I think the reason epic has been our go-to is because the level restrictions aren't as harsh there (we generally aren't streaking anything), and there are too many areas where we have some people able to run and others not. I have a 3, a 10, a 15, a 16, a 19, two 20's, a 22, a 23, and a 25. That leaves some hefty gaps outside Epics.
I can take a hefty dose of blame as well, since I'm not fond of the levels in Commoner post 20, and most of the content is poorly balanced. If you're like Peter, and have most of the relevant-to-build ED's maxed out, then you basically have no progression to speak of.
I agree with Corwin that pre-20 characters that run together should stick together, as much as possible. The differences in xp requirements, plus time issues, inability to solo/pug, or whatever, means it's more difficult to play catch up. In Epics, regardless of TR the XP reqs are the same.
I'm afraid I won't be running an uber build this go 'round. Rachail is a modification of Mirys' old Bard build, since I lack the interest to run another trap monkey (I have three currently around, and have ran one other before. So I will not likely take that role for some time). I have some ideas for a TR, but I'll wait for a bit since there may be changes coming I want to know about before committing the plan.
Not a terrible build I guess, but it's a rough one, and one I was not awake for the initial development. I haven't started a character with this little planning since I first made the mistake of creating Rachail as a Paladin, some 4+ years ago. And quite frankly, it was sheer stubbornness that pushed her to 20; I should have deleted and rerolled as basically anything else except Barbarian.
Currently, I am not working Saturday. As always, I won't truly know until 2:30 or so tomorrow afternoon, when most of the crew flees and I'm the only one there.
Given the last 4 days, I may be late, however. I know what I should have waiting, which would be roughly 10 hours worth of work. But then, I expected that today. And got an extra hour and a half.