Okay this is my first post in 7 months but here goes:
There isn't the playerbase of veteran PvPers left to do something like this. We're gone ... most of us anyways.
In 2011, at around level 61, I did make a general post addressing these issues:
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...-from-the-past
I could update and create a new thread based on the outcome of the 66 sets, but there does not seem to be the demand that there once was.
At the time, it was ignored, although the 66 level (at least before Angel and the other gear was released) was acceptably balanced (I do feel that the dex sets needed a slight buff). Then the Angel sets threw everything right out the window. But it did give most players what they wanted - an easy set that with elixirs meant OP PvE domination.
For PvPers, it led to the complete removal of a skill cap. The reason - as was indicated here, luck-based PvP. To be honest, I suspect that in many ways, it's what the majority of the "Mynas generation" would have wanted as well. The reason being, well, becoming good at PvP in PL, whether it was tweaking or endgame required a lot of practice and careful tuning. It's like everything else in life - to be good at something that commands respect, something worth doing, it requires effort. For example, how many times did twinkers spend a bit of platinum to modify their builds to get a slight benefit? The problem is of course, newer PvPers did not want to put in the effort and thousands of kills/deaths that it takes to become truly good at something. In that regard, these "luck" based sets are merely answering the wishes of a large portion of the PL playerbase.
I do not believe however that this was STS' intention, but it was the end result. Of course, such a short term focus does have long term consequences - namely the attrition of the core player base. To be more specific, the problem isn't that the core playerbase is leaving (that happens with time), it's that no new players stepped up to replace that core. You do not for example, see a new generation of Ellyidols, Physiologics, etc nor a new generation of high end PvPers. An oldie would understand. Although core players only represent a small percentage of a playerbase, in any game, I do find that they have a disproportionate impact on the outcome of a game. I should also mention that quite a few people I knew appear to have been banned since I left - many of these were prominent people on the forums and in the PL community so the impact would have been substantial.
A while back, I also wrote another thread, noting that if STS continued on their current path, it would lead to the long term decline of PL. Well - I would argue that has happened. I think that STS knows this as well, and hence, the almost complete abandonment of PL and the re-focus of pretty much all efforts on AL. Eventually, I suspect it will happen to AL as well, at which point a new game will have to take over.
Edit:
If there is demand for it, I could put together a thread making recommendations on how a PL "revival" could occur, although I highly doubt it will be acted upon.
Bookmarks