If the MMO has levels (are there any that don't?) then it is going to have an end-game, and that end game is about all that will matter to anyone (unless it is Star Wars and this is effectively reversed).

I actually, personally, would love to see levels and the grind completely gone from MMO's but that's not something I think I'll see for a long time. That said though, nobody wants to be a lvl 20 when there's lvl 50 out there. Certainly fun content should exist on the way but if most of your friends are 50 you're more interested in getting to 50 and doing their content than doing your own content and taking a long time to be able to play with them.

It's just the nature of the beast, and while it's sometimes surprising to see someone lvl 50 in under a week, I encourage this... being 50 isn't some crazy achievement we got, it's just the first step towards all the rest, so trying to cling to it and pretend like everyone needs to work super hard for it is a bit silly.

But for the simple, no I don't think leveling is too fast for this day and age.