OOC
Joe brought up a question I was too tired to answer before he asked it. So here are my thoughts now that I'm awake:
Well thankfully, there was a CoX comic, so I have a decent idea how to RP it with some balance. Part of it is simply that CoX always gave the impression levels were just game mechanics and that IC side, there is no such thing as "level". Even though we, as level 20-somethings, can kick the butt of anything in Atlas Park, I'm aiming for a more comic approach where we are ALL the same level and have balanced powers, but higher level in the game means new ways to use your powers there and here. Example:
Angel is level 17 and just hits 18 in the game. This means she can now summon a medic on top of her useful idiot and cannon fodder guys. It also means she gets shadowfall now.
In RP, this means she recently got the resources to get a new recruit among the mercanaries and discovered that among her dark powers, she can twist them in a way as to cause the area around her to become darker. She always had the potential to do this, but only recently discovered it.
When you think about it, this makes sense too. In the game, you can "skip" a power until later that you could have learned right then and there. So while one hero might discover they can clap their hands to topple enemies at an early stage in their career, another might learn how to fly first and then later the clapping. Joe can never learn the clap because of axe, but everyone can eventually learn "YAY!!! I can FLY!!!" ....it all depends on what was fun for you in the game. It doesn't take 2 brain cells to figure out IC reasons for powers. So... no levels as far as how powerful you are. Simply that your hero or villain discovers new venues of their power.
On another note, levels DID have an in-game quality. For Villains, threat level. For Heroes, security level. If that isn't a big "duh", I can explain the RP aspects there too, but I think you guys have caught on to my train of thoughts by now. :)