So obviously a virgin cRPGer gets steamrolled in multiplayer. Even a veteran at level 1, most of the time, will get wrecked. But knowing looms etc are a few levels away you grind thru a few hours to get a mid range build with mid range stats. You're able to somewhat compete.
Around level 27 is when you have enough stat points to get a viable build rolling, and after that its just tweaking.
I propose all characters start at level 30. Change the XP required to go from level 30-31 the same as it takes to go from 1-31. That way you maintain the current progression rate. The nostalgia of "being a poor farmer" and working your way up to "full plate crutch badass" have long past. All this pointless system does is waste a few days of gameplay of veteran players (allers leeching his way to a viable level and then getting perma banned) and completely demolishing any gameplay experiences of new players and never becoming part of this game's dwindling community.