On the inefficiency of IMM oversight:

People who play non-US times don't get rewarded as much, statistically speaking.

IMMs are going to need to code up some system which triggers upon hours played, PKs achieved, etc., and automatically review the player in question so they don't "miss" a player who plays odd times.

It's like creating a set of laws where you give judges full discretionary + subjective power over outcomes, instead of giving a general set of principles on which peoplecan rely. Rule of law is a great idea because of predictability, and I think the same principles apply to governing a game. Even assuming that IMMs want to be fair (I certainly think they do want to be fair in general), they're only human. We are intentionally introducing human error into a system which need not have human error, and this human error doesn't increase average happiness amongst players either.

Now I have to think, when making a powerful character, "Will the IMMs notice me and like me enough to reward me?". I don't think it's a good situation. It only creates unpredictability and breeds resentment amongst players who didn't get rewarded enough, and doesn't compensate for it by making great happiness amongst over-rewarded players. It's the curse of uncertainty. People are by nature risk-averse, that's why we have insurance companies.


On equality:

I agree that vets do not need more rewarding. I think the solution is to give a fixed X edge points (equal to what you get for 50 PKs) to ALL players. Remove OBS and explore grind. Give an average reward to all.

We can enforce equality without resorting to imperfect, administratively burdensome methods.


On diversity and legendary characters:

If we want "legendary" powerful characters, we can allow players to indicate that they wish to apply to be such characters, upon which they are required to get X hours/PKs/etc. to reach tier 1, Y hours/PKs/etc. to reach tier 2, etc., with each tier having fixed rewards.

So we have base characters (equal), and various legendary tiers as recognition that a game with diversity in power levels can be more enjoyable.