I am not what you would call a serious forum troll, and its never been in me to really speak out on so many things, unless it has serious affectation on how myself or the bulk of my orgmates play.
That being said, after watching these installments I want to first thank Shadowgod for taping them. I got a much better (and positive) feeling about the direction of this game, even moreso than I did before. I'd also like to thank any and all people for participating in that, to the point where it honestly looks like people really are driving the game.
I wanna step back and bring up a certain something that was said and I quote, by Means himself: "We have over 300+ people coming to the game every day." I want to let people know this is in fact, quite true. In the past few months, my org has risen in size from 12 active players (about 100 alts++) and the new batch of recruits I feel quite positive about, and not to take them down a peg or brag about the number of new people in org, but most of them are very fresh and new to the game! They drown me in questions at times, and I am more than happy to help them out any way I can and still enjoy my own time. Players new and old are intermingling and I have never felt happier about things since Means and crew have started to really take the volume of bold steps to see this PASSION reach new heights. You guys are rockstars.
I realize that change takes time, even with a much larger staff, sometimes this cant always happen. Communication between team members can cause a rather proportionate amount of IRL lag, just as quickly as internet speed can become clogged up. So those of you who have had the patient and perseverance to understand wholly this perspective, be glad you have it. It helps more than you think.
For Kintaii. I am adding you to my heroes list. I am a long standing RPr' and I gotta say it takes a lot of mettle for an RPr like you or I to say "i wanna make PVP more exciting" I did get a nice chuckle out of that, because to most PVP'rs, you and I are the enemy. LOL With you at the reigns, I am really intrigued to see what sort of interesting ways youll make PVP for people like me.
I didn't see Nophex talk much, as most of the questions seem to be geared towards problems of the past and future, and not nearly about the engine that drives customer service. I was sort of interested in hearing something about it, but alas. I dont have much to add for that. More's the pity. I usually have had no much issues dealing with Customer Service, and all of my experiences in that range have yielded fruit within a few business days at most. So I guess, thank you for that.
I want to say, as I have said a few times before... the sort of player I am, everything that the game encompasses, I have been involved with. From walking into newbie island, to RP, to well run raids (and even a few crappy ones) to testing FFA, to PVP over the rainbow and back, the steps being taking affect players like me the most. I am not alone, and as you say the bulk of players in general dont post nearly as much as the serious forum trolls. So, it feels in some respect that you guys are representing my particular demographic. My status can be described overall as "Pleased, but eager". By saying that I am happy for the changes, and looking forward to more.
To address them in a general sense, id just like to say that biggest issue is that I seem to play toons that almost always have a hard time. I enjoy that at the same time, but none of them I can call particular uber. What pays off is the time in, for some people, perfecting their toons and their playstyles. Since I experiment with so much, including nanolines/perklines/etc etc.. I often find myself asking "so why CANT I be a melee energy enforcer?!" "Why cant I be a bow Advy or a bow agent, or a bow MA?!?" That leads me to alot of my choices in the game.
Whereas, the bulk of professions are becoming more and more streamlined in certain aspects. Remembering that its a player choice to be cookie cutter, I have to understand that cookie cutter is this way for a reason. Its in this that professional imbalancing really shows the most. I love having the freedom for options. More and more I have been seeing options arise, and for that I am glad I have had the patience to stick around through the dry spots. At the same time, its good to see the dry spots get further and further apart, on your hard work.
I dont generally post unless I feel it truly necessary, so I hope you guys can understand my particular point of view. I think the work that has been done is in our best interests, although many people would disagree or say outright that its just not fast enough. Well, people whom have been here for the past 5 years can tell you what the Dark Age of AO was like. Perspective. It helps. Good work, guys.
Oh and, IBT(TL;DR). Because I caretroll in your general direction.