>It incentivizes
>exploration and simultaneously makes brand new players more
>competitive.

This is well put, and K-guy's note as well. It's about helping new players get into the action without needing 1,000 hours AND intersection with helpful chars. I don't see what the downside is - MUD is more likely to retain new people, and as has been pointed out, new players will still be fodder for a while while they learn unique mechanics.

Elsewhere in this thread Umiron seemed totally disinterested in doing anything in this front. Can someone link me to where the "con" argument has been laid out? I'm terrible with this forum search function.