I really miss the xp from exploration badges. For some reason it made it more fun for me. Every toon would come out of the tutorial and go straight into badge/plaque mode. Every Zone you could access right away. Level 8 achieved, all long range locations established, then right into day jobs. Since they made that change it’s a chore. Now I get out of the tute and head straight to RV to start day jobs. I rarely get my exploration badges anymore, my zones are always locked, and I almost always forget a plaque here and there. I hate it. I try not to complain about the changes cause,Free Game and, there must be some good reason, but this is the one thing that has completely changed the way I play and not for the better.
Rewards Merits are not all that exciting to me. I like playing a lot of the low level content and I like to play my toons At Level.