Not at all, blizzard has done a variety of things so that leveling a character is so easy from 1-60. I expect with the expansion they will make it super easy to level to 70. Nothing like getting 10K xp for a level 1 quest =)

Isn't their last point completely contradictory? They're saying that it'll put new people off from getting the game, but then they go on to say that people are anxious to return to what they originally signed up for; leveling.

Please, someone explain to me what they meant, because to me, it seems beyond contradictory.

Basically, he was trying to say that for the people who have established themselves in the game, it will be easy to get back into it. For those who are new, they'll not only have to spend a long time getting up to level 80, but they'll also have to establish their own guilds or get involved with current guilds.

Establishing a new guild will be difficult due to fewer players at lower levels, while joining an established guild will make the new players low person on the totem poll, so they're far less likely to be invited on raids than a veteran.

As I never played WoW long enough to get to the endgame, I don't know how true this is, but from what my friends who play say, this seems to be the case with a lot of guilds.

I don't know who goes into an MMO on their own, friendless. There's a reason why Blizzard keeps lowering the requirements for leveling as they add a new level bracket. I've been 70 for a while, and contrary to this article, I've had trouble being able to sit down and grind my way to 71! Guess I need a break from the mindless questing/grinding.