So when did classic get rid of xp penalties?

[pickled_heretic]

Originally Posted by Dr4z3r [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

But all else isn't equal.

SK's and Paladins will allow a group's DPS to attack sooner and harder without ever losing aggro. This translates to less mana spent healing, which means more mobs can be pulled in the same amount of time.

Bards (and Rangers in outdoor dungeons) can chain-pull and CC without ever stopping. This leaves more room for DPS and utility, so the group will be able to kill more, faster, than if pulling and CC duties are split between two different people.

When the group xp penalty is divided up between 6 people, and factoring in the group xp bonus, a group only needs to kill about 10% more mobs than without any hybrids to come out ahead of the penalty.

and warriors are both better dps and better tanks once they are geared for it (particularly for planes), which for a huge portion of the playerbase is the only thing that matters. meanwhile, the ability of bards to do so many things is offset by their spoony nature.

face it, if we balanced exp losses based on overall class effectiveness, they would look really nothing like what we have today. necros, mages, druids, and shamen would probably have to have a large penalty and pretty much all of the melees would need a bonus (some of them already do, some of them don't). it's better to just make it all a wash and let people play the classes they want without being hindered by an antiquated and completely obsolete mechanic.