Off the top of my head, here are the ways you level up:
Quests
Killing stuff (straightforward grinding) - I hardly did any of this unless something was in my way from point A to point B.
Public Quests - where you cooperatively work with others grouped or not, it doesn't matter - a typical Public Quest scenario - fight 20 minions (1st wave), pick up some items in the area (i.e., kegs of beer)(2nd wave), fight tougher minions, then finally take down the boss mob. Depending on how well you do, (i.e., quest participation, number of kills, amount of healing) you will be ranked. I'm not sure of the particular details of the mechanics, but basically you get some reward and the top 3 players get to loot a chest from the boss mob. Now, if you don't reach that top level during that quest, no worries - the quest resets about 2 minutes after the completion of the previous one and you can do it over and over. Not only do you get level experience, but you also get Influence points. These can be used to purchase items that are on 3 tiers of items to choose one item from - 3 potions, 3 armor pieces, and 2 weapons (I think, it could be 3).
Realm vs. Realm pvp instance leveling - great fun and absolutely worthwhile to do. There is a camp in every major zone that has Renown merchants where you can spend Renown points (I thought it was spelled Reknown, but oh well). These points are earned over time while you level up - say, from level 6 to level 11 and after each RvR instance, you can hit up the Renown armor merchant and the Renown weapon merchant and upgrade your gear, depending on your Renown points you've gained. It's really, really easy to attain and max out your gear after a few pvp instances. There is usually 2 repeatable quests (one that gives out experience points and another that gives out experience points and coins) that you can quickly level up and develop a healthy amount of coinage to save up for your mount at level 20.
Realm vs. Realm pvp non-instanced - Also great fun, like particpating in battles - no solo ganking here - death, by the way (note as in all aspects of the game - is of little consequence at least at the early levels). If you don't know your role in cooperative pvp fighting, you will die, and die a lot. Likewise, if others that you fight near don't know their roles, you will also probably die. The beauty of all of this is when everyone knows their roles (healer, dps, tank) and it's truly epic fun. Again, level experience, coinage, items to roll for, Renown points, etc.
I didn't participate in crafting, so I can't speak of it.
Also, your guild can level up (like in EQ2). When you reach certain levels, new guild options open like a guild calendar, for instance.
If others can provide further info or clarify what I mentioned, please feel free to do so.
The Tome of Knowledge is an awesome addition to the mmorpg game. It records all your earned titles (if you die a lot, you earn "Run Away!" as a title, if you click on yourself too much, you gain the title, "Ow! My Eye!", and so forth. It tracks your quests, provides awesome lore information (when you encounter a particular beastie or enemy, their information comes up to provide background information. Likewise, when you encounter popular Warhammer persons, their history/information will be added to your tome. I imagine crafting info is also provided as you discover stuff. Oh, locations are added as well.
* I wasn't positive about crafting giving level experience, so I removed it.
If I think of other stuff, I'll provide later.
Edited, Aug 29th 2008 8:33pm by Snorre
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'Lo, there do I see, the line of my people, back to the beginning, 'lo do they call to me, they bid me take my place among them, in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave...may live...forever. X-Box 360 Gamer Tag - Smogster