The no-gear-grind philosophy of Guild Wars 2 has been called into question, so developer ArenaNet has responded on Reddit.

Brief recap: a brand new Ascended armour type statistically more powerful than other end-game armours has been added to the game. ArenaNet said hardcore players needed more to do and more progression to chase. But the Guild Wars 2 community interpreted this as signs of an end-game gear grind - a mechanic ArenaNet chastised in the lead up to Guild Wars 2's launch. Did ArenaNet contradict itself?

"I hope we've been clear that GW2 is not a game with virtually no stat progression in it like GW1 was," ArenaNet co-founder and boss Mike O'Brien wrote on Reddit. "That's why GW2 shipped with a higher level cap, and with a hard separation between PVE and PVP.

"In GW1 we never advanced the level cap through four campaigns/expansions. The game design didn't allow for it. But GW2 was designed without those restrictions, and we've always expected that we will someday raise the level cap in GW2."

I put that last part in bold because it's the first I've heard of plans to increase the Guild Wars 2 level cap.

"That's why we've always said that GW2 rewards players through both progression and collection," O'Brien went on, "whereas GW1 primarily rewarded through collection. Presumably players aren't shocked that GW2 rewards through progression, since it has a level 80 cap.

"I would ask you to judge us by details and not by making slippery-slope arguments." Mike O'Brien

"I wonder if the core sentiment is more this: It's only been two-and-a-half months! We don't even all have Exotics yet, and already you're introducing another tier. Is this the start of a power progression curve that I'll never be able to keep up with?

"I certainly appreciate that worry," he wrote. "I myself don't want a constant struggle, as exists in some other games, to keep my equipment viable. Then we're left with a balancing act: some progression is OK, but pushing players onto gear treadmill isn't OK and isn't what the game is about.

"So I would ask you to judge us," he concluded, "by details, and not by making slippery-slope arguments. We introduced a ton of new content in November, and the sum total of new progression rewards we added to go with it provided a 5-10 per cent stat increase in two of 12 slots. I hope you'll agree that that kind of very shallow and gradual progression does not force people onto a gear treadmill."

O'Brien said it was "important" for Guild Wars 2 to have that kind of "gradual" progression. And although "we made some mistakes with the way we introduced Ascended gear", he added, "I don't think they invalidate the fundamental concept that GW2 can have gradual stat progression without being a gear treadmill game".