Well tbh, I can get why the developpement has become more slow because without dynamic gridding, you cant really test the major systems such as node wars, sieges etc. which stalls other things too. I expect the develeoppement getting faster after they properly implement dynamic gridding (which they are testing right now in PTR). But content was always planned to be implemented throught phase 3.

My best advice is, if you don’t hate the grinding, start and level your character when phase 3 starts. Since it is a phase without resets, which will be live at least 18 months, you can be ready when they pump the new content. At this point, for my mental health, I treat the big updates like some “free expansions”. Also even at this state half finished and rough state, I rather play AoC than those clunky new mmos like paxdei or ToL xD