Might I suggest setting aside a day of the month for boosted training and experience each month? I've noticed other MUDs doing this and it seems to keep people even more interested. Or perhaps bring back the surge of understanding (or whatever it was called) when training. I realize training time has been reduced, but it is still a very long process.
Training Boost!
Training time wasn't just reduced, it was slapped in the face and called a disrespectful name.
It's quicker by at least 50%. how long is it taking you to train a skill presently.
I find the only things that train slow are the ones you have to wait for the timer to run out on before you can use it again. Otherwise I find training to be way fast. As far as the ranking goes, I wouldn't mind that as I missed out on the double experience weekend. Though adding in a boost to training on the same weekend wouldn't hurt either for people who hate training.
I say four random days picked each month for dbl exp
I don't think training time or experience rates need any tweaking. People already throw away their characters like they change their underwear. If things took longer, maybe players wouldn't be so quick to ditch a character. Then they might actually build some skills and strategies. 