BBQ_Pork

*jumps in like Kanye*
I give +Rep to people who deserve it whether or not they've turned off Rep. That way, if they change thier mind, it's there (since it was already earned). If they leave it off, it doesn't matter.
*leaves the stage*

I know you aimed this at Trashcan, but I'm going to answer it from my viewpoint.
1) There should be *something* of a penalty, but not a very serious, hindrance, un-fun one.
2a) I think that the debt system, both in the original system and the newer, weaker version is a very good way to go. The problem is that the Patrol XP system overshadows (and practically eliminates) it.
2b) I'd keep the debt system. Maybe throw in a bit of trash-talk by the non-AE foes, or maybe have the street NPC's say things like "I've seen BBQ Pork coming out of the hospital a lot lately. I wonder if he was visiting a sick friend?"
3) I'm against XP loss for reasons other posters have given.
Ever play old (Pre-3rd Edition) D&D? Level-draining monsters (usually undead) were widely feared and hated. They never gave enough XP to replace the levels they stole, and you had to refigure your HP if you didn't record what your HP had been at each previous level. Even if you gained your levels back you could be worse off. Often, we would be tempted just to toss the thief at the critter, since "They're only thief levels". (Mediocre at best in combat, and fewext XP per level to gain levels).
In an MMO, refiguring HP wouldn't be a problem (handled by the computer, not randomly rolled), but losing levels would still be a hassle.
I could see how XP/level loss could be handled mechanically, like exemplaring. But I expect that it would face hatred by the playerbase.

I could see Powerleveling being sought more if regular leveling were seen as more difficult.

Even the original debt system (starting at L4, higher debt cap, not halved for indoors) was something that I thought was beneficial.
It showed you that maybe you should look again at your tactics and might not be ready for the big leagues, but didn't make your fights harder, which would build more debt and thus be a big ugly circle.
In fact, it was financially beneficial (remember, this was pre-I9) in that a high-debt character would be slower to level, but gain $Inf and Enhancement drops at the same rate. Thus, easier to afford enhancements, which rotted and wilted as levels were gained and needed to be replaced/upgraded.

I could honestly imagine Debt being increased in some way to counter what Patrol XP has done to it, but Good Lord Almighty would there be an uproar. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
And I would most likely roll my eyes at the wailers.

This.

It might not soak a lot of damage, but it'll keep foes from wanting to melee you, and that's plenty of mitigation right there. Yup.

I'm just waiting for someone to mention ERP as thier intent.

That solution works just fine for me.

Meh. It's not hard to be both honest and polite, nor gradually increasing the bluntness of saying no until the point is made.

I'd be happy if they did any of the following:
Added a filter to the /search menu to not show teamed people.
Added a star to team leaders in the /search.

I don't see a need to add the team's non-leaders to the list, other than to allow a pest to bother each on in turn after the leader says he isn't interested in hiring the $level $AT that is applying.
Interesting. I like it, particularly that it's optional.
Perhaps it should have SG's drop off of the advertising boards unless they renew occasionally (Hmm....a Prestige Sink?), thereby making sure that the ones advertising are at least partially active.

Hunt missions are tedious. I'd say that they should never be over 25, or perhaps even 20 foes.


Red-side, contact usually have the missions in thier arc take place within the zone they are in. There are a few exceptions, particularly L40+ ones sending you to the north end of [censored] Nerva (I hate that zone), but it's an improvement over the older Blue-side arcs, some of which were around in I-1.
I expect that newer blueside content will be written with less focus on forcing multi-zoning on players for no reason other than to show them loading screens. (At least Founder's has a tram now, and Skyway has a second one finally, to put it on par with Steel.)

Ever teamed with a young player who just insists on jumping up and down whenever there is a lull in combat?
I'm imagining an entire team doing that...all the time.
That definately would get annoying.