How does this idea sound?

That would be an intriguing moment of roleplay indeed, but I think the point we're trying to make is most people, even high level people at KR, aren't nobility, and don't have command of other peopleto do things for them. If you see a monster outside of a newbie-specific mod, and it starts acting hostile, then you can only assume it is a threat to you and yours. Mind this doesn't mean we butcher every NPC we meet (though some folks do) interaction and waving them off is a thing, but most NPCs are sent out with recycles and the like and we'll consciously go to try to entertain both low and high level players if we can.

The ability to be able to resolve PC-NPC interactions without combat can be one of the most important and rewarding skills you can develop as a player. It adds diversification to your character and breaks up the monotony of grinding every NPC into a red paste. It also leads to some very interesting and memorable RP interactions, which I can guarantee you will be more memorable than going out to slaughter that pack of [insert random npc group here].

While I probably wouldn't want to add a headband, like many things in KR, being thoughtful can go a long way toward helping others have a good time in game. I know I want as many people to enjoy KR as possible, so that I have a lot of people to interact with and because I think KR is a special place.

While I agree that it might be OOC and break immersion for some PCs to ignore threatening wandering NPCs, we can still be conscious of our actions at an OOG level. For example, I NPC'ed main mod in January. Despite the fact I love to fight, I am not very good. When I NPC in this type of situation, I usually take a lower level NPC card and try to engage lower level players. I was a bit disappointed to watch some very high level players jump into fights I was having with some lower level players and one-shot my NPC. The newer players were doing just fine and would have taken me out on their own, and probably had some excitement doing it with a tag skill that might have been useless against one of the higher level NPCs. It really would have made it more fun for those lower level players if the higher levels had stood back and watched the fight (or found someone else to fight). And while I understand the IG motivations, one could argue that more experienced IG fighters would understand the need to allow less skilled fighters to get some experience . . . I realize it is tough in the middle of a dark fight to get a sense of who is where and how powerful a NPC is, but to the extent people can . . .

Just a thought, but wasn't the idea of the new player zone targeted to this? You go into that area, and only the lower levels can participate?

Regarding what Crystal said, this is why I as a higher level tend to either end up as a commander or personally engage the "boss"

And yeah, the new player zone does tend to cover this.

When weather turns foul, few people want to venture out without a good reason, so "plot hooks" are sent out. Thing is, you never know what kind of attention the "plot hook" will get so, many varied people of varied levels might follow/might not follow.

The new player zone was meant as a way for new players to goto an area & get their kicks, & keep out the seasoned players. Again, this requires people leaving certain areas & travelling to others. As well as keeping new player zone populated with NPC's during the duration it's open. Having enough NPC's can sometimes be a problem during certain events.

Also, there's no forcing a player to go to a mod against his/her will. If Jack the Junior Swashbucker wants to stay at the Inn, playing checkers against someone & not go help the farmer's daughter get back her apples stolen by some goblins... then so be it.

I saw on some MMO's they have a "Teacher system"... where if Higher level players are grouped with lower level players in a zone/fight/etc... the higher-lvl player gets "capped" to where he/she is almost the same as the other group members. This helps with aggro & power-leveling. We've done that before, where if you were above the level & entered the "magical area" you lost a percentage of your level/build/etc to make you as strong or weak as some other folks.