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I started a character and have been stuck on level one for the better half of a half hour. Are there new XP standards or are the mobs just not giving xp?

Depending on the race of your character, it may be something to do with their ECL (Effective Character Level). The helpfile uses drow as an example:

Drow are a powerful race and have a level adjustment of 5. As a
consequence, this first level wizard starts with the experience points of a
5th level wizard, and must gain the experience points normally required to
attain sixth level in order to realize the advantages that normally accrue to
a second-level wizard.

If you aren't of a race with ECL implemented, then there may be something else going on with exp gain.

10 hours of straight leveling, and still at level 2. I really think this may be a bug with the ECL or it may be with the XP given from the mobs in the training area.

Do you have really low Wis and/or Cha (by FK standards)?

12 wis and 14 cha...it isn't low enough to make it from level 2 to 3 last 10 hours.

For someone who's made quite a few Skullportian characters, I would say that the mobs give too little XP. It's the same with the mobs in Menzo actually. With the current implementation of ECL, it gets worse, because the way to bypass this before was to stay low level and grind XP. However, drow now start with level 6, definitely not low level. And they will spend even more time grinding for XP.

It used to be the same for mobs in mithril halls, not sure if that was fixed.

Have you fled? Have you died?

But yes, the first level of a character with ECL is long and tedious and boring...that's a fact.

One thing that would give some relief to this would be to redo the starting areas so that you gain xp via quests more than mob bashing (a few of them are underwork already if I'm not mistaking)

I think the problem is with your ECL level against mob level, which makes that you gain very little xp if you don't fight monster a few levels above you, which is quite impossible alone at low level.

I tested this pretty rigorously when it first came in, and what you describe is how ECL should operate. So I'm moving this out of bugs and into suggestions.

It is hard, indeed, to start as a high-ECL PC in a wimpy class, particularly a wizard. That is intentional. As Brar implies, you can't afford to make a habit of either fleeing or dying, as both will remove an appreciable amount of experience. Please see http://www.forgottenkingdoms.org//board ... ECL+wizard for more details. If you think that this process is a net negative to the game (not just your wizardly drow ambitions - part of the goal is to make that path hard indeed, and thus rare), this is the place to make a suggestion for changing it, ideally a specific one (like put more high level monsters here, or quests there, or remove ECL, whatever you have thought through as a good, viable solution).

I do believe maybe the mobs in the Underdark/Menzo and in Skullport should give a little more exp. than they do already. I do look at the positives, I have almost 10 platinum saved up already and I am not even level 3! Seriously though the ECL is alright, but isn't it also going to cap a character off at 48? That is if their ECL is 2 higher than the level. I've not died once, but I did flee once in those 10 hours. I am still at level 2 and have not leveled to 3. I fear that this amount of time of grinding isn't enjoyable at all, and adding a harder mob to face that walks around the training area would help somewhat. I would be willing to help make some lower level quests for Skullport as well that could give XP to players that start there.

What you describe is what I complain about with quite a few of my characters who possess "low" charisma and/or wisdom (though, it's fine if only one of them is "low"). By "FK standards" 14 is low. In D&D, yeah, that's pretty damned decent, but when Selveem had 14 int I was told OOCly by a previous Imm that he is "stupid."

Either way, if you make a character with low Charisma and/or (ESPECIALLY "or!") Wisdom, expect it to be a nice, long, obnoxious journey.

Realistically, I do think it's time we stop making it so ridiculous to level. It doesn't work that way in D&D and it is rather discouraging - especially at low levels.