Pro explorers were different, as they as being an explorer was not who they were, it was what they were. The difference being that they merely saw exploring as a mere job and nothing more.
If they were not getting paid enough, then the task was not worth it, as they were not exploring for the love of it, merely for the profit of it. Their price for going out was their reasoning for rejecting jobs and tasks that they felt were not up to their standards or even worth their time in the first place. After a while, there was even another term that was used to describe certain players or even those who just remained beta testers who refused to play the game. They were called travelers, and the difference between them was that a traveler was basically just a pro explorer that did not actually explore anything at all; they just ventured to already discovered and/or known of places. If the place was even known about, then they were not considered to be exploring it, merely traveling to it.
That's what a lot of pro explorers were after a while, just mere travelers, as getting a well known of or famous third rate explorer was expensive, and it was a costly venture for anyone that was serious about the craft. That's how some considered third rate justified their charging prices that were so extreme and abnormally high in the first place. That they were expecting something in return for all that they were giving for the client of the request.
And so that would be the test for someone being an explorer or merely a pro. While explorer also charged for their services, the amount and how they handled the divide between the two was the balance act that they all had to deal with. Though being considered a first rate explorer normally meant that one did not handle the divide at all, as they always put the love of exploring before the monetary value of doing so. Find a first rate explorer that perfectly tolls the line the between the two would be like finding a symbol of explorers. One explorer was not only able to do it all, for the love of exploring, at the same time, not letting corporate as well as the monetary side change them too much. So exploration of the unknown area of the massive continent size island they were on eventually slowed down because exploring certain areas just cost too much at the moment, and the rise of players becoming bandits and the fact that, like, there were no NPCs anywhere in Avelon. That did not mean there were no traps or environmental hazards to deal with. Getting off the island itself was even harder, as despite having fully functional harbors and ships that were ready for water travel, they were unsure if they were a in the middle of a sea, an ocean, or just one extremely massive lake at the moment. As you go out on one of those ships, mere players had manned them, and if they could not realistically pilot a ship, then they were getting wrecked, and who knows where they will respawn once that happens. It could bring them to the nearest settlement, which could be on a small island somewhere, and thus isolate them there.
Rati themselves were a second rate explorer, which was considered still a true explorer, however they had one flaw that prevented them from being first rate. It had nothing to do with money or the business side of exploring. They truly did so for the love of exploring; however, there was one little thing that prevented them from being one of the elites for their tier.
Water
They have aquaphobia, the fear of water, as they do not go anywhere near water that is not used for drinking directly. Water drinking fountains are no problem for them, but they do not exist in Avelon to anyone's awareness yet. There could be a starting region that started out at that point where they were present, even in their earliest forms, but it was unlikely. Thus, even fountains gave them the chills. So being stuck on a massive continent size island surrounded on all sides by water, that really did limit where they could go. It was not like there were no rivers, lakes, or even a landlocked sea located here either. All those places existed and were known as places to be explored. The number of them was unknown, but to Rita, they were places they would never go themselves, and thus they could not be considered first rate for that reason.
There were those who tried to rationalize their fear, but there was no getting around it, as Rita was not going anywhere near water, except to drink. They did not even take a bath, just showers, which was still possible in Avelon. As if this were a virtual world that used all five traditional senses plus all the other ones as well to make this world, then the sense of smell was clearly going to be one of them in usage. So, as a result of that, bathing was something that was done and eventually a requirement for everyone who plays the game at some point. One could certainly go without bathing at all, as that was a choice they were allowed to make. However, awareness and acknowledgment of that choice came with the result of other players not wanting to deal with them at all. As a player who just did not bathe was one who got turned away from everything and anything within Avelon. While it was their choice to do what they were doing, it was everyone else's choice to reject them for doing so. Their choice did not take away their own choice to interact with them or not. As player freedom worked both ways after all, as one player's actions did not just affect them but the their surrounding as well. If they chose poorly, then their surroundings were not on the hook for their own personal choices. Rita was not that type of player, as they did bathe regularly, just never outside of a bathroom, as they would never get in a body of water to bathe, just taking showers.