I must preface this is a stray 6am coffee-fueled thought and I do not have a deeply developed thought process on the following topic, merely a stance.
Simply put, wouldn't the state and health of player content (magics, feats, creatures, all lore targeting play) be better if it were more accessible? In the days of yore we had magics that took 6 months to master, harsh requirements to attain teacher applications, and no concept of modern injection or lore surgery (let alone amendments, god bless). Things weren't great. I'm of the philosophy magics should be quick to master - those I've most recently written, seer and blood magic, are mastered in 3 months - and relatively easily attained or easy to interact with - seer has an open feat and leans towards non-seer interaction and blood magic's many items can be used by most non-blood mages. My conception of why boils down to: player content should be easy to get into so it's easy to let go.
I want everyone to permakill their characters. I think having a PK (or otherwise ultimate shelving, you get me, sunsetting is cool too) as an option in the background of your mind for a character is good and healthy. When it comes to the state of RP I consider people being open and willing to PK to be a sign of good health; when you aren't covetous, protective, and defensive about a character you are avoiding a font of many agonies. Thus the timesink of learning magic and the rarity of player content leads to OOCly motivated behavior: unrealistic defensiveness and foresight, subtle metagaming and/or powergaming, and ultimately a resistance to PKing and avoiding or kneecapping conflict. I find that clinging to be a sort of pain and, pardon my French, a sort of RP-immaturity. I don't mean to shame those who don't PK, obviously LotC has a deeply ingrained mechanic to allow characters to endure between monk resurrection and no enforced aging, but in the end I believe it to be good to allow yourself to experience it and always expect or be open to it. There's catharsis and great satisfaction in conclusions.
This leads me to the topic of this thread: avenues to player content.
What are your thoughts on a system where self teaching and grandfathering are more open? For example, say a player has had a TA in a magic and fully taught 3 players across - I don't know, 1 year? - and has received 0 infractions in that time. Therein lies an implication of trust. I propose we may give such a player a sort of pass, whenever they wish once their TA-having character PKs or is otherwise ultimately shelved, to self-teach and/or be grandfathered into the given player content as they wish.
A successful reigning lich with 6 total students, 1.5 years playtime, and 0 infractions has their phylactery crushed in some cool tense betrayal RP. They of course PK. In 3 months they apply to self-teach necromancy on a new character. A fire evocationist plays for 2 years, proliferates the magic like wildfire (hah), the ST has 0 problems with them or their students over that time, and ultimately they choose to shelf their character by sailing away with their spouse. 6 months later the player wants to try a new style of caster, perhaps a farfolk dancer in a South Hub settlement, and they want to capture the firedancer aesthetic instead of the wizard they just played. They apply to self-teach fire evocation.
The system would need checks and brakes of course but as a general concept what do you think of this? I'm very much a believer that factions and tribalism are the death of player content and the more people involved, playing, and having fun the merrier. Someone getting a toy to play with you also have is not a detriment to the whole. Let's spread lore.