Is it safe to assume that if you're anywhere within in the level range listed in the "area' command that you'll get full exp for exploring/observing stuff it?

My concern right now is that the system is opaque enough that I could go in and carefully explore a dangerous place and then have it turn out I get no exp because I'm too low. And there's no way to know if you're getting anything for the time and risk invested until you get back to the guild and get nothing. And then you have no idea how many levels it's safe to gain before you've overlevelled the area and won't gain anything again.

There is no in-code correlation between the levels listed on the AREAS command and exploration/observation, but I think we've done a pretty good job of being consistent over the decades.

For observation there is only a level cap, not a minimum. You can be too high level (i.e. there's no risk here) but never too low.

For exploration, each location has a minimum and maximum level.

What changed when?

Revision 1.10  2014-01-26 04:45:30  daevryn
Exploration XP now has a MIN level in addition to a MAX level.

To my knowledge, there is nothing within the design intended to prevent obnoxiously low level characters taking legitimate risk exploring some stupid dangerous area.

Only things designed to

a) Prevent Joe the Hero from gaining exploration experience by exploring the kobold warrens.
b) Prevent random-Bob from using some "safety" hack like already being a ghost, duo dimension, projection (or any other random "You can't get killed" situation you can think of)

That's as far as I'm aware of level "ranges". You can never be too low, just too high.

I thought organia had been changed so they you couldn't get the experience before a certain level. And Trothon?

I used to like doing those at lower level too. Solo.

And several not so explore for the reason if their easy accessibility (I guess).

I was right.

Five years ago. Which would be accurate with the last time I've
spent any legitimate time exploring. Although, I kinda have to
agree with Twist that it seems opposite the idea of exploring.

Unfortunately, I'm sure it was put in to avoid people gaming the
system, as always happens.

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.

Pre-PK
Pre-30
Post-30
Hero

Places like Kobold Warrens, you do pre-10.
Places like Akan, you do pre-30.
Places like Organia and Trothon, you do 30+.
Places like Ruins of Maethien, it's safe to do on 51.

Area command can give you the general idea of what range the area is in.

Your overall advice is pretty solid, though the mechanics don't work how you seem to think they do. The AREAS command is good for getting a general idea of when to go to an area though.

See my other post on this thread for more info.

I just outlined the logic behind my routine. Taking it to a deeper level of detail is unneccessary now that everything is capped at rather easily attainable levels.