If we're going to be commenting on Mauler's log, then I'll just say that I am 100% behind revamping the level system, mostly to let newer users vote sooner.
Frankly, I find it absolutely ridiculous to NOT let new people vote. When someone joins a forum, they're usually immediately allowed to contribute to a conversation; maybe they can't start their own boards, but they can comment. When someone joins a regular website, they're immediately allowed to comment. Why is voting any different? The only reason I see for the bar on level 0 users voting is to prevent malicious sockpuppet downvoting (meaning potential malcontents would have to provide a modicum of effort before they were allowed their spree), and even that seems a bit like a far-fetched thing to worry about as the majority of the people here are functional adults of some level who probably wouldn't stoop to such a thing. Those who would would have to sink in a lot of time into creating multiple sock puppets and voting (as they could only downvote a writeup once per account), and frankly anyone crazy or bored enough to waste that kind of time on internet pettiness is someone who has much larger problems than E2. Even then, considering that downvotes these days do absolutely nothing, and users aren't even notified as to when they have been downvoted, it seems particularly pointless.
Maybe the excessive amount of exp. points low level users were expected to acquire made more sense back in the bustling days of E2 when there was a million people running around here voting on things, but these days to get so many points from a smaller crowd means leveling up takes a stupidly long amount of time. Maybe the risk of crazy petty downvoters was higher, too, when there were more people. But the current system is a remnant of a bygone era and it needs to modernize.
So, that's my two cents.