I assume you mean developers have to make a choice. I disagree. Why would nearly every game in the genre incorporate both and not simply eliminate one side making things a whole lot easier? Its because they are not
choosing one or the other, they are emphasizing one or the other to make the right balance for the playerbase and the game they've created.
The problem with the long leveling time is that, its generally boring to solo exp on stupid AI. Making AI smarter is somewhat out of the question, so devs look for other ways to improve. WoW attempts to address this issue with a shorter leveling commitment, since they are unwilling to forbid their players the ability to solo (hence the focus on end game and the current reduced time trend). EQ and FFXI have much longer character development, but their core mechanics revolve around group PvE, which is generally more fun than solo PvE.
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Originally Posted by Grobyc
I agree, very few people will even want to spend all that time level a toon.
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How long is the longest you've ever played one MMORPG? One year? Two? Four? So why is character development that takes longer than 5 months so hard to swallow? All I'm saying is, rewards are meaningless without perspective. End game items that are acquired after a year of playing mean a hell of a lot more to me than some crap that everyone is bound to get if they play for two weeks, because really all your doing by shortening the character development is pushing cars through the same wash twice as fast. Sure, more cars will get washed, but its gonna be a crappy job.