> Correct me if I'm wrong, but with a group of people that high up in level
> (up to 7 above you), isn't it true that you'd get very little to no
> experience from the fights? I remember when I was level 5 and my friend was
> level 9 and trying to help me out, I stopped getting experience when we were
> grouped because he was 4 levels above me. I've heard that even when the
> levels are closer, the people with the higher levels get more experience
> than the lower levels regardless of who does the most damage. Of course if
> you were just there for the fun, it wouldn't matter - but I was just curious
> if you got any experience from it.
After some amount of experementation, I've decided that the percent of
experience you get in a group is relative to your current xp total divided
by the total xp of the group.
Note that this is not based on levels, but rather experience. The net
implication of this is that grouped characters will level at the same rate
regardless of their individual experience penalty. For instance, lets say
A Warrior who just reached 2nd level has 100 xp, and you (a Bard) have also
just reached 2nd. Assume a 30% penalty - this means you have 130 xp. If
the Warrior needs a total of 300 xp for 3rd, you will need a total of 390.
Now you both go out an kill 460 xp worth of critters... The Warror will
recieve 460 * (100 / (100+130)) = 200 xp, just enough to bring him to 3rd
and you will recieve 460 * (130 / (100+130)) = 260, just enough to get you to
3rd as well.
Another implication of this is that grouping at low levels is very bad
for the low leveler... Assume as a newbie you start with 1 xp. Your
just-made-level-2 buddy might have 100 xp. You are getting less than 1%
of the xp, while he is getting more than 99%. This is with only a 1-level
difference.
At higher levels, this is less of a problem, and the ratio approaches 1/N
in a N-member party even for a spread of levels...
Of course, I have no idea of the actual xp numbers required for each level
(I assume it's some sort of geometric progression) and only a vague idea
of what the racial and class penalties are, but I think the theory is
accurate.
Another affect, which is probably the issue you ran into, is a hard level
limit on who gets xp. At low levels, this is a 4-level limit (group members
4 levels less than the highest member get no xp). At higher levels, this
spreads out to a wider range. I assume this limit is there for antitwinking
(level 50 kills a critter while grouped with you and your tiny share of a
huge amount of xp gives you 5 levels...)
- Luvas of Fennin Ro.