Interesting topic that sort of got lost in all the responses
As a longtime harvester I jumped out of the blocks early with harvesting... Like I saw mentioned by a couple other folks this presented me a dilemma many times when working other skills. If there was a team wipe while we were hunting I was always hurt more because I was unable to work off my DP by staying with the group.
Now that I understand the Death Penalty more and it makes sense to me, I teleport to my spot in the "Grove of Confusion" and work off my DP and quickly return to my hunt group. I have tried to make DP understandable to all and you can find that information here :
http://ryzom.twazz.net/modules.php?name ... opic&t=315
Many unknowingly treat our harvesters and crafters as lesser deserving of certain things, when they are in fact the cornerstone of the economy and the ones that make our best warriors and mages better. This game does not reward multiclassing well. You can be level XXX in any tree and have more skills in that tree but you'll never have more Sap/Hp/Focus/Stamina. Even cross training will not give you enough to do your best skills for any decent period of time. I know I am not the only player that cross trains heavily, yet I NEVER have enough Sap/Hp/Focus/Stamina in any tree.
Melee lvl 120 - Con 25
Magic lvl 120 - Con 13
Craft lvl 120 - Con 7
Harvest 120 - Con 17
As a level 230 harvester I have the HP of a level 155 Melee, and get the Death Penalty of any player of level 230. Currently this is 381,800 per death and nearly impossible for me to work off in any reasonable time doing anything BUT harvesting. The multiplier (as shown in my post on DP) is just too low for me.
All that withstanding, a Warrior/Mage having to use their primary skills to remove DP is just as likely to result in more DP as a gain. Why penalize anyone by not allowing them a slightly more passive skill to remove their DP ? I can pull out my blades and solo Gibbai for 3K a pop, but the multiplier of 9 for my level 90 skills cannot replace the multiplier of 23 I get for harvesting. The same applies regardless how you change the roles and PC's highest skill. On the flip side having a passive skill to allow a reasonable removal of Death Penalty should not be polled on like it's wrong.
Just my two cents...
-------------------------------
DoubleTap
Click here to join Melinoe
Ultimate Harvesting Guide
Melinoe - Atys Harvesters
http://ryzom.twazz.net/