[quote name='Orymus' timestamp='1317299109' post='4867165']but recent games have proven successful with 'handcrafted' level tables (quite ironically).

Really? Which ones (except for AD&D where it is done for the purpose of compatibility with the orignal Pen&Paper RPG system, not for gameplay or mechanics)?

Is there any benefit for handcrafing these? I mean, you will handcraft either liner or a curve shape anyway, so why not use a formula for this and forget all the hassle? Handcrafted table would make sense if there were some oddities (like suddenly after level X the requirements become linear instead of progressive or the shape of the curve changes), but I don't recall any game that had such oddity nor I can think of any benefit of implementing such oddity.
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I don't know about most of the stuff you said (as it's a question to someone else), but you do bring up a good point. No matter how you do a hand crafted xp system your going to get something that looks nearly liner or parabolic. I made mine by hand and when I grafted it I got basically a exponential curve of sorts. (It's on the paper). A formula really would have been easier.

I personally like it but theres not enough gaps-1000 is not enough in those high levels, it popularly is around 1000points about the teen LVLs. Plus i dont think usually video games are so 5-0 squared with XP numbers. Like LVL29-LVL30 4796 points LVL49-LVL50 13444 points. The latter sentence is not an issue however.

I personally like it but theres not enough gaps-1000 is not enough in those high levels, it popularly is around 1000points about the teen LVLs. Plus i dont think usually video games are so 5-0 squared with XP numbers. Like LVL29-LVL30 4796 points LVL49-LVL50 13444 points. The latter sentence is not an issue however.

Each level shows how much they have to get for each level starting form zero. Not how much total xp the person will have at that level. For instance if it says lvl 40 is 30000 xp and lvl 41 31000 that means that once they get lvl 40 they must get 31,000 xp again to get to lvl 41. Basically lvl 41 would take exactly as much effort to get as lvl 40 plus how ever much effort 1000xp is.

I'm generally in favour of the fixed exp. The Paper Mario series pulled it off very nicely, with each level requiring 100 exp, and a boss enemy giving around 30 exp when defeated.

Generally, this is easier to pull off when your game is linear, because that means you can simply divide the enemies in groups of 'common', 'rare', 'boss' and so on wherever you go. If it's possible to go back, i would recommend the increasing exp, since it's probably less effort than making them give less exp as you become stronger. (and easier to balance)