Let's say it takes you 10 real life days of playing to reach 60 at 1x. If you play at 1x when everyone else is at 5x, are you telling me you don't expect people to join a week after launch and, playing 5x, ding 60 the same time you do? Or when you're 30-40 they were a few days late and caught up? No matter when you join, or what rate you play at, there will be people at the same leveling point you are. Doing the same quests/zones/dungeons. They'll be cycling through the gearing when you are. IF you really enjoy the 1x rate, the ONLY thing you're missing out on by playing 1x instead of 5x is the "realm first" bragging rights...and honestly, that bragging right just means you can play when sleep deprived, and nothing else.