Several years back, much to my chagrin, areas were changed so that you did not gain XP in a level that was too high for you.

The change was implemented because hero-level characters were taking their lowbie (level 25-ish) characters through very high level areas like Trothon, so the lowbie could load up on edge points.

It made me very sad when it was changed, because one of the things I really enjoyed was seeing just how low-level I could be to explore someplace. I believe the best I did was with a druid, exploring (fleeing through) Trothon solo at level 22-ish without dying.

It was also a nice way to level up if you were tired of grinding on mobs - risky, of course - there's a reason those areas are high-level - but fun.

Now, I believe I was told by someone at some point that the change only applied to either Observation or Exploration experience, not both, but I'm pretty sure that exploration XP is not given out if one is too low to be in that area.

As someone else posted, the AREAS list is a good guide as to what level you should be to gain exploration XP for an area. If you see something like:
AreaName <35-51>
Then you should receive exploration XP (if there is any to be had in the area) between level 35 and 51.

To reply to Kstatida below:

There aren't ranges. And the AREAS command is the best guide you have to see what level you'll get exploration XP.

But the way it is coded is each spot that there is EXPXP has two numbers - a lower bound and an upper bound. IN GENERAL those two numbers correspond to what you see on the AREAS command.

Unfortunately I think some areas may not conform exactly to this, either due to the area writer or changes made later by Valguarnera or someone else, but in general it should be pretty accurate.

It is possible, for instance, for an area to have some exploration points that are really easy to get to - and you only get that from level 1 to 15. And that same area might have a really beastly mob that guards a passproof/pickproof door, and behind that door you get EXPXP from level 40-51. An area like that would likely be set in the AREAS command as <1-51> (especially if the mob I mentioned is either non-aggro or not something a lowbie would wander into). This is an example of how it works - I don't honestly know if there are any areas that operate like this.

I'd love for this to become more consistent and transparent. It isn't a very high priority, however. I will be seeing what, if anything, I can do to make things more consistent.