To Lux:
That was a well laid out and comprehension answer. I thank you for it even though it breaks my heart.

To Davorok:
I agree with what you are saying and many of those suggestions sound promising. A return to milestones/road blocks which forces the player to slow down and smell the proverbial roses. While hunting down just silly dangerous NM for items in rare and uninhabited bits of the world will bring the rate of rank climbing down while putting to use all those unused unloved nooks and crannies in the game world.