My understanding is that partly the issue that some of the players have with the drastic changes that lead further away from known systems, tested here or in live, is that they seem to have retained the same attitude and stance they had towards the developing team(s) of AoR, seemingly unable to realize not only the difference between the mentality, goals and ethos of the two teams, but also, and most importantly, that of the conditions now in effect and the possibilities of the current project.
Seems there is lack of trust, which is only fair in the light of previous disappointments due to the time spent struggling with AoR's development - which lets be fair, it could hardly be called that, for reasons extending even past some of the developers back then. Beyond that, no matter whether one likes the developers themselves as individuals, they have proven time and again that their hearts lie with the game, have spent hours upon hours working on it and have defended it in every corner.
As far as I am concerned, to come to this forum and merely deny a change, or any change, without even slightly contributing to the matters at hand, even if that is a prognosis of issues and problems to arise in the future, creates inevitably a point of friction with the developing team since to develop, is to change. Simple as that.
Change being the elephant in the room now, and distrust aside, I honestly find it most disheartening that young, or relatively young, people, oppose it, rushing to deny it it's necessary time to be tested, further evolved or rejected, instead of embracing it till it proves itself or seeking their ways around it till it runs its course. Nobody's time or effort, being developer or player, is lost completely if a change, no matter how important, doesn't work out in a way that can be regarded as improvement or even a stepping stone to build on. There is no such thing as an absolute failure (well, EA's management was, but this came from the ashes of millions of hours lost when they killed it) and nothing more permanent that temporary, common saying where I come from, and can't but be the condition here since the game is in alpha phase and to not attempt to take it for a spin around every route and through every byway one can find in it, is in my opinion a pity and only leads to a quicker and certainly less glorious end. Boredom even kills gods, lets us not forget it.
As for the "golden" age near the end of live, what should not be overlooked is that the players of a game evolve as well, and that takes its time too. One cannot compare the two communities, since they aren't the same historically. The playerbase in AoR was bigger and more experienced by the end of live than the one of RoR at the moment - bugs, glitches, shortcomings or blatant mistakes, server deaths and migration, lack of vision, other games and the constant fact you are being squeezed for money, weeded out all that weren't willing to overcome them merely out of their passion for waaaghing. Here we have old players as well as new ones, more casual players since it is free and all of them, as a community, need time to create the bonds and affiliations which contribute to the game's party oriented tendency in its "core" development of abilities and classes, as well as RvR systems.
My personal disenchantment with those that oppose any kind of change, beyond a working RvR system similar to the one experienced in the last period of live plus minor tweaks along the way , becomes a spontaneous objection and grief, since this is a game in development, and such is agreed for now, which itself naturally extends far beyond what an individual, player and developer alike, could possibly perceive, the ways taken with it limited only by their individual intellect, their imagination, their ability to catch a glimpse of remote yet promising paths and their ability, got, found and created, to undertake the burden by being responsible to theirs, or others' visions. This is a massive multiplayer online (rpg ya gits!) game. Its reality is that it can exist, but cannot be fully developed by one party alone. Players and developers are both necessary and that is a common ground.
Ideally, Azarael could have a number of experienced, well-mannered, courageous, tireless, responsible, intuitive and precise players, eager to provide feedback, seek, measure and report bugs, willing to go through the wildest and craziest modes, nerf after buff, and addition before wipe, and all that just for the joy of it, equal to the number of players involved. No offense meant, and as for the unintended patronizing, the above is an exaggeration of my perception naturally. By a similar way, the players could have the one that coded Chuck Norris as their Santa Claus in Neverland stuck on Christmas, with birthdays and tricks plus treats on top, wonderfully taking them daily for a fresh spin, where every step, though solid, would launch them gently(with rps!) to ways of Waaagh unknown. Unfortunately(dats raw troll'n), ideals shape reality, reality cannot be shaped into ideals - not for long fortunately (dats teh opp'zit gits), so we are all stuck in it with each other, for as long as each one of us is willing to invest self - time and waaagh-love included.
Personally, I 'd like to feel some joy emanating from even the most terribly pwn'd corpses, just because of the Waaagh being taken through unknown territory, at least once in a while. I think I would prefer that joyful waaaghing, to this whole "try not to die" immersion booster which is not working miracles(Imagine! I actually try!
). In which case(loosely defined even to my own self), not limiting each other anymore, the limits left would lie elsewhere, and more of ourselves could then be invested in frontiers that are the code and the progress of the reverse engineering, the number and involvement of the participants, the hours of work needed, the zillions of tasks down to trivialities, the minor or major dead ends, the ever present dangers that third parties may create and last but not least by far, the never ending struggle to kill before being killed and get dat rps - or bear the grudge(if only stunties ate more vegetables...).
But, that requires many people to change themselves and their ways, not only within my lifetime but also influenced by me and my will, limited by me and myself. This I may fancy, but do not actually want. Nor will I cherish as the "best" any end product, even though I ll still value the effort, for there is no such thing and depending on the involvement of players, as a wider measure including responsibility and of course not limited to it, I find it not only appealing, but logical as well, that the greater the value, not only makes the game more suitable to its co-creators depending on their freely willed contribution, internal struggles and hard agreements, arrivals and departures, but also richer since it simply involves more - and as far as I go to understand and realize - to try to quantify even a single individual is an exercise in futility, a long imposed idiocy and far too frequently chosen as a way of control and, "naturally" arising, bonds of exploitation. Freedom can only be created within a community, has no base in reality beyond that, other than natural obstacles and universal inevitability. To allow each other to exist and choose one's ways around, through and certainly within the multitude of all of the ways of ours, that's what I perceive as freedom. Solitude is not freedom and MMOS are not about solitude for sure. Freedom on the other hand takes effort, it is neither a permanent buff nor a measurable stat. And of course, change and freedom are intertwined. Constantly...
Should this matter remain unresolved, in my best case scenario the game will lose players, players for their own reasons will lose a game that they, the very least, liked. I don't want to see this happening, I don't want an alpha phase that tends to imitate, I don't want another lame, half-hearted, "safe" development, and I don't want to have to choose either. In any case, thank the world for being big enough I guess and go on, one way or another.
