Since the introduction of Dawnport every new character starts with 27 mana potions and 21 small health potions. Of course it had (and still has) fatal consequences, but instead of simply removing any potions from starting equipment as soon as they realized it can be easily abused, CipSoft decided to gradually implement silly and lazy "fixes".
Obviously, immediately tons of mana potions were brought to Mainland, which lead to mana potions being sold for around 20 gp on the Market.
What did CipSoft do? They made potions nontransferable to Mainland. But they did nothing to potions which had already been transferred.
Of course it didn't stop players – instead of bringing mana potions to Mainland people used them all and sold the vials.
What did CipSoft do? They made vials unsellable on Dawnport. But they did nothing to vials which had already been sold.
Again, who would've guessed, it didn't stop players from abusing free potions. They just transferred the vials to Mainland and sold them there.
So CipSoft made vials nontransferable. But they did nothing to vials which had already been transferred.
Surprise, surprise, it didn't end the problems. People could still raise their magic level on Dawnport in no time which lead to new mages leaving Dawnport with mlvl 60+.
So CipSoft made it so you cannot get past magic level 20 on Dawnport (as a mage – for other vocations it's accordingly lower). But they did nothing to players who had already increased their magic level.
And after that CipSoft stopped patching their terrible idea, so yeah – nowadays players basically start with magic level 20.
Obviously, immediately tons of mana potions were brought to Mainland, which lead to mana potions being sold for around 20 gp on the Market.
What did CipSoft do? They made potions nontransferable to Mainland. But they did nothing to potions which had already been transferred.
Of course it didn't stop players – instead of bringing mana potions to Mainland people used them all and sold the vials.
What did CipSoft do? They made vials unsellable on Dawnport. But they did nothing to vials which had already been sold.
Again, who would've guessed, it didn't stop players from abusing free potions. They just transferred the vials to Mainland and sold them there.
So CipSoft made vials nontransferable. But they did nothing to vials which had already been transferred.
Surprise, surprise, it didn't end the problems. People could still raise their magic level on Dawnport in no time which lead to new mages leaving Dawnport with mlvl 60+.
So CipSoft made it so you cannot get past magic level 20 on Dawnport (as a mage – for other vocations it's accordingly lower). But they did nothing to players who had already increased their magic level.
And after that CipSoft stopped patching their terrible idea, so yeah – nowadays players basically start with magic level 20.