EDIT: nopk would prevent pk up to and including level 15, removing nopk would require the voluntary cancellation via command AND ranking to level 16 afterwards.

At level fifteen you can explore a lot of the noobish areas and some of the not-so-noobish areas without dying, so it would give them an opportunity to explore, interact a bit, learn about cabals while you can walk for more than galadon to arkham and not need a rest in between.

nopk status would prevent any skill improvements or level gains (kind of like when you havent chosen a sphere) so you can't levelsit to spam up skills while nopk. That means nothing over 75%, and nothing gained if you only practice once and try to spam it up. (New players probably aren't going to know or benefit from the one extra practice you save by spamming up hide, etc). If an IMM feels like the person is genuinely noob, it's not that hard to add skill learns via IMM bonus.

Removing yourself from nopk status would take some RL timespan of played hours of the char, so someone can't nopk as soon as they see a mage that's vulnerable to get that first magepk, etc. Time frame for expiration is random between a certain range to prevent "planned pk".

nopk status could grant some boons and downers:

Additional movement regen so these new players can explore more.

It can also offer warnings like with ranger skills that prevent you from falling into deathtrap rooms, etc.

Limit what areas they can enter at all (So they know where an area is, but can't get in. Gives them a reason to go out of nopk, lets them know where tougher areas are, and keeps them from getting frustrated by dying to a dark-elf patroller when they get lost)

Grants a recall skill on a timer after level 10 like an inherent. That way they can get back to "home base" when they've really got lost, but not just jump back instantly whenever they want.

I can't think of any other bonuses/detractors, but I think the negation of any skill improvements and area limitations would prevent many of the "vets" from abusing it. The very PK focused vets will want to pk as soon as they can, and many of them will not want to have skills that are so low at lvl 16.

Those who aren't noobs won't have any problem fighting these players, so it won't give any advantage in pk to those that use the status. (I'm assuming here that a vet using the status wouldn't have mastered defenses etc, so someone who didn't take the status will either be at an advantage or on even ground with the nopk person ) It's not going to eliminate the advantage vets have, but it will allow a bit more time to do "real" stuff in the MUD without having to start from your pit every 5 minutes.

Would coding for these things be too arduous, and would it be worth the return investment of allowing new players more time to get to know and enjoy Thera and stick around?

There's always going to be a point at which you have to deal with PK. When I started the game it was around level 3. You literally had to fend off PKs in MUD school.

Obviously we've bumped up the level of the start of PK since then, but I have to ask myself, when does it stop? Is it any better to have vets whipping you at 16 than it is at 11?

I remember feeling totally helpless that a warrior with a beagle as a pet could smear any mage I was trying to play inside the Academy when PK started at level 3.

When I came back after a ten year hiatus I was very glad to see that this had changed.

A newbie had the option of creating a learning character that wasn't able to pk but could never rank past 20?

This should give them ample time to at least get their feet wet as far as CF is concerned without the frustrations of getting whipped repeatedly by vets. This option would be of little use to anyone other than the newb since the character could never advance farther than 20. I cannot think of any reason why a vet would want to play a character who could not pk and could never go past 20.

... it would be abused as store holders for limited gear.

Always shoot first and then call whatever you hit the target.

I agree. You'd want to give them the same limited eq rules as when under lvl 11

One issue is that healers could abuse the safe state to heal a level 15 buddy that can pk. Ok, this was doable with a lvl 10 healer but now it is more doable.

Much like the "ranking equipment" section of QHCF, but located in text form on the MUD with helpfiles for the areas they're located in. This would encourage new players to learn how to gear themselves at a level where they can gather gear that will last them for a while and at the same time encourage knowledge area.

I don't see this giving any advantage as those who are not new players already know the information. It's a bit OOC, but giving a list of items like below would help a lot:

wrist: A dwarf named Tarus has a magical bracer that will aid you in landing stronger and more accurate blows. He can be found near the docks of Galadon. *here you can have multiple items in the same description, so you can have another for a mana/hp type wrist item for more magey classes*

Make the players contribute here so you're not doing a bunch of descriptions. Maybe give two to three options (all from players or your suggestions, but only things that they can obtain themselves, not dropped items that *might* be on the ground).

You could instead have a mob like Simon or a guildmaster invite the player to ask him about equipment and have him trigger suggestions based on keywords.

Player: "Do you know where I could find some ARMOR?"
Simon: "Well.........."

Player: "I need a WEAPON"
Guildmaster: "A mage like you ought to look for a good dagger. I've heard rumors of........."