Its still the same if we put it this way.

Leveling isnt forced upon you as well, if we look at Warhammer, we can say you can choose not to do PvE in order to level fast instead you can just continue grind PvP and stay competitive at lower tier. Nobody force anyone to reach max level in Warhammer

People grind to level in order to stay competitive as well. Hardcore gamers will grind in order to reach highest level the earliest. Remember the DK who got rollbacked? Otherwise, we can choose to play casually and enjoy the game while leveling slowly. Some grind certain mobs or zones over and over again for loot. Its all personal preferences again.

No MMORPG can avoid grinding. Like i said earlier, WoW is just another form of grinding in disguise. Some games like Warhammer really had the intention and concept to be successful but it was executed badly probably in a rush.

We have to admit WoW really did set a standard for the future MMORPG to follow which is why many players will just go back to WoW after a while...they just dont have the patience like 5 years ago when they started WoW as they had not much other choices to choose from at that time

Anyway, WoW storyline isnt superb. It was good when it started and imo it has started to get ridiculous since BC launched. Story wise, there are some other MMORPGs that might be better such as DDO

WoW strongest points i believe would be endgame raids and the game can be easily picked up by new players. Aion has a very tedious gathering and crafting system where new players might be discouraged to level it

WoW will get extremely addictive once you devote your life to it. When one devote his life to WoW, no other MMORPGs will appeal to him till he burn out. This applies for every MMORPGs in the market

ah yes - the miracle of RNG

just drives u nuts, aint it?

only under 1 condition - you have enough 'points' to buy your stuff

or the other 9/24 guys liked you enough to let you have your stuff

being in too much raiding guilds, i have enough bad blood experiences when comes to guild run item looting - 80% of the time, drama ensues and next, the guild splitted

systems like DKP or the new KARMA was 'meant' to help - but it actually creates more drama, where some guy with a hidous amount of points can undercut another that actually needs the upgrade

of course, i'm not saying all guild are like that - but these are some basic knowledge one should at least aware off before you decide to dedicate your time to constantly raid with your guild of choice

you missed out: "if item drops or not" <-- biggest RNG factor (the rest you've listed arent really RNG as it can be controled)

Would the EPGP decay be punishing for raiders who want to spend but their gears just won't drop?

sigh.

apparently it isnt so according to someone   

exactly.

where there is no guarantee over a certain factor, it would become a random factor. and the definition of RNG is simple, Random Number Generator, aka that very random factor.

way to miss the point entirely. here, ill make this simple for you:

can you guarantee me, that if i go kill KT 25 this week, he would drop sinister's revenge, and me rolling a high number winning it against a pug if its being contested? hell, ill make it interesting for you, rm50 to you if i get the dagger, rm50 to me if i dont.  dare to take up that bet? lol. i mean, its not random, according to you, right?

unless ur guild is unable to down the same boss consistently every week, that is not a factor...
as currently, there is no RNG algo to date...
all u get is a pseudo-RNG algo which sooner or later would cross that vector for that loot...

so you're saying loot is guaranteed now? 

a smart ass and point out something that is incorrect in the first place

My guild was farming KelThuzad for quite a while. Like months at that time? My dkp was like 1000 more than the rest because I was saving it for The Turning Tide. Never seen it drop.

Got firesoul from Leviathan 10man on the 2nd week of Ulduar's release and, although it isn't as good, but good enough for me to not meet KelThuzad ever again lol.