1) No area has the same "feel" with regards to exploration at the mid levels as most of the explore areas. About the closest they come are a handful of areas farmed for experience that just happen to be really, really well written by their authors. Having a couple areas that are passable in the 30s but still quite dangerous would be great, especially if there was more to them than just herd-murdering. While there are a couple uncommon and/or secluded places to level up and do a quest or two in the 30s (if you're buff), they just don't have the cool themes and modern mechanics of some of the stuff reserved for the big dogs. Obviously, since a 30s "explore area" would be as simple as walking though Aldevari and burninating everything when you're a hero, the concept falls apart. What might be fun is something akin to the dragon lairs for mid level characters, where the point is more about strategy and tactics than anything else, with a huge XP payout at the end for the "boss mob". Encourage people to band together in the mid levels for more than spamming skills on elves and arial prisoners. (I'm imaging something like the group quests but more involved and with a boss at the end.)

2) Expand the cabal system. There's been discussion on the forums before on the topic. However it might be done, make the cabal system more dynamic with regards to level than, "Bah, send the level 25 guy to retrieve because they don't have a level 25 guy right on. Now lets go do hero stuff, guys."

3) Making prepping, gold gathering, etc. easier. At 51, a lot of builds can get gold and preps pretty quickly: you take down one or two mobs and you've got enough gold for a few skirmishes worth of buyable preps. Again, a couple more mobs and you've got a battle or two worth of limited preps. In the mid levels, at least for me, being "prepped to the teeth" takes a lot more effort because I can't get a lot of the top notch preps and getting gold requires more effort (time). While most people don't bother with this kind of stuff in the mid levels, and it's certainly not necessary fur survival or even to be an effective killer, some people like it. If all the every day chores of being a PK-oriented player weren't (IMHO) more annoying in the mid levels than they are at hero, those players might choose to stay there longer versus moving into their comfort level zone as soon as their skills are perfected and they have a bad ass suit of equipment. I'm not sure I'm actually in favor of this, but (again, to me) it makes sense from the perspective of some players.

4) This is less relevant today, but way back in the glory days of CF when global quests were a little more common, they usually required being a hero to get involved in. The last things like this I remember is when some nasties from Hell were terrorizing Thera a couple years (or so?) back and the heroes pwnt them. While that kind of stuff give massive, global hard-ons in the first place, more times than not its restricted to hero (or close) level characters either because of the danger or just because people (imms and other heroes) tend to pay more attention to heroes than the little guys. Along the same lines as ST and Hell, I'd gladly drop a 1/3 of a con point or more and get my face eaten off my random demon lord from the pits of Hell or a crazed efreeti from the elemental plane of fire. Now dying to a feared swordsman just isn't as cool. More global quests/events in general would be awesome, but ones that are mid level friendly would be great too. Bachelor auctions and emo poetry readings don't count, BTW.

5) Why not... get rid of experience penalties. Yeah, they're there for a reason, but they're probably the greatest deterrent from exploring and PKing (in town!) there is until XP doesn't matter anymore. It would also make leveling more fun, because I think some groups would be more inclined to risk getting ballsy in areas they otherwise wouldn't dare trying to rank in. I can deal with losing 1/3 of a con because I tried to rank on some mobs way too early, it's the XP penalty (ie my limited playing time) that concerns me more.

6) Keep an eye on us. A lot of people blitz through the teens, 20s, and low 30s because they want to avoid a certain kind of player. The rager apps who use magic or the role-less, kill anything neutral guy or the "my-hero-friend-decked-me-out-in-full-midnight-and-hero-weapons" warrior, etc. all tend to disappear to either rage deletion or denial by a certain level range. This of course doesn't mean that douche bags don't hero or that every character sub 30 is a douche bag, only that the sub 30 level range is a sort of breeding ground or vulnerable zone to "griefers" and/or people who either don't have and stick to a role at all, or simply think that their intended role doesn't apply until they're older and in a cabal and on the stage, so to speak.

That's it for now.