Progression system that could improve endgame (By a lot)

[Gortys]

It takes all kinds of people. Some who care will follow the meta others won't. Games should not be designed for people who optimise the fun out of everything. Make a fun game first and then let people who care about it meta slave.

I agree about game design, but if horizontal level and or gearing systems were more "fun" there would be a lot more people who liked games with these systems, but that enjoyment in the MMO community seems to be an exception.

The thing about GW2 is that it's gear is still usable and you don't necessarily have to grind for better gear as you horizontally progress. LOTRO had similar gear where you may not need to replace your max level raiding gear for a couple of expansions - if you just replaced some "materia" (can't remember what it's called there) then you were on par with people with the latest gear.

What I read the OP as saying is that instead of new levels they would want new gear to grind for every expansion. Depending on what you enjoy doing in GW2, you can skip a year or two (or longer) and likely not have to replace your gear at all. But most MMO players see "new gear" as progression more than anything. The point is you can't copy one aspect of a game you like without considering the other aspects it affects and how the other MMO's system works as a whole.