Good points, Gram, but there are still weaknesses to that system. And they're weaknesses which, in my opinion, are not made up for by any great strengths.
I'll tell ya what I mean...
First, by restricting people from PVPing with each other based on level differences, you are hurting community. You are in effect, stringing out your players so that older and more experienced players will not have any reason or desire to hang out with the "newbies". This is particularly true because of the length of time that they're currently planning for it to take to level.
I'll leave it to you to imagine the thousands of ways in which a game can be negatively impacted by enforcing a separation between newer players and older more experienced players. It's akin to children being raised by gerbils ;>
In addition, regardless of whether the level differences are limited, there is still a permanent edge for whoever is the higher level. Yes, I agree, it may not be 100% decisive, but between players of equal skill, the big guy will win, and that's annoying for the reasons I stated in my previous post. The ideal combat situation is a level playing field... and you only get that with a level cap.
So we see that
1) Community is hurt, and
2) Competition is hurt
So what do we gain out of this? Well, if you're a single-player game designer, you're thinking to yourself as follows:
"Well, I HAVE to make an extended max type of game or everyone will get bored and leave the game. Therefore these measures as outlined will help to make the neccesity more workable."
But as I've already presented, I think that's a croc. And anyone who played NWN for any length of time KNOWS that's a croc.
So what else do you get out of these big huge max times? Well, you get to give long time players a bit of a perq, in that they have something that newbies have not yet earned.
But you know what? If you've designed your game and combat engine with sufficient complexity, and your chat system with sufficient usability, then long time players have lots of things that newbies don't.
1) KNOWLEDGE of the game system, and how to fight - the same as a master chess player is better than a newbie
2) The RESPECT of the community due to long-time interaction.
3) RP ability based on long experience in that world.
Ok, so what else do you get out of long max times? Hmm... ya know, it beats the crap out of me what you get. All you get is a bad simulation of a single-player game, with weaker technology due to internet limitations. What's the point?
Why try and think up a way to get around reasonable level caps? You don't get anything for it, and you DO get lots of benefit out of NOT avoiding level caps.
Hedron
The False Prophet
KAAOS