a lamer, be it a power leveler or anyone else. Power Levelers power level. That's all.