Originally posted by Hurvart

Originally posted by lugnutusa

It's based on the standard mantra of modern MMO's:  "Well, the game doesn't really start until you hit the level cap."

 

The idea is to make a game fun to play from level 1 until level whatever.

Personally, I wish we could just drop the idea of levels altogether.  If your game world and the content is interesting and challenging enough, you don't need things like character progression.

I want to play a game where I'm part of a living world.  If gaining levels and loot is the whole point of playing, I might as well just go play Progress Quest.

There must be some sort of character progress. Levels are not the only option. How can you be motivated if there is no way to improve your character? All MMORPG:s, both themepark and sandbox, are based on character progress.

If you dont like that you should probably try a FPS game instead.

In the real world you get older. You learn new things. You get a job and perhaps you will get better and better and advance to better positions and get more money. A living virtual world will need that too. If its done right it will be immersive.

"How can you be motivated if there is no way to improve your character?"

This - THIS is the mindset I want to break.  You even cover it with the last part of your post...when done properly, it's not ABOUT character advancement, it's about the way you interact with the world around you.

Let's take WoW as the example, since it's the dominant game of this MMO era.  

Your path through the game is pretty well defined.  For each level range, there is a different area that you're supposed to be in.  Get out of your level-appropriate area into something tougher and you'll be harshly slapped down, because no matter how good you are your character hasn't progressed enough to handle that content.

Player skill accounts for very little, as long as you're breathing and know which buttons to push all you need is to be the right level and have the right equipment.

As a comparison, something like Asheron's Call, which I played for about 5 years (99-04).

For most of its early years, AC didn't really have predetermined areas based on a level range.  Things generally got tougher the farther away you got from a town, sure - but it wasn't uncommon to see a mix of levels amongst the creatures across the land.  The fun part is that level wasn't a hard line between "you can do this content" and "don't even think about it".  Unless you went up against something that vastly outpowered you, even a low level player without optimal equipment could still win out if they knew how to play the game well.  Your moment-to-moment tactics played a much bigger role in your success than the makeup of your character.

The result of that difference is that as an AC player, I could explore and experience a huge amount of content just about any time I wanted, and the world and the story became the focus rather than what level I was or when I could get the next new shiny thing.  Yes, progression still relied on gaining experience to increase your skills and gaining more powerful equipment, but the process was much more transparent.  As I said before, I played for about five years.

I played WoW for about four months before quitting from boredom.  After spending so much time in a world where I was primarily limited by my ability, going to a new game where you're basically told "go here now, and don't venture outside the lines" is unacceptable.

I fully admit that my experience and my opinion is my own and is likely not shared by many, but that's okay.  I think there's room for all types in the MMO market.  I just think it's a shame that so many opt to go the "safe" route, sticking with the level-grind treadmill style that keeps people hooked on the idea that fun is just around the corner if they can hold out for one more level.

Originally posted by kanezfan

Go play WoW, SWTOR, or Tera. We'll be here having fun with something new and innovative.

Lets look at games that do not have meaningful leveling:

1. Pokemon

2. My little pony adventure island

3. Facebook games

This strategy of making end game start at lvl 1 LITERALLY only makes sense if this agme had half the shit Archage does and it is not even remotely close to having those types of sandbox features. The dynamic events are pointless. Sorry there is zero reason to actually do them and that is the major thing in this game.

---

Originally posted by Puremallace

---

Originally posted by kanezfan

Go play WoW, SWTOR, or Tera. We'll be here having fun with something new and innovative.

---

Lets look at games that do not have meaningful leveling:
1. Pokemon
2. My little pony adventure island
3. Facebook games
 
This strategy of making end game start at lvl 1 LITERALLY only makes sense if this agme had half the shit Archage does and it is not even remotely close to having those types of sandbox features. The dynamic events are pointless. Sorry there is zero reason to actually do them and that is the major thing in this game.

---

There is reason to do them because they affect the game world in meaningful ways. You see unlike Rift and WAR, they make it so that if people don't complete them, you suffer. In Rift and WAR, if people didn't do the PQs, it didn't matter. The PQs would end by themselves and 30 minutes to an hour later, it would be as if nothing happened. In GW2 though, if the events aren't completed, you lose a village. You lose the ability to travel through an area. You lose vendors and nodes to pick up for crafting mats. And you lose those things for days, weeks even. The only downside I can see to that is it could become tedious in the long run to have to complete those things but hopefully they are not on a timer and are dynamic enough to be the same ones in the exact same spots every say, Tuesday of the week. Stop spreading false information and go read about the game lol.

Originally posted by MMOExposed
Anet has made the claims that in GW2 "Endgame Starts at Level 1"

I guess this can be interpreted in many different ways, especially with the removal of the scaling up feature.

But what does the statement "Endgame Starts at Level 1" means to you?

It means you dont have to reach max level to enjoy the game.

What does endgame starts at level one means to me? To me that would mean the meat of the game can be found/had right from the get go. Seeing in your traditional MMO you work to that point to enjoy things that are only available once you hit level cap/item level. Which sounds all fine an dandy. When I get through a zone in your traditional MMO quite frankly I'm sick of it and want to get into something fresh and different. Returning to that zone would be of my least concern. With that said if they are trying to draw you back to zones to fight a ever changing force that has mustarded up some balls that to me sounds a bit stale. Sure it'll probably be fun for awhile and worthy of investing some time in but how many times am I going to want to kill Captain kling a dink in the Marsh of the Utterly Boring?

"And im glad i won't see all these carrot on a stick gamers there gone forever finally we can start a real game:)"

Truth.

Originally posted by Hurvart

Originally posted by lugnutusa

It's based on the standard mantra of modern MMO's:  "Well, the game doesn't really start until you hit the level cap."

 

The idea is to make a game fun to play from level 1 until level whatever.

Personally, I wish we could just drop the idea of levels altogether.  If your game world and the content is interesting and challenging enough, you don't need things like character progression.

I want to play a game where I'm part of a living world.  If gaining levels and loot is the whole point of playing, I might as well just go play Progress Quest.

There must be some sort of character progress. Levels are not the only option. How can you be motivated if there is no way to improve your character? All MMORPG:s, both themepark and sandbox, are based on character progress.

If you dont like that you should probably try a FPS game instead.

In the real world you get older. You learn new things. You get a job and perhaps you will get better and better and advance to better positions and get more money. A living virtual world will need that too. If its done right it will be immersive.

Your carrot is that way  ---->

If you dont like that, you should try another game instead.

Originally posted by MMOExposed
Anet has made the claims that in GW2 "Endgame Starts at Level 1"

I guess this can be interpreted in many different ways, especially with the removal of the scaling up feature.

But what does the statement "Endgame Starts at Level 1" means to you?

Could mean that it will be the same repetitive horse sh*t from level one to level eighty, with nothing to do once you hit cap but WvWvW, which I would have been doing from level one anyway.

It sounds like in GW2 the journey very much is the destination. Whether that means the game is funner than a barrel full of monkeys all the way through, or a boring snorefest of the same old crap you did twenty levels ago, remains to be seen.

Originally posted by lugnutusa

Originally posted by Hurvart

Originally posted by lugnutusa

It's based on the standard mantra of modern MMO's:  "Well, the game doesn't really start until you hit the level cap."

 

The idea is to make a game fun to play from level 1 until level whatever.

Personally, I wish we could just drop the idea of levels altogether.  If your game world and the content is interesting and challenging enough, you don't need things like character progression.

I want to play a game where I'm part of a living world.  If gaining levels and loot is the whole point of playing, I might as well just go play Progress Quest.

There must be some sort of character progress. Levels are not the only option. How can you be motivated if there is no way to improve your character? All MMORPG:s, both themepark and sandbox, are based on character progress.

If you dont like that you should probably try a FPS game instead.

In the real world you get older. You learn new things. You get a job and perhaps you will get better and better and advance to better positions and get more money. A living virtual world will need that too. If its done right it will be immersive.

 

"How can you be motivated if there is no way to improve your character?"

This - THIS is the mindset I want to break.  You even cover it with the last part of your post...when done properly, it's not ABOUT character advancement, it's about the way you interact with the world around you.

Let's take WoW as the example, since it's the dominant game of this MMO era.  

Your path through the game is pretty well defined.  For each level range, there is a different area that you're supposed to be in.  Get out of your level-appropriate area into something tougher and you'll be harshly slapped down, because no matter how good you are your character hasn't progressed enough to handle that content.

Player skill accounts for very little, as long as you're breathing and know which buttons to push all you need is to be the right level and have the right equipment.

 

As a comparison, something like Asheron's Call, which I played for about 5 years (99-04).

For most of its early years, AC didn't really have predetermined areas based on a level range.  Things generally got tougher the farther away you got from a town, sure - but it wasn't uncommon to see a mix of levels amongst the creatures across the land.  The fun part is that level wasn't a hard line between "you can do this content" and "don't even think about it".  Unless you went up against something that vastly outpowered you, even a low level player without optimal equipment could still win out if they knew how to play the game well.  Your moment-to-moment tactics played a much bigger role in your success than the makeup of your character.

The result of that difference is that as an AC player, I could explore and experience a huge amount of content just about any time I wanted, and the world and the story became the focus rather than what level I was or when I could get the next new shiny thing.  Yes, progression still relied on gaining experience to increase your skills and gaining more powerful equipment, but the process was much more transparent.  As I said before, I played for about five years.

I played WoW for about four months before quitting from boredom.  After spending so much time in a world where I was primarily limited by my ability, going to a new game where you're basically told "go here now, and don't venture outside the lines" is unacceptable.

I fully admit that my experience and my opinion is my own and is likely not shared by many, but that's okay.  I think there's room for all types in the MMO market.  I just think it's a shame that so many opt to go the "safe" route, sticking with the level-grind treadmill style that keeps people hooked on the idea that fun is just around the corner if they can hold out for one more level.

A sandbox/hybrid will also need character progression. I dont like themeparks on rails. But a game without any way to improve my character would be very boring, IMO. Unless its a FPS game...

In a roleplaying game the character needs to be the main focus. Not your skill as a player. Even if I also think it should make a difference.

I never played AC much. I played EQ instead. But AC also had character progression I think. But it was not a on rails quest hub game. That type of game design started or became popular with WoW. I agree its boring. But character progression can be much more and very different. This was my point.

If you can improve your spells, your weapon skills, your talents, factions, AA-points and so on...its all character progression. A game can have that without being a themepark on rails.

Originally posted by Corehaven

As I was writing this and just finishing the post, I was listening to a GW2 interview and they literally tell you what it means, and that was AFTER I was pretty much done writing this.  So its nice to be right on the money for once.  Link posted at the bottom.  Read on..... 

 

Ive always related it to the dynamic events kind of system along with the scaling down. 

 

In typical mmorpgs, once Im done with the level 10 zone, I'm pretty darn done with it.  At level 30, there is no challenge or fun there.  Nor is there at level 60 or 80 or what have you.  If Im going back to an old zone, its to care bear.  Its not to benefit myself.

 

However with GW2, that level 10 zone?  Oh thats still fun.  Thats still challenging too.  There's actually no reason to not go back.  There will be different things going on there than there were in your first run through more than likely anyways.  I do wonder if I get appropriate or rather, useful rewards for playing in old zones.  Im not sure on that.  But at least there is a challenge there.  Im not one hitting everything. 

 

So at level 80 I can go back to a level 10 zone and have a blast.  Im not killing everything with such ease I could do it in my sleep. 

 

As I said, with other mmorpgs you have to have an end game.  Some sort of raiding thing to do, or whatever.  But with GW2, the entire world is valid at max level.  The entire world is challenging.  The starting zone even.  I could go back to that and even get killed if Im not playing well even as an 80. 

 

Thus?  Endgame starts at level 1.  And thats what Anet means.  They say so.  Here at around 1:05:00 in the video. 

http://gdcvault.com/play/1013691/Designing-Guild-Wars-2-Dynamic

 

 

Thanks for the video. As someone who has purposely not followed the hype and opinions of GW2 from fans, it's nice to see their vision and ideas of the game directly from them. I notice in their videos they seem very down to earth and not so arrogant as many devs/team leads do in other games. That in inself is a good thing to see. It's nice to see they made a game exactly how they had invisioned it to be years ago when they discussed what they wanted to do with GW2. They really seem to have it together.

Originally posted by jondifool

Games have the content they have. Endgame does not give a game more content in itself. It just give the game content that you can spend more time doing.

Endgame is a response to the need to have something to play when you have outleveled all of the games other content. And the point is in most cases players have not even played what they could because  they have just powerleveling past most available content.  This is what happen in most standard MMO's.

To keep having content in that situation alot of endgame is designed around grinding progressiv  for a longer and longer time, (often already something a player is used to as getting to last levels of his character has taken longer and longer).

The illusion of content is that the gab between experiencing something ( a dungeoun) and succeding in completing the experience is prolonged in ways that make it nessacerry to repeat doing the same content to progress. And when that is combined with being more powerfull as you progress, the system actual measure your strength in the game as a funktion of the time you have succesfully progressed in its endgame.

Lets not forget that this actual works and give alot of players a sense of accomplisment, and something to do in a game they else would feel done with. And this really makes sense to have in a subscribtion based MMO, because else these players would leave the game they are done with.

But lets also not forget that a lot of players don't buy the illusion of that being content. That actual never takes part in the endgame, because they are put off buy the requirement to repeat the same content in such a dedicated and timeconsuming way.

This is then where GW2 is revolutionary, and it is so hard to grasp for players conditioned to think that endgame is needed.

But first if there is no need to keep players subscribed , things can be done very different.

And second if you don't need to seperate players in those who have done something and those who has not ( and therefore are not worthy before they climb the grind threadmill) you can again do things very different.

This is then done in GW2 with down scaling (while still getting drops at your normal level) that opens up all the areas, a normal powergamer would have outleveled in a few days, for play at max level

If you can't outlevel content, there is no need to talk about or have endgame, because all content is still playable.

ArenaNet with their new approach make it looks like endgame is just compensation for bad game design. And for all those put off by normal grind endgame it sure is.

For those that are addicted to the grind experience and the display of time equal being powerfull that is involved, GW2 solution does not give them alot to continue that way of playing. Because there really is no such endgame. But those there just like the sense of accomplishment , but not the grind  thread mill, will find some gloryfied thing to do though, but not really as endgame.  

The critic will say that sooner or later you will have done all the content in the game , and then what? There might be more content to do because of GW2 smart downscaling , but after that is played there is still no raid endgame to keep you playing 

And thats right, then the game is done, accept it, and enjoy that there is no subscribtion fee to worry about in that case, but also consider that ArenaNets buisness models is based on peple buying expansions , and when enough players are done with the game, it would be weird if ArenaNet does not then have an expansion ready. thats how it worked in GW1.

 

After that there is PvP and WvW, the latter being a whole game in itself. :)

Originally posted by Adalwulff

Originally posted by Hurvart

Originally posted by lugnutusa

It's based on the standard mantra of modern MMO's:  "Well, the game doesn't really start until you hit the level cap."

 

The idea is to make a game fun to play from level 1 until level whatever.

Personally, I wish we could just drop the idea of levels altogether.  If your game world and the content is interesting and challenging enough, you don't need things like character progression.

I want to play a game where I'm part of a living world.  If gaining levels and loot is the whole point of playing, I might as well just go play Progress Quest.

There must be some sort of character progress. Levels are not the only option. How can you be motivated if there is no way to improve your character? All MMORPG:s, both themepark and sandbox, are based on character progress.

If you dont like that you should probably try a FPS game instead.

In the real world you get older. You learn new things. You get a job and perhaps you will get better and better and advance to better positions and get more money. A living virtual world will need that too. If its done right it will be immersive.

 

Your carrot is that way  ---->

If you dont like that, you should try another game instead.

Actually there are enough carrots, just not the carrots a typical WoW endgame Raider or PvP'er would like: power does not equal invested time. Rather, after level 80 you start te refine your character by getting that cool looking armor either by crafting or doing dungeons, or that title that shows you are better than others in PvP, or you start to explore every nook and cranny of the map to uncover hidden areas and treasures.

Originally posted by GoldenArrow

For me it means, there's no endgame.

nailed it.

Originally posted by Hurvart

Originally posted by lugnutusa

Originally posted by Hurvart

Originally posted by lugnutusa

It's based on the standard mantra of modern MMO's:  "Well, the game doesn't really start until you hit the level cap."

 

The idea is to make a game fun to play from level 1 until level whatever.

Personally, I wish we could just drop the idea of levels altogether.  If your game world and the content is interesting and challenging enough, you don't need things like character progression.

I want to play a game where I'm part of a living world.  If gaining levels and loot is the whole point of playing, I might as well just go play Progress Quest.

There must be some sort of character progress. Levels are not the only option. How can you be motivated if there is no way to improve your character? All MMORPG:s, both themepark and sandbox, are based on character progress.

If you dont like that you should probably try a FPS game instead.

In the real world you get older. You learn new things. You get a job and perhaps you will get better and better and advance to better positions and get more money. A living virtual world will need that too. If its done right it will be immersive.

 

"How can you be motivated if there is no way to improve your character?"

This - THIS is the mindset I want to break.  You even cover it with the last part of your post...when done properly, it's not ABOUT character advancement, it's about the way you interact with the world around you.

Let's take WoW as the example, since it's the dominant game of this MMO era.  

Your path through the game is pretty well defined.  For each level range, there is a different area that you're supposed to be in.  Get out of your level-appropriate area into something tougher and you'll be harshly slapped down, because no matter how good you are your character hasn't progressed enough to handle that content.

Player skill accounts for very little, as long as you're breathing and know which buttons to push all you need is to be the right level and have the right equipment.

 

As a comparison, something like Asheron's Call, which I played for about 5 years (99-04).

For most of its early years, AC didn't really have predetermined areas based on a level range.  Things generally got tougher the farther away you got from a town, sure - but it wasn't uncommon to see a mix of levels amongst the creatures across the land.  The fun part is that level wasn't a hard line between "you can do this content" and "don't even think about it".  Unless you went up against something that vastly outpowered you, even a low level player without optimal equipment could still win out if they knew how to play the game well.  Your moment-to-moment tactics played a much bigger role in your success than the makeup of your character.

The result of that difference is that as an AC player, I could explore and experience a huge amount of content just about any time I wanted, and the world and the story became the focus rather than what level I was or when I could get the next new shiny thing.  Yes, progression still relied on gaining experience to increase your skills and gaining more powerful equipment, but the process was much more transparent.  As I said before, I played for about five years.

I played WoW for about four months before quitting from boredom.  After spending so much time in a world where I was primarily limited by my ability, going to a new game where you're basically told "go here now, and don't venture outside the lines" is unacceptable.

I fully admit that my experience and my opinion is my own and is likely not shared by many, but that's okay.  I think there's room for all types in the MMO market.  I just think it's a shame that so many opt to go the "safe" route, sticking with the level-grind treadmill style that keeps people hooked on the idea that fun is just around the corner if they can hold out for one more level.

A sandbox/hybrid will also need character progression. I dont like themeparks on rails. But a game without any way to improve my character would be very boring, IMO. Unless its a FPS game...

In a roleplaying game the character needs to be the main focus. Not your skill as a player. Even if I also think it should make a difference.

I never played AC much. I played EQ instead. But AC also had character progression I think. But it was not a on rails quest hub game. That type of game design started or became popular with WoW. I agree its boring. But character progression can be much more and very different. This was my point.

If you can improve your spells, your weapon skills, your talents, factions, AA-points and so on...its all character progression. A game can have that without being a themepark on rails.

I think you and I are saying the same thing, just in a different way.

My stance is that you don't need character progression to be the primary focus in order to make a game succeed.  You can have it blend into the background to the point where you don't notice it.  It's still there, yes...but it's not WHY you play.

Originally posted by RagnorMalak

Originally posted by jondifool

Games have the content they have. Endgame does not give a game more content in itself. It just give the game content that you can spend more time doing.

Endgame is a response to the need to have something to play when you have outleveled all of the games other content. And the point is in most cases players have not even played what they could because  they have just powerleveling past most available content.  This is what happen in most standard MMO's.

To keep having content in that situation alot of endgame is designed around grinding progressiv  for a longer and longer time, (often already something a player is used to as getting to last levels of his character has taken longer and longer).

The illusion of content is that the gab between experiencing something ( a dungeoun) and succeding in completing the experience is prolonged in ways that make it nessacerry to repeat doing the same content to progress. And when that is combined with being more powerfull as you progress, the system actual measure your strength in the game as a funktion of the time you have succesfully progressed in its endgame.

Lets not forget that this actual works and give alot of players a sense of accomplisment, and something to do in a game they else would feel done with. And this really makes sense to have in a subscribtion based MMO, because else these players would leave the game they are done with.

But lets also not forget that a lot of players don't buy the illusion of that being content. That actual never takes part in the endgame, because they are put off buy the requirement to repeat the same content in such a dedicated and timeconsuming way.

This is then where GW2 is revolutionary, and it is so hard to grasp for players conditioned to think that endgame is needed.

But first if there is no need to keep players subscribed , things can be done very different.

And second if you don't need to seperate players in those who have done something and those who has not ( and therefore are not worthy before they climb the grind threadmill) you can again do things very different.

This is then done in GW2 with down scaling (while still getting drops at your normal level) that opens up all the areas, a normal powergamer would have outleveled in a few days, for play at max level

If you can't outlevel content, there is no need to talk about or have endgame, because all content is still playable.

ArenaNet with their new approach make it looks like endgame is just compensation for bad game design. And for all those put off by normal grind endgame it sure is.

For those that are addicted to the grind experience and the display of time equal being powerfull that is involved, GW2 solution does not give them alot to continue that way of playing. Because there really is no such endgame. But those there just like the sense of accomplishment , but not the grind  thread mill, will find some gloryfied thing to do though, but not really as endgame.  

The critic will say that sooner or later you will have done all the content in the game , and then what? There might be more content to do because of GW2 smart downscaling , but after that is played there is still no raid endgame to keep you playing 

And thats right, then the game is done, accept it, and enjoy that there is no subscribtion fee to worry about in that case, but also consider that ArenaNets buisness models is based on peple buying expansions , and when enough players are done with the game, it would be weird if ArenaNet does not then have an expansion ready. thats how it worked in GW1.

 

After that there is PvP and WvW, the latter being a whole game in itself. :)

 yep know that  (both  are actual whole games in themself for some, but its rarely the answer that matters for the ones asking about whats endgame in GW2, and need to learn what it means that endgame starts at lvl1.

People seem to forget the origons of and even think there is some need of  "Endgame"

What people CALL "endgame" is/was a convention that developers made to Extend longevity of there current game as people attained the arbitrary max level in the game so they could make more $$ (it was not originally made to replace the rest of the game!). 
Also they had REAL limitation to what there games could do. every mob could not have a complicated script running to make them more interesting (remember these games are effectually just a database). but they could make Bosses more interesting with scripts (since there was only a few) and that is all they could do back then.

So now with this new "endgame" as A or even THE goal was to get to the more interesting dungeons/fights then the lame normal Mob fights in the rest of the game . . and now they even require a good group to do these fights . . some side effects started happening.

Developers kept raising the bar . . requiring more hoops, gear, rep, etc to even get into these "endgame" areas.  The areas became harder and harder to do . . and with that a level of elitism started with players.  Only more hard core players would grind through all the crap to even be able to raid - gear etc, you really needed to be in a guild to raid effectively, and you really needed to spec and play your role very well to not get kicked out of this now rather exclusive group. All ok in them selfs but the rest of the game started suffering.
Now, people effectively use the entire game as the grind to get to the max level to do these "elite"  Dungeons and get virtual kudos and gear to do the next one.
How @$@#% messed up is that??  All the content for the game sub max level is only to be rushed through? is to be ignored and dismissed and just a time sink achievement to get to max level??
IF the endgame IS the only content that IS interesting then the game as a whole SUCKS! and people playing are done a disservice!  The only reason for the current model is old computer/network limitations.  You are being SOLD a useless time sink with a Carrot at the end and are OK with it?!? Rushing through levels should not be a goal, Rushing and skipping the better part of a game to its end becoming uber because of shear staying power and lack of a life is missing the point of any game and rather childish.

As a developer, QA tester, Gamer (~30 years+)  I look forward to playing a modern MMO that is not completely shackled by old conventions, that they content IS interesting throughout the game, that I can be immersed in. (like a good solo RPG) AND also play with friends.
Endgame = travesty 

I think (along with all the other reasons already stated several times here) that it was a  point blank attempt to block/curb one of the most frequently asked questions about new MMOS (especially these days): What is the end game and/or IS there an end game.

Good marketing strategy as well as being descriptive (to a degree) of one of the core game mechanics

The notion of endgame starting at level 1, to me, suggests that there is no end game in the conventional sense.  It's consistent with all other information I've come across regarding this game in the sense that this game isn't an MMORPG in the way we are used to seeing. 

Frankly, I'm excited at the potential.  I love playing games online like Assassin's Creed, Halo, etc.  I also love playing MMO RPGs like DAoC, WoW, Rift, etc.  The former are a category under which I think GW2 would fall.  Maybe somewhere inbetween the two?  Nevertheless, the idea of endgame at level 1 suggests to me that this isn't a game where you'll have distinct stages of leveling and then end game.  I still jump on Halo with friends once in a while.  I love that I can pick the game up and jump in whenever.  There's no feeling of progression that is pulling me towards some goal. 

I'm excited about it because I play games currently with leveling and end game phases.  I like them.  However, the idea of a game blending elements of action online multiplayer combat in an RPG setting with character levels, ability and weapon loadouts, class specialization, etc excites me.  I may be totally wrong in my speculations, but I'm sure I'll try the game for a while to see what it's like.  I don't really see GW2 as an MMO RPG in the traditional sense.  That's all this statement means to me.

Means no grinding to max level to get to the meat and potatoes of the game.  Means there is PLENTY of meat and potatoes in this game.

It means their marketing department gets a raise.