How long will it take to reach lvl 80?

I predict that it will take less than 4 days time for the first Guild Wars 2 player to reach level 80 on a single character. There will probably be account sharing, boosters, pooling of crafting mats and other such shenanigans involved in obtaining the bragging rights, but I expect these efforts to pay off in less than 4 days time.

Fortunately hitting level 80 so fast won't make the game world obsolete since I further predict that many players will be hitting level 80 after about 2 weeks of heavy gameplay or one month of relatively little gameplay.

Once 80, I suspect that most players will want to go back to fill out the maps that they skipped and run dungeons that they missed. It will probably take a few weeks to completely fill out all of the maps and run all of the dungeons depending on how much you play and whether or not you stop to dabble in crafting, WvW, sPvP, helping friends, doing world events or participating in live events (periodic events such as the end of beta events). I have no idea how long it will take to obtain gear that has the stats you want, the look you want or legendaries... but at least some of this will be accomplished as you fill out the world.

By this point the Guild Wars 2 live team should already be introducing new awe inspiring content:

"We’re already starting to outline some of our plans going into the live-support mind-set, and I think, frankly, that people will be blown away by the kind of support this game is going to get after it ships." -Colin Johanson

How fast is the live team going to push new content and in what form will it be? New events are a given. New PvP maps? New areas to explore? New dungeons? New mini-games? I guess we'll find out.

I don't think that we will see a full scale expansion for at least one year:

"... [W]e also learned that it wasn’t in the game’s best interest to release new expansions as rapidly as we had originally intended. I mean, we literally got to the point where we could release an entire new campaign — with a new storyline, new professions, and new game mechanics — in just six months. We released Nightfall exactly six months after Factions. That pace was great for the hardcore players who could consume content that quickly, but it left a lot of other players behind and didn’t give the world time to settle from one campaign to the next." -Mike O'Brien

Just like every other game, PvP stands on its own. If you enjoy Guild Wars 2 sPvP or WvW then there's no end to the game content.

If you're solely into PvE, you've ran all of the dungeons in every mode, done all of the world events you care to do, have fully customized your gear, consumed all of the content and you do not want to play alts, work on an alternative build, revisit areas of the world to see what has changed or help guild mates and friends do the same then this will be the end of the game for you... at least until enough new content is added that you decide to come back or enough time has passed that the game feels new when you return.

If you are into alts then it's easy to see the whole process repeating. Fortunately the dynamic events help to keep the game world from feeling the same every time you visit an area, and with the promise of new events being weaved into existing areas the longer it takes to get to your first alt the more should have changed.

But back to the real question... In the spirit of guessing when the beta weekends would take place as well as the release date for GW2 I'd like to ask:

How long you think that it will take for the first person to hit level 80?

Based on your BWE experience, how long you think it will take you to hit level 80 and/or accomplish your goals?

I'll say 5 days.

Just to get 80 though, through WvW.

edit: I mean, the first 80, It'll probably take me a month.

could really care less honestly.. this is probably first MMO in awhile I don't care how fast I progress since I enjoy exploring the world so much.

I have this strange feeling that someone will manage to do it during the Headstart. Ah well, at least the population will be spread out upon launch.

and who does actually care about those players?

not me sir! :)

Originally posted by Aerowyn

could really care less honestly.. this is probably first MMO in awhile I don't care how fast I progress since I enjoy exploring the world so much.

This is how it should be in all MMORPGs, if your not enjoynig yourself just lvling normally and you find a need ot rush to get to end game then whats the point..

Find a game you enjoy and play it :)

36 hours tops. 

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Originally posted by bcbully
36 hours tops. 

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Quoted. This goes in the sig.

with non stop exp boosts I can see it being down during the headstart..

hell I got to 34 in 1 day doing nothing but crafting...

sold gems for gold, bought a ton of crafting mats and crafting exp boosts and speed crafted stacks of crap I turned around and tossed into the MF for bonus exp.

Originally posted by Aerowyn

could really care less honestly.. this is probably first MMO in awhile I don't care how fast I progress since I enjoy exploring the world so much.

I feel the same way.

I don't see a point to rushing like this, there is nothing to do once your at cap really, in terms of progression anyway. Its a problem these themeparks have, they don't release with much of a endgame (pve raiding does not = endgame for me) I do like how gw2's endgame will probally be pve raiding -> pvping, which is as it should be, I hope they never put in pvp earnable gear at all, and keep the game as it is, this way everyone has a equil shot at pvp. Just don't pull a blizzard with some stupid 5-7 day lockouts that only purpose they serve is to force you to keep your sub open longer.

To rush to 80, your better off not doing dungeons as they will just slow you down considerably when you can just grind out dynamic events for quicker xp. 

The only reason to rush to 80 is so you have better gear than others playing in WvW - really I can't think of any other reason.  Once everyone else gets to 80 though they have the same advantage as the ones that rushed so they did all that hard work for nothing.

I can't wait to just have fun for once, been a long time where I am not determined to rush and get the best gear to stay competitive for PvP or chosen for a PvE raid.

It'll take at least an year for me, since I know I'll be playing at least 3 characters from the get-go and I'll probably will feel the urge to play other classes down the line as well.

Do I care? Nah.

Originally posted by Aerowyn

could really care less honestly.. this is probably first MMO in awhile I don't care how fast I progress since I enjoy exploring the world so much.

Same here.

I don't care about the levels as I'm having so much fun exploring and getting sidetracked around every corner.

But I took 2 weeks off work at launch and because I like to do a bit of everything during longer gaming sessions (exploring and other PVE stuffs, craft, WvW etc.) I think it won't take me very long to hit level cap because I'll be getting shetloads of exp with no effort at all.

I don't race to endgame content then complain there is nothing to do in a MMORPG.

I got to 32 with like 30 hours and I wasn't exactly playing super efficiently, just ran around exploring (not to get unlocks) and most of the time it was quite dead and lonely with no DE's since everyone was in the asura or sylvari lands while I was in the charr.

Someone intent on getting to 80 first depriving themselves of sleep and well everything else will most likely be able to hit 80 before launch (IE during headstart)

Someone will hit 80 during the headstart phase, is my guess. Always several people that get max level during a headstart of a game.

Originally posted by Alot

 

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Originally posted by bcbully
36 hours tops. 

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Quoted. This goes in the sig.

awsome! 

Originally posted by Impulse47
First person who clicks 'Enter the Mists'?

LOL  comment of the week