On the subject of wipes, though...the fact that wipes hurt all and only benefit ongoing grinders should be emphasized and drilled into every player.
"Only benefit ongoing grinders" Yes. YES! If you want to make a game THIS is what you want.
If the major problem is high-gen people sucking like bloated vampires on an ever-increasing and very real bonus that came back to bite you worse than you ever imagined then deal with those people (well, chars, nothing personal
).
I would sugest, in my draconian way, to reset all chars over gen 5 to 5 and make all heirlooms x1. The screams of outrage would secretly please me.
A mod requires players. New players. With things being as they are you discourage that. This is the most horrible mistake you can make make as a games-developer. And in this I sugest that at least some of the people involved in creating this mod has SOME ambition where all this might lead them.
An old saying goes: "Build it and they will come".Though far from the solution to anyones worries the words are true enough.
A steady fanbase is a precious thing but anything that gets in the way of new blood is something that should be regarded as the cancerous parasite that it is. Personally I have 4 friends who have tried out, and still plays, this mod in the last 2 months.
And they are not worried about changes at all, but the reward for grinding a low-gen is too low, far too low, compared to other rpg's(mmo or otherwise) and they will, as many will, play something something more rewarding when the grind gets old and before any noticable difference.
Cut out that which offends and the experience is better for it.
And if the game you make is more enjoyable in the fields, on the battlements and in the crowded corridors then the old timers will return, for isnt a good game why they where here to begin with?
