And Rift now has its first max level character, level 50, in less than three days. lol The guy belongs to a guild called Fraghaus.
So congratulations are in order…huzzah and all that stuff!!!! Though I really don’t wish to think of the combination of factors that came together in order to make this type of thing happen. Leveling to max that fast should carry a warning label of some kind. Side effects could include no sleep, no life, malnutrition, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, broken relationships, and…I don’t know…herpes maybe. But yes, good show!!! 
I kid, I kid. Well, at least in part anyway.
But let me ask you guys something. Does anyone remember back in the good old days when reaching max level required around 2,000 hours to be logged on your character? (EQ) Now we’re doing it in less than three days. I suppose you could call that progress, though there has to be some sort of middle ground in there somewhere. I don’t miss the tedium of those EQ days, please understand. But I do sort of miss the mystery and sense of exploration that existed back then…the sweeping, brutal, and epic journey of leveling that once met so much and now means so very little by comparison.
nightwreath
I hear ya, i miss the way i felt in the beginning year of EQ2, those were epic days, Haven’t felt a “pull” to a game like that since.
I also feel the same way. It was the exploration and depth of play that was awesome. It led to bands of people at all different levels working more to become the best they can at that level rather than 50% of characters level 1 -15 and 50% at max level. I think MMOs need to start looking at how their system is set up vs. how their content is set up. 80% of the game is levels 16 thru 49. But then again who wants to be that hooked on a game again anyway, certainly not me.
One last point, if an online game is very linear what makes it any different than a non online computer game? Not a whole lot. Just takes longer to complete.
“Does anyone remember back in the good old days when reaching max level required around 2,000 hours to be logged on your character? (EQ)”
That is exactly what I miss, never thought i would say that but I do. These days in games like wow everything comes so easy. no real sense of accomplishment. As to exploration and sense of adventure, I think it could be there in some games, but there is no real sense of danger now when explore.