The hybrid penalty is a HUGE problem. If it worked like it did in AD&D,
fine, that would be one thing. The problem is not that a class is slower to
level, but rather that having a hybrid in your group makes the whole group
level slower. This unfairly penalizes your group members for what is
supposed to be your penalty.
When a kill is made, every member of the party is not given an equal number
of xp points. No, every member is given a percentage of the total xp based
on how much xp they currently have.
Lets take the most extreme example. A group of 5 troll shadow knights
(highest xp penalty) and 1 halfling rogue (lowest xp penalty). Lets assume
they're all the same level and they kill a monster worth 600xp. Now you
think the intelligent thing would be to give each member of the group 100xp
each, but no, that's not how it works. In this example, each troll SK would
get 108xp, and the poor halfling rogue would get 55xp. The logic is that
the halfling needs less xp to level, so he gets less. The problem is that
this system totally eliminates the idea of having a class that's easier to
level. The poor little halfling got screwed by the hybrids in his group.
Replace all those troll SK's with non-hybrids, and suddenly our halfling is
getting twice the xp, and leveling twice as fast.
Now granted, this is an extreme example, but every time you add a hybrid to
your group, the ability of the group to level quickly is decreased. So you
tell me, who pays the penalty? Hybrids? Or those forced to group with
them?
Elwyn
Level 58 Hybrid Bard
Erollisi Marr
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin L. Crawford [mailto:
Lyrnia@...]
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2000 9:32 AM
To:
eqbards@egroups.com
Subject: Re: [eqbards] Oh this can't be good....
I still get a kick out of people thinking there is some kind of XP "penalty"
for being a hybrid. It's not a "penalty" it's just harder to level certain
classes than it is to level others. This is due to varying benefits that
each class has. Go look at an AD&D players handbook and look at the xp
differences for each class. If you look in a 1st Edition one you can even
look at bards and realize that they are the single hardest class in AD&D to
level (had to level to 10 in warrior, 10 in thief then switch to bard and
level on an xp curve comparable to that of a paladin.).
Lyrnia Jongleur
Bard of Norrath