*rears her head* Hopefully this isn’t disjointed, it’s already been a long day/month/year.
I think that a big part of the leveling disparity is the fact that there are so few modules that are available for people to play. I am completely caught up on every module and play only a few times a year – Origins, Gen Con, and Arcanis Con. I do not like replaying a module and so avoid it if I can. My play schedule is spread far enough out timewise that I basically have to relearn my character every time I play her. I have to admit, I teased friends at the end of Arcanis con that I would see them all in 6 months.
Many people make a ‘main’ or have a favorite character and with the limited play opportunities, are likely to pick playing that one character over starting a new one. There are also people who don’t enjoy dedicating time and energy to more than a single character. I see that some people have said that they don’t mind making a new one to play with friends but I don’t think that is very typical. I think that if you forced a character ‘retirement’ at this late point in the game, you’d have an outright revolt. I know that it would likely make me take a long look at the campaign and what I wanted to dedicate my time do. People are more accepting of a ‘level cap’ when they know about it ahead of time and can plan for it.
In my case, I have a character I bought through the kickstarter that I have played exactly twice. I would LOVE to play him but given the choice in the limited amount of modules, I’ll pick the character I started with that I’ve been having fun with every time. And I don’t think that the tier differences are that big of a deal until players hit tier 3. There is an upswing in power at tier 3 that separates it from the lower tiers.
Honestly, as has been stated, level disparity is an issue with every campaign as it marches on. In a campaign with a bigger player base, I really don’t think it is a huge deal. It is more noticeable with the smaller player base in this newer, unique version of Arcanis.
To sum up, I think that investing in more modules, more frequently would help. I do not have any suggestions on how to increase the module output because I’m not sure what the holdup is, why people aren’t writing mods, or why they aren’t making it to completion. I have asked around my circle of friends as to why they aren’t writing for a campaign that clearly sparks their imagination and the only thing of any strong consistency is the lack of a dedicated monster’s manual. People don’t like making up their own monster’s apparently.