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So, what is the actual strategy for this world, and how do your actions align
with it?
While I was away, you implemented the white-hit "balance" and introduced
enhancers, effectively creating a completely new meta for the game. Right now,
to perform well you basically need:
A powerful weapon (FBB, ghastly, etc.), or
Two-handed combat, and
A lay heal, and
Haste, and
Avoidance - ideally stacking magic shields, and
If you're a caster - illusion damage plus a strong magic shield.
Without this setup, you underperform. And who actually has access to all of
that? Aside from your favored guilds - Vampires and MM - only SoHM. Why?
Because with enhancers, nobody needs the skill investment that OCC caster
guilds traditionally pay heavy tax for. Air, earth, fire, life - those spells
don't matter anymore. Enhancers replaced them. Best paired with a Warlock for
haste, heal, refresh, a plethora of QoL spells, another shield to stack, and a
convenient offensive spell that can be cast simultaneously with SoHM spells.
This new meta has rendered a host of guilds obsolete. Militia, Shieldbearers,
AA layman, Raiders joined Tricksters and DO layman in their irrelevance. That
essentially tells the wizards who created and maintained those guilds over the
years that their work was worthless.
It doesn't stop there. This meta also makes life harder for others: Neidar
Clan, Angmar, even Gladiators. Why be a Gladiator, locked into 2 axes for
combat and another just to enhance spellcasting, when you could be a Mercenary
with access to any weapon type? The once-iconic "charge" ability is now
useless. Saurians? Even as a Monk, you underperform as a Saurian compared to
the only viable unarmed enhancer build: crozier + M boots.
You've told the players who built their characters around those guilds -
sometimes over decades - that they must either abandon their legacy or suffer
under the new system as there is no option to git gud. There is no option to be
"gud" for most of the guilds.
And then you come and tell us that grinding shouldn't be our focus, but rather
conflict and PvP. With what tools, exactly? It took years for players to
finally band together against a handful of bug abusers. And those abusers
weren't punished by you - they were punished by an angry mob of players who had
no other choice. I remember wizards telling us it wasn't possible to have as
much darkness as those people had for years, and that we should git gud and
counter it. You didn't protect us. Quite the opposite. The community dealt with
one of your favourites - Vampires - for the most part. It took many months. You
didn't help. Quite the contrary.
Next favourite (with a history of admin and wizard alts) - Morgul Mages: how
are Rangers supposed to counter Morguls after the so-called "recode" done by a
wizard with a very long track record of self-serving cheating? How is anyone
supposed to counter illusion damage when you never implemented resists for it?
How can players remove magic shields when there's a single weapon in the game
that dispels them - and no spells at all? You built a "rock, paper, scissors"
system but forgot to include scissors and have the audacity to claim Morgul
Mages are in a very bad spot, unable to play the game well.
Your actions show clearly, that you cater to a few "pillars of the community"
(who exploit "features" early and to the maximum), while the many - who remain
silent - either leave silently or stop investing in the game. Over the years,
those silent exits have been many. You only keep speeding it up by actively
ignoring it and pretending everything is splendid. No it's not. You break the
game and you screw the real playerbase.
Switching to a white-hit meta was a mistake. The new racials were a mistake.
Current enhancers vs skills are a mistake. Illusion damage in a game with no
resistances for it is a mistake. And yet, instead of rolling any of this back,
you've let it fester for years.
So again, what is the strategy for this game? Beyond running it for your
friends and wizard-alts - who benefit most and are rarely punished for
long-term abuses - how do you actually plan to build something sustainable? How
do you intend to attract new players when the "strategy" seems to be feeding
them to the same old predators who thrive on imbalance? If I were giving you
money through Patreon, I'd either be demanding accountability for how it's
spent - or I'd stop paying altogether. Right now, that spending achieves
nothing. Zero.
And please stop confusing "character numbers" with "player numbers." The
long-time multi-char abusers inflate those stats every time they create yet
another alt, safe in the knowledge that "alt info sharing" is punished more
strictly than blatant bug abuse. Why? How does protecting those sociopaths
align with any strategy for the game's health?
Stop patting yourselves on the back. Start doing something with actual player
agency in mind. That's not the same as following the agenda of your friends.
Without this setup, you underperform. And who actually has access to all of
that? Aside from your favored guilds - Vampires and MM - only SoHM. Why?
Because with enhancers, nobody needs the skill investment that OCC caster
guilds traditionally paid heavy tax for. Air, earth, fire, life those spells
don't matter anymore. Enhancers replaced them.
This new meta has rendered a host of guilds obsolete. Militia, Shieldbearers,
AA layman, Raiders - now joined by Tricksters and DO layman - have been reduced
to irrelevance. That essentially tells the wizards who created and maintained
those guilds over the years that their work was worthless. At the same time,
you've told the players who built their characters around those guilds -
sometimes over decades - that they must either abandon their legacy or suffer
under the new system that heavily favors Vampires.
It doesn't stop there. This meta also makes life harder for others: Neidar
Clan, Angmar, even Gladiators. Why be a Gladiator, locked into 2 axes for
combat and another just to enhance spellcasting, when you could be a Mercenary
with access to any weapon type? The once-iconic "charge" ability is now
useless. Saurians? Even as a Monk, you underperform as a Saurian compared to
the only viable unarmed enhancer build: crozier + M boots.
And then you come and tell us that grinding shouldn't be our focus, but rather
conflict and PvP. With what tools, exactly? It took years for players to
finally band together against a handful of bug abusers. And those abusers
weren't punished by you - they were punished by an angry mob of players who had
no other choice. I remember wizards telling us it wasn't possible to have as
much darkness as those people had for years, and that we should "git gud" and
counter it. You didn't protect us. Quite the opposite.
That single situation revealed everything: you cater to a few "pillars of the
community" (who exploit "features" early and to the maximum), while the many -
who remain silent - either leave silently or stop investing in the game. Over
the years, those silent exits have been many.
So tell me: how are Rangers supposed to counter Morguls after the so-called
"recode" done by a wizard with a history of cheating? How is anyone supposed to
counter illusion damage when you never implemented resists for it? How can
players remove magic shields when there's a single weapon in the game that
dispels them - and no spells at all? You built a "rock, paper, scissors" system
but forgot to include scissors.
Switching to a white-hit meta was a mistake. The new racials were a mistake.
Enhancers are a mistake. Illusion damage in a game with no resistances for it
is a mistake. And yet, instead of rolling any of this back, you've let it
fester for years.
So again, what is the strategy for this game? Beyond running it for your
friends and wizard-alts - who benefit most and are rarely punished for
long-term abuses - how do you actually plan to build something sustainable? How
do you intend to attract new players when the "strategy" seems to be feeding
them to the same old predators who thrive on imbalance? If I were giving you
money through Patreon, I'd either be demanding accountability for how it's
spent - or I'd stop paying altogether. Right now, that spending achieves
nothing. Zero.
And please stop confusing "character numbers" with "player numbers." The
long-time multi-char abusers inflate those stats every time they create yet
another alt, safe in the knowledge that "alt info sharing" is punished more
strictly than blatant bug abuse. Why? How does protecting those sociopaths
align with any strategy for the game's health?
Stop patting yourselves on the back. Start doing something with actual player
agency in mind. That's not the same as following the agenda of your friends.
Most of us are in their 40-50ies. We are not teens. The game is "beta". Start
actually listening to your real community, instead of your own echo-chamber
only. The game can only benefit from it.