I finally gave up, and instead will simply use the lvl 90 rebirth as soon as the lvl cap is raised.Though I don't know what I'll do when the cap is raised and I have not one, but TWO capped toons!) Getting a few crowns isn't worth the stress, pressure, drama, anxiety, heavy use of instant resurrects at elders who are equal to everyone's combat lvl, etc. I have absolutely NO interest in being at level cap right after it's raised! That's probably the number one reason why I purposely never allow any of my toons to be at level cap (though because of the monthly calendar xp, Zazie will hit lvl cap in about a month from now, if not less.

Most often, I just kill one bounty per day on each of my 4 toons, just to maintain their bounty power in case I decide to gather on any one of them. Yet it doesn't take very much to 'scratch that itch.' A little combat goes a long way with me. If I'm in the mood for combat, I might go out and run A zone. I do enjoy doing combat, and I'll go on combat sprees, just like how I'll go on gathering and/or crafting sprees. When that cap raise comes, I will probably have 3/4 toons maxed in gardening and 3/4 maxed in every gathering and crafting skill.Possibly even all 4.) And I don't anticipate seeing a level cap raise until sometime this fall, at the earliest. (The other toons' ranching lvls range from 78-85.) Across my 4 toons, my lowest lvl gathering skill is in the lvl 77-80 range, and the same is true of my lowest lvl crafting skill on all 4 toons.

The other two have a minimum of about lvl 80-85 gardening, and I have one toon maxed in ranching. (Toon #4 has lvl 78 plant lore.) I've maxed gardening on two of my toons. (At the moment, 3/4 of my toons are maxed in plant lore. But because of how I prefer to play the game, none of my toons have ever earned any elder levels, and yet at many times, multiple toons on my account have had several non-combat skills capped. (I happened to check a few days ago.) She's close to hitting lvl 89 combat, and completed 4 rebirths right after Starfall (which brought about that lvl cap raise when she was lvl 78 combat.) If she had been at level cap at the various times over the years when a level cap had been in place (and had ever been in something resembling a 'rush'), she would surely have earned some elder levels by now. Of course, the amount for the entire account is higher, but after 5 years, Zazie's /play time is about 12-15 months. (My suggestion to use an estimate of /play time is based on Zazie's current /play time. Or at least that players who choose to spend more time gathering and crafting than doing combat shouldn't be at such a great disadvantage when it comes to earning the rewards from elder levels! The name of the game isn't Villagers OR Heroes It's Villagers AND Heroes - Meaning that the Villagers are supposed to be treated equally to the Heroes. Any kind of elder soul system should be rewarding all of these activities, instead of only time spent doing combat. What would happen instead if for every X hours of active game play (something like every week of /play time), each character receives a crown? Because that's what the elder soul system is supposed to be rewarding - Time spent in game, actively running zones, helping other players, running event zones, gardening, ranching, gathering, and crafting.Whatever activity you enjoy doing, however you want to measure it - but it should continue to greatly reward you when you're at that point where you no longer gain any xp for combat, or woodcrafting, or plant lore, etc. I also don't feel that it sways players who are inclined to get bored and quit playing, nor do I think that it draws players back to the game. It doesn't reward long time players unless they're at level cap in combat, and during those long periods of time (averaging about a year and a half) when there is no cap raise, it simply doesn't fill its purpose. Is this fair? Not in the least! There are no elder levels for gathering and crafting, so how could it be fair? What the system should be rewarding is continuing not just to log into the game daily, but spending time actively doing something while in game, at whatever pace you choose. However, the elder soul program only rewards heroes, not those who prefer to play more of the villager side of the game.

I think that the crown rewards are the only feature of the elder soul program that really interests players.

Eldest souls all items