Just to offer some insight as Devils advocate regarding your statement about levelling- not trying to undermine what you wrote at all, just my honest experience with the game as a noob, who plays casual meme style builds, but is a hardcore fan of this game… there is a steep learning curve for many of the game mechanics. Especially if youre not a member of the forum, and dont have access to valuable resources such as your beginner guides, and the abundance of awesome assistance the community provides here.
For at least my first 1000 game hours i didnt know about these forums and was basically trying to figure everything out on my own. I learned a lot but lets just say that no way in hell did it take 40 to 50 hours to hit level 100 with my first character.
My first character didnt make it past 71. Second didnt make it past 81. Third didnt make it past 90. I couldnt figure out how to make them function properly, and still didnt know what i was doing. I plateaued with them at those points and leveling became an impossible uphill battle due to poor build design. I kept dying and losing all my XP.
I finally decided to make a character that would not die, built around huge HP pool and HP Regen, so at least i could survive long enough to level somehow. That was my 4th character, first to hit 100.
So total game time, getting my first level 100 character, i have to take into account the experience of going through all the trial and error of my first 3 failures, in addition to the time elapsed getting that first character to 100.
So to be fair that makes it, for me (a nooby hardcore fan, who played first 1000 hours at least not knowing about the forums) a total of;
At least 215 hours invested learning from mistakes, prior to even starting my first build that was capable of making it to 100.
Leveling is certainly easier in GD than in PoE, though. But still, its only fair, if new players are the target group being evaluated to make this judgement of 40-50 hours to hit 100 with FIRST character, that we are paying attention to those who are not exceptional gamers such as myself, because it took me longer, it could very well take someone else longer too, and if they’re reading they should be able to make it happen in 40-50 hours, they may get the wrong impression.
The build that finally made it to 100 (after learning about everything) also took at least 72 hours for me to hit 100. New player, self found gear, no reputation with malmouth for XP pots, and no Lokarrs. Yes its fast leveling with THOSE things, but many new players wont have them because were talking about first characters right?
To be fair my first 4 characters were all started before AoM released. That 4th character was the first to hit 100, and did so after AoM had released. its at that time that i understood the factions and benefits of vendors and their augments and factions gear and all that stuff.
Without a lot of time invested, average players arent going to fully comprehend everything this game has to offer within 40 - 50 hours (which can directly impact wether or not they are able to hit level 100 within 40-50 hours). I know I wasnt able to, but i could just be really slow (very possible!). The story would have been different had i been aware of both an active community and such informative resources here on the forums (@malawiglenn beginner guides, etc).
@supersven1234. I would namedrop the forums as an extremely fun and valuable resource for new players to not only enhance their experience with the game but also meet other players passionate about the game. With this resource, leveling your first build to 100 in 40-50 hours is very possible, but without it, that may not be the case. Id be sure to make that distinction in your review.
Just to put some perspective.