I got Warband when it came out (if I hadn't pirated the original M&B, I never would have heard of Warband, most likely- go piracy; I wasn't in the beta though) and played mostly Native. I came to check out cRPG at some point, when leveling was area-based and BeatrixKiddo and crymoar roamed Japanese blossom filled servers with heavy armor and 2h fury, and this crazy archer in a Brigandine (Birdman) headshot everything ever.
I think I got to level 17 before I quit playing cRPG, it was just too much of a grind for me and I was so hilariously ineffective after so much time. I came back like a week after or a week before the XP change, I think, and have been (excepting the past 4-6 months) a regular player since then.