THF is a little more organic with side paths and alternative sets of content. And the future we plan is definitely looking to take THF away somewhat from the hub->teleport->zone pathway that forms the backbone of the main progression path. We want to populate the whole world with scalable npcs fit for you to kill and actually get loot suitable to that scale. We want you to be able to travel the world on foot (or mount I suppose, as they'd have a place then).
We want more communal zones that are open if possible.
I'd consider instances as a solution for more zones if population becomes a problem for individual zones but otherwise I feel this option is good for one purpose; to allow anyone to raid together.
All new group and raid zones will allow raids and groups to be formed without guild (not sure about adding a cost yet, it's possible), so in a way we'll be doing what you suggest, where guild instances will always remain an option in many cases, just to make life easier for those who do guild up. But currently, the number of instances you can open will be restricted to one per character per lockout timer (it'll differ depending on the zone).
We may review that later on though. I guess our idea is to have enough sideways content available for every tier so that spam-grinding a single zone is a thing of the past.
So, log on, visit tier lobby open zone (on foot for the first time
), do stuff, form a group/raid, do lockout group/raid zones, do tier progression group/raid zone... Still got spare time?Go hunt open world stuff for tier appropriate loot and maybe some other surprises (and other alternative side content we're soon to add)
