[Odd Raven]

Mixed feelings on this -- what if instead of going out and facing the potential for death or PvP/E, they want to roleplay swordplay or a training session with another character? Most in-game characteristics won't cater to increasing skill-level in this way, so that's where something like valor would step in. Anything you can do in a game, you should -- logically -- be able to roleplay out. Hence, you should be able to earn with valor.

Granted, certainly things like a handy knowledge of PvP won't come if you don't dip your toes in the water, but I feel like the point of roleplay is to be able to play the role of something you might not otherwise be capable of -- I'm terrible at combat in a PvP standard. Does that mean I'm resigned to having a character incapable of it? If it was about roleplay only, instead of button-mashing like a pro, perhaps there's a chance for me yet, albeit small, no doubt.

I agree with that and actually saw this behavior in a player on Arantha recently. He actually developed and worked out a reason for the time he was spending 'bashing' gnolls in order to validate it for his character, so that when my character interacted with him, it was actually a valid topic and reason for why he was wreaking havoc on this gnoll establishment. Neat stuff, I thought -- needs more of that!