I was just reading a battlefield post by Baear and she mentioned something about a (granted, particularly bad/ill suited) character not seeing Maran until sometime after 100 hours. I only speak for myself, but I can't play a Maran until this policy is changed. Honestly, if I can't get into a cabal full on by the mid 30's (which is at worst 60 hours for me), I'm just not going to bother. I'm not saying this particular character deserved better, but it highlighted an issue in my mind I've been mulling over a while and am using it as a starting point.

Are the Maran powers really so sick that a non-hero character shouldn't have them?

Is the bar set at the right place is only a few characters a year make Maran per-hero (I didn't look up any stats, this is my feeling of it though).

Honestly, I'm powergamey, I like winning, and playing a goodie is always tough for me to justify because it puts restrictions on my behavior and limits my pk range in ways I don't particularly enjoy. That said, I'm pretty sure that the Fort needs a few more of my type and a lot less of the perpetual Fort players who tend to get steamrolled unless they're traveling in groups of 4+ (and sometimes even then).

It is my recommendation that the bar for Maran be lowered significantly. Not in the necessarily in the RP department, or so much that people are are playing fire giants in storm giant suits get full maran'd with questionable behavior, but enough that someone like me, with a modicum of pk-ability and enough sense not to break hard and fast align rules isn't going to be a hero with protection from evil as my only cabal power.

This might sound whiney, I'm not sure, but it isn't my intention. I'm not currently playing a goodie (or anything else for that matter), but I'd like to... once in a while, but the investment vs reward seems to be off. Feel free to tell me how I'm wrong as any discussion is better than silence.