Quote (Harmonics @ 3 Oct 2011 02:16)
yes they may be minor atm but there are 3 tiers of Planar attunment so far only the first is unlocked. So it will be a much bigger part soon.
All speculation from my side, but, I don't really see T2 and T3 of planar attunement will be a huge thing. The amount of grinding it takes just to get to a new tier is immense and they are really shooting themselves in the foot if they are making T2 and T3 must-haves that gives huge advantages (I'm not saying that would be a bad thing for me personally, as I play a lot and like that people get rewarded for dedication). But from a purely business perspective it would be stupid, as it would be very off-putting for potential new customers. The general direction they are taking the game at the moment is making it more accessible for newer players (evening out valor on the different ranks of gear for example) and making better gear more easily available (craftables and such).
tl;dr: Making higher ranks of PA essential / very strong will be a stupid way to attract new players because it means you have to level, get gear, grind obscene amounts of XP just to be viable for anything in the game.