[Scrubosaur]

Hybrid penalty was probably one of the best concepts around when EQ started. The fact that in order to be effective end game you needed a TANK - aka warrior, a HEALER - aka cleric, and DPS - aka rogue, it helped steer people in the right direction when creating a character at EQs beginning. I love the idea that if you wanted to play a character that has a mix of skills then you had to pay the exp penalty price. I am sure it all relates back to DnD dual classes, where your exp is split between each class (or something like that). Of course by the time Velious came out there was probably already a good chunk war/clr/rog playing the game to warrant easing up on the hybrid penalty.