Quick thought that popped into my head just now: remember how polished and smooth the LoTRO beta felt? The game levels 1-15 seemed amazing during beta, with great quests, landscapes, and story. It was not until release that we all realized the game was a bit empty at levels 35+ (fixed now).
Am I the only one making the comparison with the LoTRO beta cap and the AoC beta cap? Add in that the closed beta NDA is still up, and all the tech issues… well the post below states my opinion on how AoC will fare, but this 1-20 limit just adds more fuel to that fire.
Hardcore Casual 
Well the game is opened up this weekend from 20+, but that’s still only a week to see what the waters are like.
I can say from closed beta 2ND HAND experience that others say leveling from 1-80 isn’t as difficult or bare as leveling from 35-50 in LotRO was. Of course, I don’t know myself, this is only by the word of others.
I’m assuming someone will level 1-80 in the 6-7 days they have left in the Open Beta event though.
Well I considered the LOTRO beta to be one of those advert betas, pure promotion.
Two different games really and if I wanted to be really cynical about it, I’d say LOTRO left most of their more innovative development until after the game was released (go go gadget chicken play).
The level range is natural I think, I don’t know why people try to read so many conspiracy theories into it, of course they don’t want to bleed out much of their content before the game is even sold. You know how it is, many players first reaction is to rush, so I think forcing early adopters into a level cap is suitable.
Regardless though, I view the City of Heroes release as the most smooth for an MMO, with LOTRO in second place. Yet I still hear from people over both games who thought their launches were poor, so go figure.
I absolutely loved LOTRO from 1-30. Very fun and very polished.
As for the relation between AoC and LOTRO’s levels… like Rog said I think it’s all purely marketing. They want to keep you wanting more. Difference here between the two is that in LOTRO I did want more and in AoC I can’t wait to log out so that my computer can breathe again.
But for all we know the content could be completely heinous in AoC. There’s no “legal” way of knowing for sure until the NDA drops.
I think the fact that NDA is still up 12 days before launch speaks volumes.
It kinds of reminds me of DDO….
It’s now 8 days from the “head start” launch when everyone who pre-ordered the game will be playing. Yet the shroud of mystery remains ever present.