I was thinking and talking with a friend and then it hit me. We are moving into AL's final stages of life! I think this next expansion will be the last major update for AL. Here's why:
Disclaimer: This is not a confirmation for the end of AL. This is only an assumption from mine, a player's, own perspective.
Call of Champions
So first I'll address the elephant in the room. The MOBA being released this summer. Some of you have probably already noticed the unusual amount of dev activity in the CoC section of this site. Yes, I understand that it's a game in development and they are trying to answer a lot of questions from potential players, but their presence on all the other sections have notably lowered. Many people from PL, SL, DL, and especially AL are moving over to CoC when it releases. MOBAs are pretty successful and I assume pretty soon, STS will be focusing 100% of their attention onto CoC. If CoC is executed successfully, they will continue to thrive even after severing the ties to some of their past titles. PL, SL, and DL were announced no more updates EVER last January, probably to focus more dev attention toward CoC. I can imagine them trying to squeeze as much profit out of AL as they can before they do the same to it. Most notably, by releasing...
The Next Expansion
This next expansion will be released a year and 3 months+ later than Dragon Enclave. I think AL's final cap will likely be Lv46.
Late Bug Fixes
Since January, quite a few of the old, lingering bugs have been fixed. Could this mean they are finalizing the game? Grinding out the jagged edges and smoothing out the final product?
Orcs and Goblins: New classes?
Many of you have seen the teasers from A.R.S.E.S. suggesting sightings of Orcs and Goblins. "Could this be teasers for the expansion?" Well, do Orcs and Goblins fit in the same genre of Genies? I'm not so sure. Think back to PL's final major update - the release of 2 new classes (paladin and ranger). Following this pattern, if these two creatures actually do come up to being new classes, then it'll likely be AL's final update. Something to keep players occupied for a while after the game ends to squeeze out more profit before letting its dry carcass fade away.
General Lack of Interest Among Players
Many many longtime players have left over the past year.
These are why I see AL's final days creeping up. I believe AL will die off slowly after the expansion hits by releasing reskin events one after the other until they get bored with it. They may say that AL will have lots more updates, but after the SnS controversy, I'm really not sure who to believe.
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