Originally Posted by
Rathothis
Bad point.
Look at RL: I work in a heavily regulated field, and had to train 5 years after graduation to qualify for my RL job. If I took your view, I'd have to support such a long training period, since "new people shouldn't have it any easier than I did". But in fact, such a long training period is a stupid idea, as it keeps out many intelligent and able people who might otherwise think of working in my field. Which leads me to the real reason why some people in my job actually favour maintaining a 5 years training period: because it keeps out (potential) competition.
Also, bear in mind that character progression doesn't necessarily imply power progression. This is why achievement systems are a thing of beauty.