Remove the EXP stat gain system *gasp*

[Northadox]

I never really liked how the rank up system essentially made players who played more (or really players who leave their computers on overnight simming) objectively better than other accounts with a lower rank. A new account can have nearly next to no chance in a race with a highly ranked account, given the stark stat point difference.

This does raise some other concerns, though. Stat allocation is something that does have some worth gameplay-wise. Given that PR4 seems to want PR2 levels to be played in a legacy format (many requiring specific stat builds), I think if it is to still exist in PR4, there should be some means to know how other players' stats are allocated besides trying to calculate them based on how the other player moves (visually, or some read out on their stats, whatever). 

On the other side of things, if one is to remove the stat allocation system entirely in lieu of a more consistent moveset between racers, this would mean that legacy PR2 levels would either not be a thing, or be in some other "legacy" mode, which would mean more development overhead having to maintain two different games, essentially. I'm perfectly fine with PR4 not having PR2 levels; PR2 players can always play that game if they want to enjoy its levels. I'd rather just a new game entirely, not PR2 again!

I'm not outright advocating for the removal of the EXP system entirely, though, just the aspect of that offers an objective advantage for higher ranked players. An extrinsic reward for racing is good; it makes our monkey brains happy seeing a number go up from racing. To reward players for racing in an extrinsic manner, perhaps instead of EXP one could gain currency that could be used in a shop to buy parts or other cosmetics. Not microtransactions! An in-game shop! Just like the good old days!

I guess I would also like to say that I would want the EXP/Kong hats to not retain their purpose as seen in PR2. Hats should only offer an intrinsic gameplay benefit. Pretty much everyone in PR2 wears an EXP Hat because EXP is king.

[Camer the Dragon]

An idea I had for this is that levels could give you a certain amount of stats to work with (0-300) which lets people have the same stats without rank affecting stuff, but also means that the strategy allocating stats (for levels with not too low and not too high caps) for a given level is important, which means more experienced players will have that as an edge instead of just having played longer.