Runes of Magic US / AU

I'll preface this by stating that I am generally a laid back player; I rarely get involved with game developer politics. Given the recent changes, I felt compelled to, at the very leasy, try to understand the reasoning behind them.

My point/question is simple. Why were Declarations of Neutrality removed from the IS on PVP servers? You (game developers/marketing department) do realize removing that item completely ruins the PVP aspect of the game...right...? I honestly don't believe you could be so dull as to not realize the consequences of such a decision. And, holding with that belief, I must then assert that your intention is to force us to buy item lockers from the IS so our gear doesn't drop. Ok, smart move in terms of bleeding your loyal customers. But you do realize, not being able to PVP without an enourmous amount of hassel (not being able to go to cities without dying form guards, not being able to have anything in your bags, etc) is the same thing as removing it completely. Quite frankly, pvp is the one and only reason I even play mmos, and I know the same is true for most people who play on PVP servers. The system was working perfectly fine, why break it?

If your intention is to deter us from pvp trading to put us on the same level as PVE servers in respect to not being able to trade gear anymore (ABL's now removed), forcing us to lay down hundreds upon hundreds of dollars while putting up a face of "stabilizing" the economy and "discounting" IS items... Why not just remove that mechanic and make it so people don't drop gear?...at least we could still play the (insert expletive) game. If this change was indeed intended for such a purpose and is not going to be fixed/altered/or otherwise rectified, you just lost yourself a customer. And many-a-more will follow, I assure you.

No threat intended, I'm simply making the point that destroying the gameplay of a game in the name of making more money is counter-productive to your cause. It has been said before, will be said again, and shouldn't even have to be said because it's basic human psychology: If you focus on making your product enjoyable and functional, i.e. pleasing the customer, the customer will be more generous in supporting you. You have a potentially great product but you are constantly kicking our (your customers', the people who make your company possible, and pay your salaries) legs out from under us, creating a most unpleasant and irritating experience.

Much of this is based on my own assumptions given the lack of information provided to the community by your staff. If I have made any false accusations, I appologize. My intention is to have fun playing a game that works. Right now, yours doesn't. And it seems to me the only reasons for it are Apathy and Greed.

This concludes my rant, thank you for listening (assuming anyone even reads these things).


Take care, have fun.

I was hoping for the same as well. Though, from the looks of things (CM posts), it was indeed an intended and, if I may say so, poorly executed change. It seems no one has been able to procure a straight answer as to the reasoning behind the change, nor the reason for witholding it from the community prior to patch. The only responses I've seen as of yet are along the lines of: "It happened, get used to it." ...devlivered in a much more ambiguous and pretentiously courteous way, of course.

After a few days playing with the new IS, I must say the damage they've done removing key items far outweighs the discounting of pfs's (the only really useful thing as far as I can tell). Instead of balance they've created an enourmous gap between newer ungeared players and older end game players, and practically shut down the ingame economy at the same time. (On my server at least.) Removing both the +jewels and the ability to conveniently trade gear has basically cut progressing guilds off at the knees, ultimately stunting the entire server from progressing to end game. On top of it, changing weekly sales to "happy hour", only available for a few hours on 3 given days...? Honestly, what is the logic behind that? They seem to think making it more inconvenient to play the game will turn them more of a profit.

All of this on top of the biggest failure of a new content release I have ever seen. My hopes for this game are being crushed most efficiently. It's becoming difficult to even talk about it without sounding like I'm complaining. Hopefully, hell will freeze over and the developers will pay heed to the voice of the community.

WTT frustration for fun, PST.

Yes, indeed. I can understand they see pk trading as a hole in their money bucket, but instead of plugging the hole in the bucket, they dammed the river and burned down the forest. So, yes, there will be no more $ leaks because they have basically eliminated any reason for PvP players to invest anything more in this game; no potential income = no potential loss. I must give them props, that is certainly a masochistically hardcore way of dealing with the situation. While the idea may have looked good on paper, "no hand-me-downs = no recycled IS items = more profit", they certainly didn't think it through.

trav is 100% correct, with no economy, no progression, and no foundation for either, the game's main arteries have been slashed and all that's left is to watch it bleed out a slow, quiet death. As players wither in boredom waiting month after month to have the "privilege" of spending hundreds of dollars on items that don't even guarantee success of the intended result, in hopes of having a few fleeting moments of enjoyment for all the long hours spent in the hamster wheel.

So, while I am still fighting for this game to succeed, I see myself soon following masterdesh's advice to just keep it on a kite string and find something more worth my time and money. It will be such a shame to see it all go to waste for nothing more than lack of common sense. But c'est la vie.