the lvl process as the integral rp-mechanic is a standard discourse, but 7.3.5 escalated and divided the community further. there still is common ground, even most diverging opinions agree on relevance and subjectivity of the leveling experience.
so even the most enthusiastic supporters of the post 7.3.5 lvl revamp cant deny the repetitivness and the missing challenge, while the most counter voices cant ignore the (in their perspective negative) appeal of leveling (or y even bother).


whats the idea and intention of leveling (rpg-wise)?

to progress a character tru a climactic experience, to career from novice to master the idea is evolution, aka the (via levels) manifestation of progress.
while the intention is identification, to not just progress some generic character, but create a (player) personality via decisions (aka challenges, that reward decisions). to create a scenario of personal (and emotional*) involvement
(*btw priority of marketing: emotional attachement)


player types and their psychopathology

players differ as individuals in their preferences, so should leveling (and endgame btw) allow different aspects for the same meaning: fun. fun is a positive emotional resonance to any encounter/challenge as a result of decision-motivating interaction. even the most passive player types choose to play a game to interact(ively), not to consume passively (like TV), games r all about personal interaction, aka personal responsability players want to experience the consequences of their decisions, aka learning curve, aka skill.

a very common player type is defined as The Grinder. being the workforce of every MMO, grinders r a robust, sturdy mentality, which excels at endurance (100 tailors... imagine managing 100 tailors) and willpower, grinders r all about "one last try pls, we can do it!" in the ancient era those players where called 24/7s, cuz they were online 24/7, achieved everything (sellruns ftw) due to their enormous and dedicated effort.

another common player type is the leet-player. as the driving force in progression content, 1337s set the pace for the rest of the playerbase, excelling primarily at skill (classperformanche, class- and boss knowledge etc) the most fun for this player type is being Ahead Of The Curve (implicit statement), 1337 play for the prestige (is the endgame) of the challenge (no judgement included).

the very next (and crucial to every MMO) player type is the socialiser, as the community building force, those tend to prefer stabile contacts to rely on. as their primary aspect of MMO is the most social, they tend to adapt strategies from the other player types to optimize their influence (socialisers r great officers, but usually not raid leads, cuz they tend to avoid hard decisions). the (end)game for social player is not the raid encounter, but the Guild/community, for them they raid.

then there is the Single-Player, often alt-o-holics, their preference is to achieve without any further obligations than the requirements of the participated encounter (be it hard limited gametime, be it social anxiety etc, also no judgement included), they tend to ignore any deeper social involvement, but still like to play.


leveling - player types commonalities and potential

since the upper (very limited, cuz there r more player types, like Roleplayers, Lore-Players, Goblin, Trolls etc) dichotomy of player type has a common ground, there must be an universal solution to the leveling problem, a catch-all, in which every individual player types preferences could be respected.
all want interaction, challenge, progress in a (fantasy) scenario, their diverse intention r to participate in a role(aka function, yes tank is a function as heal and dps are) -diversed social structure for identification (cannot stress this enough, its all about identity, u r what u do with whom for what reason, aka player type).
while grinders expect repetitiveness, their intention is similiar to leet-players need for challenging content, but in a differenct pace (while 1337 need higher content frequency, more IG-rewards to distinct from the rest). as social players need those environments to base their "teamwork" on, as single-players (although with inverted methods and agendas).
but actual (post 7.3.5) leveling seem to appeal exclusivly to Grinders, others experience this as tedious, boring chore for endgame.
the potential here is (after a thourough analysis of the player type preferences for leveling) the commonalities in the need for interaction, challenge and progress in a diversified leveling scenario.


Procedural Leveling - the answer?

at least Procedural Leveling allows for a more unique, personal experience outside the even post-7.3.5 still disrupted plots, whats the story of WoD without Archimonde in Hellfire Citadel? some player type even dont care about lore, but prioritytize endgame. it also allows diversification in difficulties and rewards, in plot and socialisation (see difficulties), esp. replayability (after the 8h toon #4 1-110 i had a traumatic episode, since then (being multi-millionaire) boosted the missing classes), the result of a optimized, better, more fun leveling experience is more time played, aka subscription time, aka more future content to players.


what is Procedural Leveling?

a modular, customizable and diversified personal experience, build on optional (player chosen) modules as parameter for randomisation. its a feature, the option for the traditional experience should be conserved though (even if its quite impossible to experience the specific plots), but its likely to become the first choice due to more individually optimized content.