My guild mates there are talking about this. I almost refuse to log in right now because of it. I hate the boosted exp! It's a "legitimate" form of powerleveling. One of them sent me a tell tonite saying that she agreed with my stand. They are seeing lots of characters go from 1 to 70 in less than 3 months because of this kind of thing. (there has been more than one "oops" lately there!)
One of my friends said that it was getting harder to find a real group, rather than one that had been powerleveled by the game. They don't know how to play! hmm...sounds a lot like what I've squawked about for years!
And, while I understand Twyla's thoughts, I also understand Mel. Some of those flags or items are a major PAIN to get the first time, and the GMs can't restore that stuff (flags). And if they lose the data base with the logs....well, ya get the idea! It doesn't give players warm fuzzies! At the same time, exp is easy to get. I never worry about that!
And Mel, about your question on patches: No clue, hon. Far as we know, it's going to be a lot of the way the other games do it now. Bring down the servers and patch away! Some patches can be done while the servers are still up, and you don't realize it until you log back in. I certainly don't live in those shoes, so I don't think any of us here are qualified. Maybe Glip or one of the others will nose over and be able to respond a bit better!
