“How about I SHOW you some?”

Facing the crowd you tell them “I will need audience participation for this. Will the level 27 ranger over there who just joined under an hour ago come up here, along with that ranger with the light brown cloak who also joined about the same time?”

The both frowned, but came forwards.

You tell the people “Buying levels has it’s downsides, as I will just demonstrate. I want both of you to write down your details, like your attributes, skills, feats and starting equipment.”

Someone provided parchment and crude pencils.

The two rangers followed his instructions with confused expressions. Everyone knew the Whale would be much better off!

When they were finished, you callout “I will need a neutral party to look over the lists and compare them, telling us what you notice most of all about them.”

A level 89 Paladin came forth and looked over the lists. Suddenly he yelled out “WHAT THE UNHOLY FUCK!? Except for the attributes and cosmetic differences with starting equipment, they are exactly the same!”

Other people rushed forth and took the lists to check for themselves.

After a bit someone who was reading it called out “The Attributes! They are lower than what they should be!”

Someone grabbed it from them and looked it over. Looking up she said “It only has the increase of 5 points, for each level, and they were automatically distributed without regards for what is best for his class. It totally ignored the extra points we often get!”

You add a bit more to the mix. “Not only that, but often you can select sub-classes or different feats among other things at different levels. By NOT selecting them you are saying you want to remain a generalist in my class. For example, at a certain level a Paladin could select a number of subclasses to follow. One may seek vengeance for those who do Evil. Another focuses on protecting the innocent. Another seeks to bring forth redemption. Another seeks to rule over an area and punish those who turn to evil in such horrible ways that others fear to turn from what is declared good. There have been a few other paths they could chose from.

“However by not selecting any subclass while it is available you are stuck with just the general options for your class.”

Now to hurt others “And this is a problem that also gets those who leech levels off higher players quickly. The only real difference is they can select how to distribute their attribute points, and possibly select their sub-class. However, there are often requirements, like how your character behaves, and if they are not here long enough to meet the requirements . . . . “

“But we never knew of them!”

Shrugging. “It was all basic information available at the Training Centre. Ask the Gods why they no longer made the information available.”

The Fighter who asked you for examples before gulped