Stripped:

Fun factor. I agree with riggs. (i thinkit was riggs) who said endgame != fun, in WoW, you are having fun all the time. Even more so that CoH. Take CoH, give all the zones a VERY distinct feel, and make the quests WAY WAY WAY more interesting, and you have a base of how WoW plays.

Leveling in WoW is the most fun I’ve had in any MMO period. To give you an idea I’ve played: UO, AC, AO, AC2,DAOC, SWG, COH and I’m pretty sure 1 or 2 others I’ve forgotten. What makes leveling in WoW fun is that you ALWAYS have something to do. My quest log is constantly full, in fact, I have to abandon alot of quests simply to make room for new ones that look interestings.

In WoW by contrast, I’ve had fun at every single level of the game. That’s right no “I can’t wait to hit max level so I can start having fun syndrome”. Sure, there’s a bit of the old “man I can’t wait til I can get that piece of equipment” or “I want my mount now!” but in general that’s seperate from “these low levels are boring”.