Serious Progress Quest question..

I would’ve just posted this in the Progress Quest forum, but I’m looking for a straight answer:

How much processing does PQ really do?

At first I thought it was just funny and not really doing any work, but I started a character one day on a PIII 800 PC, and a friend of mine started his character approx 1 hr later on a PIII 500. Within 3 hours of him starting his game, he was already a level ahead of me, climbing the PQ charts. Boy was I mad.

Furthermore, a different friend started his character last Friday afternoon - a full week behind me. Monday night he’s on level 40. I’m only on level 46.

What gives? Does Race/Class/Strength/Charisma really have such an impact on character development?

I think there’s a bit more going on inside PQ than I originally thought.