Aww, Narissa, how very lacking in understanding and compassion. I expected better of you! We need to have some place for those that are unwilling/unable to learn to go, and the PW animists are not accepting applications these days...
Don't be a tool. I have no idea why you're being snarky, when I've always been nice to you. In any case, I haven't played in over a RL year, and I was still getting kills and grabbing the sands. The Seer changes are absurd, however, especially as globestaves stop pilling and traverse these days, so you can do stonework and hide without consequence, unless you spend a few RL weeks/months getting a lock-kit to maybe get a key in there...except globes also can tomb all doors, and LMs were given abilities to replace doors and all that, too.
Don't be an ass. I dealt with new skills, new geography, new game mechanics and I still fought hard - and most of that meant little as every time we got close, the seers would hit us with that attack. Deathsheen doesn't stop it, it can be spammed on death - this is worse than aria and remember how much people have bitched over that?
EDIT. Oh. I get the joke, now. You meant the Seers. I thought you meant me, for dying to their trick.
SORRY! SORRY!
Anyways, I am not really that motivated to return, as I've been playing IRE games. The combat may not be as heart-pounding, but skill and realm changes are an open process of discussion, with all top players given forums and an avenue to discuss the potential consequences of changes. This process is far more professional than "deal with whatever new mechanic Gen tosses in", a method whose results and inspirations vary depending on what his drug of the month is.
No single person will be able to see all the angles of something, and admin don't play around with the skills and see them in action like players do. His attitude of "just deal with things, I know best" has led and, apparently, continues to lead to some pretty crappy situations for combat balance, economy/political/warfare tweaks, and guild mechanics. Lock-kits are a great example of how he's destroyed the Thief profession, making it a headache to even do basic theft.
Most of the changes I find interesting and useful are ones I pressured him to consider: the player-made quest system, the Head Tutor system, the "calling" (ie channels), a revamp to mapping (though I still think a visual one would be better), echoes to emotes. These kind of changes make the basic gameplay more accessable to new players and more engaging for older players. I know there have been more additions along these lines, based on player feedback, and they are good ones. They help make the game more interesting, without adding much controversy or issues of game balance.
The skill changes are entirely different. He takes input (or ignores it) as he wishes, and then all new changes are kept hidden and secret, which ensures that proper testing of the balance cannot be done. The end situation is that he obscures things enough that nobody really knows if the game is balanced or not, and never CAN know.
I got sick of that, as I'd rather excel in combat because of my ability, not because people have no idea how to cure yarl (yes, when it was first put in, many a fighter won and bragged about winning because people didn't know about alethe) or whatever the new skill of the week is.
Edit: and yes, Sonja, Gandalph was BBing.
