ITT: See oldmy old friends clash with newmy old friends clash with wannabe oldmy old friends.
Seriously. What is wrong with you all? We are all playing the same game and yes, it has changed and some of us might not even remember or might not have been around for that long. But almost every change has been for the better. 1 step back and two steps forward. chadz & Co have been very successful, dare I even say groundbreaking in their conceptual innovations. A lot of developers could learn a lot from these two.
Mod now aside and more onto delving in the problem with our community and why today's community will not go nicely with old cRPG: cmp mentioned early in this thread that player skill was far from what it is today, and the novelty factor, which could be translated to "OMG that guy has plate! *_*", is no longer actual. One legendary day I remember racking up 64 kills with no deaths until being ended by a teammate, I was using full milanese and matching plate mittens and greaves while sporting a flamberge with the 2h animations, except for thrust of course. Today this is not possible at all. It saddens me because I have been forced to deal with the consequences of my behaviour back then(giant asshat with an even bigger ego).
Anyway, as much as I miss the old cRPG it will never be reality again. That is why I think most people romanticize it. It was a horrible grindfest to get that 10k flamberge and 20k milanese plate, but you kept going because you saw how few players were using them and it was an exclusive feeling when you got the items. Nowadays, any fool can get plate, but it is nothing special anymore. Individual skill is no longer the only factor to success but how well you can abuse a long spear and how many people are charging in your gank squad. But what can we, who dream of olden days when we were heroes, do about it? Nothing at all. So that's why you have to adapt, and accept the fact that things will never be what they once was. Harsh and grim words but true nonetheless.
Tip for new players reading this thread not having a clue about what is being talked about: If you want to level fast, join a big clan like Byzantium and use their exclusive banner. It will take you approx. one week to reach lvl 30, if not less. Also works for veteran players tired of being pubstomped. If you can't beat them, join them.