Precisation about the "recruiting system" for Warhammer

After you've 'completed' a zone and moved on, why would you want to visit it again with the same character?

For three reasons, essentially:

1- Because you may want to join your friends who aren't at the same level of you.
2- Because it's about PvP, and PvP doesn't "wear out" like PvE.
3- Because there are special armor sets and trophies that you may want to collect.

I don't know what kind of polish you would like to see. The idea I proposed is straightforward and precisely defined.

City of Heroes has pvp zones where anyone who enters will be adjusted to a level defined for that zone.

I didn't know this. But it makes sense considering that they have already the sidekicking system in place. That is also a kind of "permeable barrier".

I'm not sure that level 40 players would particularly want to temporarily part with their best stuff, their levels, and go to zones for level 5s

I've explained the reasons why you should "desire" that in the comment above. Besides, it happens ALL the time in DAoC, where there are plenty of players who want to play in one BG because it's where they are having fun.

In DAoC you would lose ALL progress, and yet the players still want it. In my idea you don't even lose progress doing so and you are NEVER locked out permanently from a zone as in DAoC.

Assumedly, you're not going to scale the experience from a zone, so even if you keep earning it, it's not going to be as good as experience from the zone that matches your level.

No, the experience you gain IS scaled. In the sense that you would gain about the same experience you would get if you were at your "real" level killing a same level creature. Ideally the experience progression is also linear (but it wouldn't be a big issue if it wasn't). For example requiring to gain 100 xp points to go from level 1 to 2 as from level 49 to 50.

What I want is that you always gain the same amount of points you would get by killing a same-level creature. So in the case your true level is 20 killing a level 20 creature you would get about the same xp points you would get if you are deleveled to 10 killing a level 10 creature.

This applies to the *experience*. Instead the items are static. So yeah, a level 5 zone will give you level 5 items. When you exit it you could be already at level 10 if you decide to stay for longer and go for the trophies, medals and the other rewards I described. But your equipment would realtively suck and you would have to hunt for better items (which, again, shouldn't be a problem).

It seems to me that what you're avoiding saying is simply that traditional "levels" are a broken mechanic by attempting to build all this stuff around them to prop them up.

Sidekicking is not entirely permeable: As I remember my time in CoH (and it may have changed) a sidekicked character could not enter the danger areas that were locked to certain level ranges that they were not within naturally.

However, your answer about EXP scaling raises an issue - I've been assuming, since you've been talking about items and exp, that you're talking at least about mixed pvp and pve zones. What mechanic are you using to actually encourage people to spread out, and how are you attempting to ensure that new players of level 1-5 aren't crowded out of a particularly good area that's rightfully theirs by veteran players looking to milk it? Once people find something that's easier to grind and gives them the best relative reward, as long as that remains true, they will continue to grind it - your system has no diminishing returns mechanic that might mitigate this.

Your server will only take so many people in one area, and that's precisely one of the reasons that most MMOs push people from area to area as they progress. You could deal with this through ridiculous amounts of instancing, but then you'd lose most of the point of permeable barriers (I'd think) or you could spread the world into huge numbers of zones with little individual uniqueness, but that'd probably hurt you in compared to WoW and it's beautiful construction.

I've been assuming, since you've been talking about items and exp, that you're talking at least about mixed pvp and pve zones.

I'm talking about a generic idea that can be actualized on different games. In DAoC the BGs are PvP only. In the case of Warhammer a zone has a mix of PvP and PvE.

"Spread out"? In PvE you diverge, while in PvP you are supposed to converge. In the case of Warhammer they are going to use instancing technology and if you look at my original idea you can see that I was planning to use the instances to solve the population unbalances (and also overcrowding issues).

While solving a PvE balance (like in the case of finding something easier to grind) is entirely another problem that is completely external to what I proposed here. WoW already solved that by making quests the most efficient path, so that players won't just in the same place forever, for example.

Diminishing returns for bad game design aren't really needed. It's much better trying to have good design in the first place and solve the REAL problems, instead of working around them.

And finally overcrowding is never a problem, as in PvP the real risk is that there isn't anyone around. If there are too many people you are supposed to open new servers, or even think about something different.

And finally overcrowding is never a problem

Overcrowding is *always* a problem in MMOs, which is precisely why so many people take the easy way out and instance everything to point where you almost don't have any more MMO properties than the Diablo.

It's much better trying to have good design in the first place and solve the REAL problems, instead of working around them.

Which is why you're spending so much time working around levels?