Its been a year and a few of months since i joined this game. Back then looking at others play and learning new stuffs was actually quite fun, plus the maps were fun to do and i was enthusiastic about going into the game. Made a lot of friends and actually liked the interactions happening in the AL community.
But over time I noticed a lot of good stuffs happening in the game along with loads and loads of bad updates too. Let me just highlight a few of them which personally caught my attention :
1. First major awesome update I saw was the introduction of para gems into the game. I was quite new when the Halloween event started but still managed to get one gem. They were game changing gems and everyone worked towards getting one or a few of them. For those who didnt get them, they hoped next year they ll get another chance to earn one. But we saw how well that went. A gem that sought to bring balance into the game brought a major imbalance to the game. Ironic if you ask me.
2. Next came the planar tombs and arena. Personally it was a major fun farming place for me. Though hard it was one of the main maps that allowed me to become a better class. Making gold became easier with the introduction of the tombs. But here again came the presence of an item called the planar pendant recipe, farmable at the planar arena which was elusive to most of the AL community who actually spent hours farming that recipe with no result. What was funny here was that most of the time the actual hard-core farmers didnt get one recipe, while people running the arena for the first time received a recipe on their first run. We were notified on the "LUCK" part of the the drops. But i feel a person should get lucky at least 1 time out of a 1000 runs no matter how bad their luck is. Today we reach a "balanced" era where recipes drop ever so frequently.
3. Next came the winter event along with the eyes. Though the community were apprehensive about the gem, sts made sure it was worth it and made it a very good and efficient gem which came as a major help in pvp arena. People again hoped it would come back but one starts to get the feeling after a few disappointments that relying on STS to bring back balance to the game is "Hoping" for a bit too much.
4. Back then events came with a special vanity as prize which fetched good price and made it worth it for lb runners to run the event. But now one still remains unsure whether or not to run it. The elon event of 2014 also helped bring one of the most OP pets of the game SNS into the arena. Pets have a limited life span after which they can be replaced by a new better pet. A year and a half has gone by and SNS is still one the most OP PvE pets. One starts to get doubts about the "Balance" part of the game.
5. Lets move on to 2015. We started off with gauntlet, which initially had its charm but lost its value when it was run more then frequently in a single year without much rewards. Also a bug allows people not running the event to get the banner for free. STS is very generous. Same goes for a few titles. Some people spemd loads of gold to earn a title, others can just rely on a bug to give them one.
6. Valentines event and Egg events were one of the best of the year. Everyone worked towards their goals and also got the chance to make gold. Looked like STS was heading back to its old days of fun and communications.
7. A lot of hype and mentions of the expansion came up. Everyone got excited about what it was and what new changes the expansion was going to bring. Fingers crossed. Before the expansion came, the goblin event and the elon event came up. Quite exciting with the new portals granting special entry to bonus boss. Though people were disappointed over SNS not returning. We were instead rewarded with COC vanities. So much better. YAY!!
8. Expansion has arrived by now. But wait, there are only 3 maps?! after all that hype we get three maps? okay cool. maybe more will be added later. Lets check the new gears. But wait we arent notified about a few important parts of the gears like the requirement of the legendary gear to be completed before getting to the myth quest. Plus the elusive inisgnias. But no worries maybe the myth set is worth it. *in comes the myth set*. WOW! i mean its great but i think i ll stick to my old arcane ring and old planar pendant though i still have to work for the parts of the set i dont need. Adding to it the again another elusive ingredient the orc fangs. It will take a few months at least to complete it.
9. Gems were removed and it was actually hoped that the jewels would be good. Was impressed by the looks during the expansion teasers. But man, was i expecting too much? The jewel drop rates were like so good i wouldnt have to spend years to get jewels for my whole set. Well at least that ensures i will be playing the game for a while. Plus the jewels still dont compare to the gems. Especially the para and eye gems. Great!
10. Entry of Halloween event and birthday event. Wait why are the events still a vanity event? cant we get anything else other then a vanity? maybe the para gem which everyone was waiting for?
11. SNS too returns to the games. Maybe one of the best balance updates of the year. Also giving the plat buyers an incentive to open locks. After the expansion most plat buyers lost the will to use plat because over time it was not worth it. So they try opening a few massives hoping for SNS. But disappointment follows. Ok no worries better luck next time
12. Did i mention about class balance in the game? I mean if it is balance one is looking for then all classes should be equal in some way in competitive strength. Hmm....but it looks like STS plays favoritism. Rouges become the best class and warriors are neglected while mages are treated as a joke. Balance sure feels nice doesnt it?! All updates made to make other classes better are just minor and doesnt make a difference over the omnipotent rouges. I originally started out as a warrior, and the lower maps were quite good with them. Maybe it was after kraken expansion that sts decided warriors dont need any more update and ignored them from there on.
13. We come over to the Winter event, which SURPRISE!! is another vanity event. And also having a title as a prize to "LUCKY" people. Now thats hilarious. Well we ll see how this event goes :)
People may feel I am ranting here and this post might even be deleted. Wont be surprised there. But the thing is i pointed everything out so that STS looks at what made them better and what made them lose trust of the community from what i have seen in a year of this game. I have always asked my friends to join this game. Now I am not sure i want to. STS has built a wonderful game with one of the best communities. Fixing a few problems can go a long way to making the game better. Thats what i think.
Otherwise a merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance to STS and the community. Enjoy :)
