^^ What this guy said; I like it.
I can give firsthand experience for this. I played classic through PoP. When Luclin came out I went with the leveling path described above because the exp. in fact did flow like gravy over biscuits. I could have chosen not to, but the gravity of the benefits would have given me dissonance if I avoided them.
When PoP came out and the world became smaller, the adventure aspect went away. There weren't any more level 1 gnome races from ak'anon to .. Odun?(erudite city).
One of the reasons that this game was great was the journey (character leveling), and in the time of achieving that you become part of the community through the people you meet. Giving faster exp and less travel time shortens that journey. Sure, there is end-game content, but I spent 95% of my eq life sub-max level.
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