Yah, I don’t agree with the concept of an endgame either but it has become such a convenient shorthand for a complex concept that I used it here to draw you in.
Character progression differentiates RPGs from most other games (board or computer). Most RPG players want to feel that their gaming is making them stronger and unlocking new opportunities.
Level based progression suffers from the need to have level appropriate content and gear (which GW2 has solved) and from the need to continuously add new skills. Players have come to expect these things from leveling.
Gear based progression taxes character model creation resources and can be difficult to balance if the stats on the gear vary in a meaningful fashion. This is particularly true in PVP.
The solution? Factions.
Faction is a well known RPG concept that allows the player to improve or destroy their relationships with groups of NPCs. Faction can provide access to gear and items or alter the behavior of content. GW1 had factions (e.g. Kurzick vs Luxon).
The benefit of faction as a progressive device is that it doesn’t increase the strength of the character in general, it only increases it in a very limited and easy to balance subsection of the game. Faction also does not require the creation of new lines of skills or gear.
The potential for faction from a gameplay perspective, on the other hand, is immense. Since faction can be used to gate content, it can replace level as a tool to guide the player through the game.
Faction can also be used to create nonlinearity by forcing the player to choose between competing factions. Experience has shown, however, that factional choices should be reversible to prevent the alienation of completionists.
Gameplay could be further enhanced if the relationships between factions were more complex than simple love or hate (e.g. multi-faction interactions, interactions that vary around certain areas or powerful artifacts). Ideally, the actions of the player (or players) could change factional relations for a limited time over a limited area (e.g. dynamic events). Perhaps the actions of the player could allow them to break initial factional dynamics (e.g. the player could become friendly with two hostile factions simultaneously if they complete a certain quest chain).
Regardless of the details, faction should not be a one way trip. If the player misbehaves with a faction, their reputation should suffer accordingly.
While GW1 used faction admirably, I argue that its use in the endgame should predominate (i.e. become the primary progressive device that replaces level).
I further argue that faction should be used to significantly alter the player’s experience. NPCs should attack hostile characters, mislead slightly negative characters, challenge or recruit neutral characters, and cheer or buff friendly characters (much of this was done in GW1). Friendly regions should speed the character’s travel and open shortcuts while hostile areas should waylay them and provide special challenges.
Perhaps we only have to expand the Orders dynamic in GW2 beyond the personal story.
Either way, GW2 is a great game. Like many players, I hope it will continue to avoid the level and gear grinds that have ensnared many previous MMORPGs.
Have fun.