The Daily Grind: Is it worth investing in the mid-game?

One of my new year's resolutions is to dust off my lowbie Warden in LotRO and get her to the level cap. I'm heartened by the thought that the devs have smoothed out several of the zones, such as Evendim and Moria, as well as extended the awesome open tapping and remote looting to the entire world.

Yet a vast majority of MMOs, once established, focus almost exclusively on the endgame when it comes to adding content and features. It might make sense from a numbers perspective: When most of your steady playerbase is at the cap, that's where most of the effort should go. But does that come at a cost of alienating new players who have to go through an aging mid-game before getting to the good stuff?

So what do you think: Is it worth investing in the mid-game or not?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!