On the other hand BG1 had only 7 or 9 levels, but leveling up in that game was smt really important, also i remember that u had to travel (with 4 characters) over 2 regions before u reached lvl2, while here in DOS i got to lvl2 before i came into town. This leveling curve needs to be well shaped -it musnt kick in too fast.
Remember how it was in Gothic 2 where u had that port city and u were doing stuff there as long as u could because venturing out at that level would be suicidal - a mix of city adventure until u gear up and get to know how interactions work is imo very good approach in low levels.
