I love my alts, they allow me to switch from character to character whenever I feel tired, and give me a fresh look on the game as it allows me to instantly switch roles.
Same with me.
Low level is no fun since without finished builds you can't do anything.
Shortage of money is no fun because of the upkeep system and prices of items.
Gen 1 is another pain in the ass .
No heirlooms = Sigh...
I have 4 regular chars. 2h, archer, agi-1h and very last my 1h-shielder - in that order. They are still all 1st gen. I loved them all the same, it was a hard tearful decision for choosing my main char. Shielder it is, no doubt, I hope it's the most reasonable for me for strategus. But what I am trying to say is that my main is just one of my alts. That's it. And I love to change my role in combat (btw, what is 'cRPG' meaning? is it combat-RPG? correct me if I'm wrong
). And it really always feels like another skin, I do react different depending on what I play, you know that feeling. Clothes make the man. Anyways, who doesn't enjoy playing an alt doesn't need to.
so:
- I would not encourage letting the main devour alts. I think it's bullshit to level a different character for the sake of killing him for profit. And it's cruel!
- I would not change anything about the exp gain. Different chars should stay different chars. Like I said, imho a main is just another alt.
- marketplace for all chars? Not a wrong way of thinking I guess, but it will result in uncontrollable hubbub. I'd say no, but read further:
my suggestion is:
What if our chars could sell/trade between them? Like normal items for a bit more than half the selling prize and heirloomed ones for prize * 10 * (loom-level + 1) in gold, maybe?. And don't change exp-gain, cause that's against the logic of role-play, I'd say.
The resulting worst case I can think of would be a char with many loomed items selling them to other chars for relatively nothing while not selling them on the marketplace (if he/she is the main).
In general, when a char is a poor bastard there is still a motivation in getting more money to buy this thing from his char-buddy. And the rich char should think twice about selling his stuff for nothing - can there be exploitation?
It would be a way to balance wealth for that's the most annoying thing about characters. Not the gens.
For alts it will feel like heirloomed items are extra expensive high-class stuff like in native warband, but you can also achieve them by playing long enough. For main chars these items are even more of value, cause of the marketplace.
I think that would be a way to not open the marketplace for all those chars (will get crowded) while still having the
possibility to exchange stuff without too big a loss, and it won't get abused as much as there is still the time=money principle and always a small sacrifice.
I don't know if there is an error in reasoning, but it seems a nice idea to me, isn't it?
Cheers
Kajia