So first... HI EVERYONE! Feels like the good old days of me posting on here.

I do log in now and then just to chat with people, feel free to say hi. No, as of this moment don't have intention to returning to the game yet. I do periodically return to see if game has gotten back to normal and I do read discussion board from time to time. (basically I ask players and check message board to get the feeling of game. Me not having intentions to return should give you a pretty good idea of what most people feel) I will give developers a pat on the back for finally changing things ... and a kick in the shins for taking too long.

I read a lot on this about cap raise to 90 is a motivator. To me it never was. Raise the cap, don't raise the cap it won't change activity in game. Yeah you may get 10-12 big players back but really it won't matter. There aren't very many. What will happen players will rush to 90. (easy enough to do) get there, grind out there stats then complain about rebirth. Rebirth will come. Then quick grind again and back to the same underlining issue, which was a big part of the reason I departed.

The major issue is competition. The faction system. Over my years of playing I saw this first hand. Its not wrong to have two factions but being able to transfer is a fatal flaw. Gamers like to win, period. So what is the best way in a game like this? All join one side. Then you never lose and get all the goodies. Everyone else needs to join you or stop playing because what is the point? Perfect example is Sea Battle system. There will be players like I use to be who see it as a challenge to grow and "Fight the power," but for most that isn't entertaining (remember gamers like to win.) Then the story always end the same way. At some point you will be at the level of the ones who have been in control and you are completely outclassed and time to join them or quit the game. Because there is no point in playing.

Which leads to problem 2. Lack of active clans. When I first started (shout to valor serpents). There were 3 main clans. Elitist, Hellfire, Ninth (IL and IE where there too but they were not determining factors to how the game was played). Little clans like mine basically just did our thing and when we got paired in war with one of those we sit in hall or not log in for that hour. Which in turn meant we would be bc'd constantly and probably for the next few days it wasn't worth playing the game or you played it very cautiously and many times while trying to hop get BC'd and you logged out for the rest of the day because why play a game that isn't fun.

Then get bigger and the decision had to come. Little clans don't survive in this game. We had to disband and join one of the big three. I went to Ninth under WarGecko. Luckily he was of the same mindset as me. Try to even out the powers that be. Because when I say it was Hellfire Elitist and Ninth. It was basically Hellfire and Elitists. They dictated game more then developers did. Which is probably still true today. They could hit who they wanted, when they wanted and any resources was theirs to make the gap so great that there was no other way others could rise. Many players I know got big in valor and eventually left to Sadar to join those clans because they no longer could progress. Then Islands came and Hellfire owned all the left and Elitist all the right. You had to spend hours scavenging to hope to get something and when you did. You didn't hold it long. So they got stronger and stronger and more and more player quit or transferred. Will say Ninth did get strong enough on its own to stand on to fight wars but it was the .ONLY valor clan in game that could compete. That was probably when game was MOST ACTIVE. Atlas it was when I was most active. But also part of that was we had a big influx of strong players from the other server. Time has drawn on and now its all one-sided again. Players don't care about cap, its winning and game play. Yes I know at one point it was Ninth that overpowered server and ruled it all as well. What I say to that is that group mostly moved to radar. It wasn't necessarily the faction it was a group of the strongest players banding together to dictate game. Who could and couldn't play was their call. They bc'd many out of playing game (Another very dumb move by developers. Why let your clients isolate possible customers)

Then letting wars disappear for months upon month... yeah developers really killed their own game. It was on its death bed and they just decided to put a pillow over its head.

So my recommendations... 1. SB should be non-faction 2. Cut off that damn transfer option. If player wants to make two characters in each faction and spend time and money to grow then go ahead. Make players stick to a side which allows growth of each. 3. Remove fee for switching professions... do that and guess what. No toons. I know I would've loved that. Spend a week farming ... switch to prospection so I could actually do crafting. 4. Guild shop... its a common sense one. Then players can't rob guilds. Have guild members contribute to stock but only can buys through shop. Also eliminates players making toon clans so they can stock pile reals. (yes new players you can get by without spending in this game. There are many tricks)

Don't focus on the bigs... Focus on the littles.
Just fun fact. Of the players I was most active with when i first started game.... Eddieson, Nurse, Rhatmes, Storm, I think i'm the last one standing in valor lol. Not saying it was wrong decision for them. They needed to progress. But probably only other option was to stop playing which I choose. The list is too long of my old friends who have left game because they hit that wall. Heck I was one of them.

-Reaghnf