The Daily Grind: Do you rush to endgame?

NO!

It's about the journey and even though I hate the term endgame because it implies that there is a linear destination and ladder to be attained, it is in fact an end to the game if that is the way players view it and developers design it.
Sandbox MMOs should not be designed around a so called endgame such as raiding. That is a failed viewpoint.

End game has destroyed the heart and soul of what RPGs should be about, and before you say that an MMO doesn't have to be an RPG, I agree. But then they shouldn't call some games MMORPGs.

Raiding and end game PVPing have as much to do with RPGs as honesty has to do with politics. Everyone talks about it, but it's not really there.

RPGs, role-playing, existing in a living, breathing world, isn't about gear progression or even stat progression, even if that's where the genre has taken it. It's about playing a character in a real-world...a world you can buy into.

I, for one, can't buy into a game that I have to repeat the same content over and over, just to get something to get to the next content to repeat over and over. That's not roleplaying. Raiding and gear grind,and rep grind is a way for companies to get you to stay subscribed and take your money. But it's not good for the genre, or the players.

Free to play games are just as bad, with the pay to win model making a mockery of the genre.

Hopefully at some point in the future, a game will come out that won't be grind based, gear grind, rep grind centered and will offer a living, breathing world.

Only then can people put the letters RPG at the end of their MMO.

IDC if people rush through content. What bugs me is the ones who do, then complain there's nothing to do.

I mean really, it's like "Mom made me a big chocolate cake for my birthday. I ate it all in 5 minutes. Why isn't there anymore cake?"

The people who are complaining about lack of content in SW right now are the traditional "no-lifers" who can't regulate their doing of anything - especially gaming. They are the goldfish of the gaming world.

I like to enjoy the content.

I feel that people should be free to do as they pleased with the game they bought. The playing style of each person is their own. It should not matter what others decide to do. What make us think that there is a "right" way of playing? it is only our opinion.

never x'D I have tried playing endgame though, borrowing friend's accounts cause they wanted me to rush it, and honestly speaking, just not me, plus games that have "endgame" are usually super themeparky and not my cup of mmo(pun intended)
GW, I think, accomplished something that no other mmo have done since in regards to endgame(high endgear etc) / lvl'ing, which is a bit sad. But GW2 with a barely rising levelling curve(and no 'real' endgear) will no doubt do it again.

and then we have game like Archeage where there is so much more to do than lvl'ing,

and I guess that AoW will break the mold as well

i remember when i started wow back in BC it took me like 2 months to get my mage to lvl 40 and m y shaman to lvl 26 ah the good old days

I've never even been to 'endgame' in any MMO.

I played EverQuest for two years from its launch and never broke level 25.

I'm too busy exploring to commit genocide or collect body parts six hours a day.

Personally I don't rush to end game, and sometimes make so many alts that I never actually get to end game before a new game comes out.

I don't have a problem with those that do rush to end game either, it's the ones who rush and then complain that there's nothing to do who I don't understand.

It depends on the game, honestly, but such things are often only answered in retrospect. In 'traditional' gear grind MMOs, rushing is a big deal if you want to stay in front of the gear/progression curve or go for world firsts, etc.

Aion in particular left me regretting my choice to reroll 1 month into the game instead of rushing to 50 with my first character. The first players who hit 50 had free rein to roam the Abyss and got a jumpstart on the Miragent/Fenris bloods grind. After they geared themselves out, they preyed on the slower players who were still trying to level/gear up and further hampered their progress. Many of these players who rushed continued to dominate the game for years to come.

Yes, because endgame is the only time pvp is really "fair." Everyone the same level, with the same tier of equips.

I like a fast leveling system. To me most games start at the end-game, leveling is just something you have to do to learn the mechanics of the game.

However it gets to a point where you already learned the mechanics and how to play your class, but your still stuck leveling. I'm a slow leveler, haha.

I only managed to level one character to max in WoW and have many alts who didn't make it that high.