Shaddowofadream wrote me with an interesting observation: Games from other genres than MMORPG are now using persistent stats more and more. Look at this example from Team Fortress 2, or the whole XBox Live Gamerscore thing. So even if your character restarts at "level 1" every time you restart the game, you still have some sort of documentation on your game achievements and progress.
I found that interesting in the context of how many people said that my idea of a level-less MMORPG would never work, because people wouldn't be satisfied to only get status symbols, titles, and trophies for their achievements, and not actual improvements to the power of their character. Maybe I was asking the wrong crowd? MMORPG players are so used to levels or skill gains, that they can't imagine a game without it. But somebody playing a first-person shooter or similar game online is totally used to starting every game with the same power of his avatar, and only the skill he as a player acquired in playing the game making a difference to his performance.
I'm not saying that levels or skill gains in MMORPG don't work. But when I look at my new WoW mage, now level 18, who basically has to solo at least another 40 levels (if not 52) before having a chance to find a group for an instance, I am painfully aware of the negative consequences of a level-based game. The fact that there are WoW players that are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to somebody to powerlevel their character for them is proof that there is a problem somewhere. If we could find a way to offer people persistent stats showing their achievements, without these getting into the way of people playing together, that would be truely great.
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