Gear Increasing Levels

I have been reading my favourite Warhammer blog The Greenskin, and I've just read about the 'gear treadmill' (as Snafzg says). If I had enough time to devote to both leveling and RvR, I'd be blown away to see Thwomp sporting the Sovereign set which requires all of the previous gear but also rank 40 and renown rank 73 (at a minimum), at the time of this posting, he is rank 18 and renown rank 11. He's got a long way to go.

Thwomp is a beast in his current gear... but if he could get his hands on the sovereign set... I'd be ecstatic each time I logged in.
This is what an orc tank should look like!

Gearing up is something I've never really been up for in my experience of MMO's. My first experience of MMO's was Runescape... yes, laugh at me, I know you want to. I leveled to be a mage for a number of reasons. Firstly since it was the easiest way to get around the game teleporting and portaling others, but the problem with it was I was not set to be a 'Pure'.

A Pure was someone who was geared and skilled for PKing (player killing). They would outclass any other player who was maybe 5 levels above them which had a varing choice of combat specialties such as Attack, Defence, Magic and Prayer. I created my character (Cunning Git) in the hopes that I would be one of the highest rated mages in the game.

Who could ever be better than the legendary Zezima?

Zezima was one account, one character, and possibly 6 people playing. I knew the true best player in Runescape. Sadly he died. 'The Old Nite' was a great guy, I met him once (ingame) to do business.

My gear in Runescape was nothing special, I had rubbish gear for long periods of time. ocasionally daring the wilderness to get to the Mage Arena in deep level 55+ wilderness. Once I had 230k gold while running up to the Mage Arena to buy runes to further my Magic level. I stumbled upon a clan just outside the entrance. I could do nothing, they slaughtered me, mages binded me while rangers shot me down. It was at this point that I became less interested in Runescape.

I devoted a lot of time on my recent MMO choice, World of Warcraft. I have a Rogue, Warlock and Druid at 70. Both the Druid and Rogue are poorly geared, either Karazhan gear or lower. Wakeofdeath, my Warlock that I grew attached to as mentioned in one of my first posts is taking a time out from gaming. Wake has respectable gear for entering Karazhan and Gruul's Lair, it's entirely possible that he could perform well in Tempest Keep and Serpent Shrine Cavern.

Would my guild take me there? No... so I left the guild and have been working on my PvP gear, which isn't really that great, but who cares when it' going to be replaced in a few weeks. Who cares if Wake doesn't return to WoW?

We come to WAR... I've spent my time at work, creating and editing the guild website. I've started and enjoy writing this blog. I love playing the game. I love playing alongside my guildmates in WAR. Why should I be bothered if I never see Thwomp wearing the Sovereign set? Why should I be bothered if Thwomp isn't the toughest tank in the game? I'm not playnig it to be the best! I'm not playing it to laugh at players less geared than me. I'm not playing it to pass the time until another MMO comes out.

I'm hooked... I admit it... Why should I look for anything other than WAR?

I play WAR cause it's a fantastic game, I'd be more than happy to be sitting at level 40, renown rank 45 and equiped with full Conquerer (or the Black Orc equivalent).