Disclaimer: This post may contain biased views!
Back in march 2010, when i started this game (on the 22nd server) i was completely drawn in by the magic. The big fields with two opposing armies facing off in fight of biblical proportions. Most people were decked in misc gear and there were almost zero knights, horses were rare, few snipers (1-2), some range and a massive amount of melee players. There were debates about the best skill-route, armors, players etc.
Then drama ensued and cRPG changed,
Now instead of the 222 slot server the 22nd clan provided, we had a small 60 slot server ( got upgraded fast tho). Maps changed from open fields to more infantry friendly. Gold & experience gain was slow, and there was a soft-cap to level. Some started to power-level and in a few days/weeks more knights emerged. Medium armor became the norm. The game was still awesome fun, and there was a much larger quantity of melee players as opposed to ranged & cavalry. People were still unsure about the class-routes as there was quite a bit of math behind it all.
Then some shitkid decided to ddos cRPG, which resulted in a database-wipe.
chadz improved much in cRPG, but the players had gone from casuals to power-gamers. Ill admit i was once counted among them, playing for hours upon hours, caught in the mindless hunt for the next level and new armor.
Now everyone was looking to maximize their exp & gold gain. After a few days some people had heavy armor (which had earlier been reserved for a few dedicated gamers, among them BNCshrek, the first to reach black-armor). A week passed, and just like that, heavy armor was now the norm. But it did not stop there; horses, xbows and archers emerged in massive numbers.
Now a few months laters, there are hardly any people not following one of the cookie-cutter builds. Maps has changed to cater for increasing population of cavalry & range. It has been days, if not weeks since i last played a battle on a map that favored infantry.
Q: What does the above text have to do with the current siege phenomena?
Nothing and everything.
You see, in this gaming era everyone feels entitled to be the hero. No one will settle for the side-kick. In the start people were more relaxed towards this game, but as it became more and more popular, the min-maxing started. Now we have a influx of range & mounted players, in addition to the tin-cans. You can no longer play the game as you see fit, if you intend to make a name for yourself (there are of-course exceptions to every rule). Even skilled Mount & blade vets are using the most overpowered armors and weapons, even in duels. After some of the custom made weapon & armors made it into this mod, the old weapons have seen little to no use. Tears are a perfect example of this; It got range, speed and damage, why would anyone use anything else? AFAIK the ninja clan is the only clan still using some form of equipment code for their members. Im happy with my choice of being a ninja, but sometimes, when i lose to worse players because everyone else is using the most ridiculous weapons & armors, i get frustrated.
Thrown into this mix of crazed power-gamers are the casuals and the people refusing to play the min-max game. After dying repeatably to projectiles and horse-bumps for months now, i think people have finally found a sanctuary, still somewhat untouched by the taint thats plaguing the rest of the game. Its so relaxing not to be forced to spin 360 degrees all the time, to look for incoming cavs in additional to dodging arrows. And even if you get shot to pieces, you only have to wait a maximum of 30 seconds before you are up and running again.
I have no clue what future lays ahead of cRPG..
Only chadz and a handful of people really have a clue on how the future cRPG will look like. I doubt the players mentality will change for the better, min-maxing is here to stay. However steps can be taken to ensure a fair and fun game for everyone.
