In my post on alts, I wrote that endgame is the end of fun. This isn’t quite true. As I level through the game, my focus is on leveling as quickly as I can. Each ding gives me a thrill of accomplishment. When I reach the level cap, that thrill is gone. After a short time at max level, gear upgrades are fairly minimal -two steps forward and one step back.
Why do I keep playing my max level characters? I find that when I’m not getting a shiny new ability every couple of levels, I learn to use that abilities I have more skillfully. Just on my warrior, I’ve learned to stance dance with grace, AOE tanking, using Shield Wall and Challenging Shout to keep the raid up, debuff maintenance, and how to DPS as a protection warrior. All that and I still have plenty of room for improvement. More skillful play isn’t as easy to quantify as a new level but it is satisfying. It seems to me that endgame moves the focus from improving the character to improving the player.
However without the quantifiable improvement I start to get bored with endgame and I go start another alt. I play each alt with more skill as I apply the lessons I’ve learned and having a new alt encourages me to better my skills. As each alt hits endgame, they’re more prepared to play their role and I’m more aware of how they can be played well. Skillfully playing the endgame is fun.