So, you're saying you were sitting around in Central Square (Atlas Park, I presume???) and a bunch of characters, with similar names, suddenly gained levels while just standing there (as in, the leveling animation triggered) for absolutely no reason at all? I have to say, if I understand you correctly, that would be quite the feat. I'm not aware of any mechanic in the game that allows for people to gain XP from AE farming while outside of the AE map in which the XP is earned. I'm not sure I can quite believe that.
Also, I'm not sure how people getting PL'd in AE ruins my leveling experience. Maybe they could have have a negative impact on the market, but I don't see why I have to enjoy my game play less because they leveled differently.
I think he was trying to say he saw fresh characters one minute and the next 30 minutes saw the same characters at level 30. How? I have no damn idea aside from a crazy power level with this particular AoE brute. Just side kick them and do your thing with the brute. It seems rather intriguing if solo doesn't get fixed in general without these cheese tactics, so I can't blame people wanting to level as fast as possible. The game is far more fun when you're max and can start focusing on your build more-so wishing you had pieces of it.