Here we talk about the game itself, the playing of it, and progression through it. One of the biggest questions with MMOs games today is simple - Is leveling in this game a tedious grind, or can I gain a feeling of accomplishment from a short playtime?

Well, with all the games that need to be reviewed, as much as I'd love to put 8 hours or more a day into this game, that is just not realistic, nor is it realistic for any gamer who may be married, have a job, children, or all of these things. The fact of the matter is, many gamers meet this description.

Well, playing casually, levels can be gained at a reasonable rate. Of course the powergamers will hit maximum level quickly, and they did. Age of Conan took the grind away from the leveling and moved it more towards endgame. In order to support a city or battle keep, resources will need to be collected, and gold will need to be farmed.

Luckily for us gamers with only enough time to play recreationally occasionally, this means that leveling will be easier, and not a grind put in place to slow down powergamers. Another thing I've noticed when leveling, and not just on a priest, is that just about every level can be done solo.

This is great news for players who live in different time zones or work jobs at odd hours. What this means is if you log onto the game to find no friends online, or you don't want to waste the only hour you have to play typing "lfg" (looking for group) over and over, then you can do your quests solo. Solo questing can also be a great way to save up a bit of money if you're trying to buy a mount or larger bag.

Another place innovation hits this game is with combat location and skill. Not only does it matter what or who you are attacking, but placement of the group members relative to one another.

One example could be the Priest of Mitra. Most of the healing power the PoM has will be limited to directly in front of and nearby the priest. This means that the priest will have to be mindful not only of hitting heal keys, but also mindful of where the battle may have relocated to since it started. Just another step to keep priests from being heal bots.

Another great thing for players who may not get the same amount of playtime is the apprentice system. Let's say for example two players, levels 25 and 40, want to quest together. In most MMOs, this would be impossible due to level differences and restrictions.

Funcom figured out that not everyone levels at the same rate, so the level 40 may apprentice the level 25. At this point the level 25 becomes a level 39, one level lower than the character giving the apprenticeship. This means that the newly appointed level 39 can now go along on quests with the 40, and actually be helpful.

There is a slight hitch, however, as no skill like this in an MMO can ever allow you to truly jump that many levels so quickly. The apprenticed character cannot actually gain the higher level quests, nor will said character gain any new spells, only the stats of a character of the new level. Also, once one of the two characters leaves the group, then the apprenticed character will lose the free levels, keeping only gained XP from the apprenticeship.