Rob, when you look at your tire, would you consider changing your pressures looking back at how they rode. The clear wear pattern on either side "looks" like slightly higher pressures would have taken away some contact patch from the two sides, but this is just a thought I have seeing the photo, and you know more than I of how your bike rode at given pressures.
Again, it would be great to see a photo of my friends rear tire, but even if he still has it, he's away for quite a while. I know he told me that on the paved sections, he pumped his tires up a lot more, and that they rolled along fairly well given the size.
I don't tend to adjust pressure on the fly unless it seems too high, which means, yes, I likely spend some pavement time riding lower than optimal pressure.
and as you say Rob, what other tire options are there? I havent paid attention or even done more research, as the tires I have came off a bike I bought used (but new essentially) and so while one day I may setup my Troll with the Jones bars and the ETs and make it a diff bike, for now I really like it in its dropbar, Gevenalle shifters, fenders and front/rear racks setup, so won't do a change until a specific trip idea comes up and becomes a reality.
I've been looking. I thought I'd take advantage of my worn out rear tire to try to go wider. Not much, though, in the ET range of mild trails, but doesn't mind pavement. Thinking I'll just go with a pavement-focused tire on the rear. It'll likely be fine on most of the off-roading I do, but probably not great for the mountain bike park. In a 2.5" is the Maxxis Hookworm, and in 2.8" is the Vee Speedster. 2.8" is the max for my frame in the rear, so I may try that Speedster.