I know this probably counts a downside for some of my old raiding buddies, but, at least these days, I like the idea of there being something to my MMORPGs besides rushing to the level cap and participating in scheduled raids. That’s ultimately the point of most traditional MMORPGs (unless they have a PvP structure that’s good for something other than a diversion), and that’s what made SWTOR run out of steam so quickly once most guilds had cleared the content. SWTOR still relies on an increasingly dated “hardcore” style that turns raiding into a job — once you’re done with your shift, all you want to do is leave and go home.Also helps that you can be level 80 whenever you feel like it.

Instead, Guild Wars 2 powerleveling is a casual game in the very best sense of the term. It does have a ridiculously high level cap for a new release (80), but much of what makes a traditional endgame (big bosses, giant PvP battles, hard dungeons) is wrapped up in the leveling experience itself. More than ever, the journey is more important than the destination. It’s therefore not a raider’s game like SWTOR or WoW, so such players probably won’t find much reason to stick around, but it also means that people with limited time can enjoy Guild Wars 2 gold without feeling like they’re missing out on much. I do think they’ll need frequent content updates to keep that model sustainable, but I’m not that worried because…

So Far, Arenat is Better at Addressing Player Concerns Than BioWare. Keep in mind that we’re just about at SWTOR’s half-year anniversary (we’ve already passed it if you count the head start), and yet we haven’t seen anything remotely like Rift’s half-birthday event. BioWare, it seems, is a little cautious about celebrating. Instead, features that should have been added months ago, such as better group-finding tools, are just now announced as making their way in via a patch that still doesn’t have a release date.