It has been fun and I wish everyone well. I have played with a lot of you and been killed by even more, but the server is moving in a direction that is opposite of what I felt we were told in beta and it is time for me to move on. Here are my final suggestions and you won't have to worry about my negative attitude any more =).
PORTS
This was something I never thought I would ever have to worry about, but ports hit us out of the blue. I understand a lot of people like them, but I also understand the dev's asked for a poll and the people that wanted them gone outnumbered the people that wanted to keep them. Why ask for our opinion if we are just going to be ignored any way? I understand people want a compromise, but there is no hint of a TRUE compromise. A majority of the people here on the forums voted they wanted them gone and yet they continue with them.
FEATHERS
We were told over and over and over that feathers would ALWAYS be something you mianly farmed in PvE (raids) to keep a balance between both PvE and RvR, and now feathers will be mainly farmed in RvR. I have no issues with encouraging people to do keep takes, and I think they need more incentive, but again, this is something the staff has said over and over, and even recently in game by Clockwork, that feathers would remain a PvE obtained item for the most part. I enjoy all aspects of DAoC and I love how people here assume everyone only plays for the RvR. The game was soppuse to be balanced and it is now skewing toward pure RvR. While I understand some people want it, I also feel you are negatively impacting a big chunk of your players as this will drastically reduce people farming feathers in PvE, mainly affecting casuals.
SELF BUFFING CLASSES
Buff pots are here to stay, but you really need to look at classes that have self buffs and the consequences. Right now a Ranger needs to spec high into PF just to attain buffs that are barely better then what people can buy. How do people justify this? Everyone says they need pots to compete and the only reason you need pots is because EVERYONE HAS THEM. if you took out buff pots completely everyone would be on equal footing. The self buffing classes would go back to having an advantage that their respective spec lines give them. 1v1 would always be equal since only a line DESIGNED to have self buffs would have them so how exactly is that NOT fair? 1v2+, well if a duo wants to go out with one of them being a buffing class, shouldn't that give them an advantage? I know this will never change, I'm honestly curious as to how people justify when they say they NEED buffs to compete if no one had them except the classes designed to have them that need to spec in them.
ASSASSINS
Ok let me start this with, I absolutely HATE stealthers, and I can not emphasize the hate enough LOL. I don't want to hear how there aren't many stealthers out there as I see them EVERY single time I go out into the fz. I have killed them and been killed by them, I have seen them kill others while I was running to my objective, I see them everywhere. I do think the game needs them and I have no issues with having them, I just hate them. With the new increase to DW/LA, you now have a class that was already destroying most classes in the game move even further up the food chain. To the people who say Sins should win most 1v1 fights? I would agree if you consider they can choose their fights, but right now they win most of their fights against every class and that is not balanced in ANY way. Why in the world would you buff a class that is already OP with Envenom and /switch and make them stronger, while you sit back and watch a class like the Friar sit there and be left to die? Yeah, friars are great 1v1, but whether I agree Albs wait for the perfect group or not, the Friar needs serious attention and nothing happens.
RVR TASKS
I wish you would have slowed down on this a little. You had a good system going that had a lot of happy players in the game. Most of the complaining were from the elitists that want the game catered to them instead of to the majority. The tasks are now moving in that direction and for me that is sad. I have no issues with trying to spread out the zerg, but the way you are doing it now is just going to favor the 8man groups and leave casuals out in the cold. I think soloers will have a harder time now but only time will tell. Also, now that some people are getting their way about having everything spread out to all the realms, you already see them asking for more. First they just wanted action moved out, and now the forums have those same people saying you need to increase the RP's for them in those other areas. While I don't love the zerg, I do think it is a good way for casuals to get involved and makes them want to stay, this is going to alienate them to a degree and personally I feel with the changes it is going to hurt the casual player base. We had a lot of new people here that have never played DAoC before and I am doubtful this is going to encourage them to stay.
SPEED ITEMS
With the introduction of ports, I can already see these being implemented sometime in the future. I know a lot of people are chomping at the bit to have these added, it is just another part of the game that ruins it for myself. I have mained a Thane for the last month or so, so I am speaking as a class with ZERO speed. if I want speed I just get a partner with speed or I play a class with speed. Every time you add a feature like this you water down the classes more and more. Add this with buff pots and you might as well just have 2 classes per realm - stealthier, melee, caster because everyone will have the same buffs and to a minor degree, same ability for speed.
To the staff, you folks have done a wonderful job with your volunteer staff putting in a lot of work and this is your server so I hope this is the path you were wanting. I played in beta and it REALLY seems like you had a different path in mind in beta and that is the path I personally wanted to play. I was under the impression the server would never have porters or speed or a few other things that are either already implemented or will be soon, and that is not what I was looking for. I loved the game in beta and I probably had to high of expectations, but the GM's seem to be listening to a small group of people on the forums that favor a system in DAoC that has failed on multiple other shards. It is going to be strictly RvR based and focused more on 8man here soon and I am looking for something else.
I wish everyone well and good luck in the game, and I hope the server does well. Maybe I will see some of you in RoR if I try it again or Grim Dawn when the new expansion drops =)
PORTS
This was something I never thought I would ever have to worry about, but ports hit us out of the blue. I understand a lot of people like them, but I also understand the dev's asked for a poll and the people that wanted them gone outnumbered the people that wanted to keep them. Why ask for our opinion if we are just going to be ignored any way? I understand people want a compromise, but there is no hint of a TRUE compromise. A majority of the people here on the forums voted they wanted them gone and yet they continue with them.
FEATHERS
We were told over and over and over that feathers would ALWAYS be something you mianly farmed in PvE (raids) to keep a balance between both PvE and RvR, and now feathers will be mainly farmed in RvR. I have no issues with encouraging people to do keep takes, and I think they need more incentive, but again, this is something the staff has said over and over, and even recently in game by Clockwork, that feathers would remain a PvE obtained item for the most part. I enjoy all aspects of DAoC and I love how people here assume everyone only plays for the RvR. The game was soppuse to be balanced and it is now skewing toward pure RvR. While I understand some people want it, I also feel you are negatively impacting a big chunk of your players as this will drastically reduce people farming feathers in PvE, mainly affecting casuals.
SELF BUFFING CLASSES
Buff pots are here to stay, but you really need to look at classes that have self buffs and the consequences. Right now a Ranger needs to spec high into PF just to attain buffs that are barely better then what people can buy. How do people justify this? Everyone says they need pots to compete and the only reason you need pots is because EVERYONE HAS THEM. if you took out buff pots completely everyone would be on equal footing. The self buffing classes would go back to having an advantage that their respective spec lines give them. 1v1 would always be equal since only a line DESIGNED to have self buffs would have them so how exactly is that NOT fair? 1v2+, well if a duo wants to go out with one of them being a buffing class, shouldn't that give them an advantage? I know this will never change, I'm honestly curious as to how people justify when they say they NEED buffs to compete if no one had them except the classes designed to have them that need to spec in them.
ASSASSINS
Ok let me start this with, I absolutely HATE stealthers, and I can not emphasize the hate enough LOL. I don't want to hear how there aren't many stealthers out there as I see them EVERY single time I go out into the fz. I have killed them and been killed by them, I have seen them kill others while I was running to my objective, I see them everywhere. I do think the game needs them and I have no issues with having them, I just hate them. With the new increase to DW/LA, you now have a class that was already destroying most classes in the game move even further up the food chain. To the people who say Sins should win most 1v1 fights? I would agree if you consider they can choose their fights, but right now they win most of their fights against every class and that is not balanced in ANY way. Why in the world would you buff a class that is already OP with Envenom and /switch and make them stronger, while you sit back and watch a class like the Friar sit there and be left to die? Yeah, friars are great 1v1, but whether I agree Albs wait for the perfect group or not, the Friar needs serious attention and nothing happens.
RVR TASKS
I wish you would have slowed down on this a little. You had a good system going that had a lot of happy players in the game. Most of the complaining were from the elitists that want the game catered to them instead of to the majority. The tasks are now moving in that direction and for me that is sad. I have no issues with trying to spread out the zerg, but the way you are doing it now is just going to favor the 8man groups and leave casuals out in the cold. I think soloers will have a harder time now but only time will tell. Also, now that some people are getting their way about having everything spread out to all the realms, you already see them asking for more. First they just wanted action moved out, and now the forums have those same people saying you need to increase the RP's for them in those other areas. While I don't love the zerg, I do think it is a good way for casuals to get involved and makes them want to stay, this is going to alienate them to a degree and personally I feel with the changes it is going to hurt the casual player base. We had a lot of new people here that have never played DAoC before and I am doubtful this is going to encourage them to stay.
SPEED ITEMS
With the introduction of ports, I can already see these being implemented sometime in the future. I know a lot of people are chomping at the bit to have these added, it is just another part of the game that ruins it for myself. I have mained a Thane for the last month or so, so I am speaking as a class with ZERO speed. if I want speed I just get a partner with speed or I play a class with speed. Every time you add a feature like this you water down the classes more and more. Add this with buff pots and you might as well just have 2 classes per realm - stealthier, melee, caster because everyone will have the same buffs and to a minor degree, same ability for speed.
To the staff, you folks have done a wonderful job with your volunteer staff putting in a lot of work and this is your server so I hope this is the path you were wanting. I played in beta and it REALLY seems like you had a different path in mind in beta and that is the path I personally wanted to play. I was under the impression the server would never have porters or speed or a few other things that are either already implemented or will be soon, and that is not what I was looking for. I loved the game in beta and I probably had to high of expectations, but the GM's seem to be listening to a small group of people on the forums that favor a system in DAoC that has failed on multiple other shards. It is going to be strictly RvR based and focused more on 8man here soon and I am looking for something else.
I wish everyone well and good luck in the game, and I hope the server does well. Maybe I will see some of you in RoR if I try it again or Grim Dawn when the new expansion drops =)