What's the general consensus on solving this problem? New areas? Adjustments?

From an area team perspective, it's something that comes into the decision process now starting when initial proposals are considered. It's also a component in reviews- I try to evaluate each area's utility from a few angles, and gaining experience is one of the major ones, and it's taken more priority recently. There's also been some tweaking of existing areas (like Shadar) to put them more on par with other areas.

From a code team perspective, we're looking at the method used to calculate experience points, and considering ways to make the process more reflective of the current difficulty. This might mean that "vanilla" NPCs are worth a little less (possibly only at higher levels), but would also mean that, say, NPCs that have special abilities are worth more than they currently are. To use an example you gave above, silvery spirits can do some sword spec moves. Maybe if one starts with a sword in hand, it's worth a little extra. Maybe if a different NPC started with two swords in hand, it's worth even more. It sounds good (to me at least) in theory, and we're looking into ways to implement it without introducing new imbalances.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com