Guild Wars 2

Even with a red-speed class and perma sprint it took a few minutes to get from one keep to another. In GW2 it takes ~30 seconds with no speed boost, and you can sit atop one objective and see 4 others in the distance. I understand what you mean by the balancing for smaller fights, it’s true in a sense, but the WvW mechanics don’t promote this at all, which is where the problem is. There’s zero incentive for anything less than zergballing. and I’m not wearing my rose tinted glasses, I still play both games for different reasons.

DAoC: 46 unique classes, 3 unique realms.
GW2: 8 classes, 1 realm.

DAoC: Huge frontiers, slower paced territory control, ultimately pushing on heavily defended relic keeps.
GW2: Playground sized frontier, siege keep A from keep B’s wall. Objectives of imaginary importance.

DAoC playstyle options: Zerg, 8man roam, small group roam, solo, stealth, DF, Labby.
GW2 playstyle options: Zerg or be zerged, solo roam and fight 1 of the 3 other masochists.

The main difference is DAoC was much more rock paper scissors, but this is exactly what promoted competitive teamplay. With GW2 everyone is essentially a DPS class, with (light) shades of support and control. At the rate these games have been going, pretty soon we’ll all just pick a color instead of a class, and we’ll all be given the same standard-issue beating stick, so that we can be absolutely sure we’re all on the same playing field. It’s going to be so fun!

Filthy casuals.