Before the patch, people have been asking me what nick I'm playing with. They knew I was one of them, but who? Well, the answer is simple - They knew wrong, I wasn't playing.
I havent played cRPG before the patch (0.200) for several months, because I haven't had any fun any more. At all. From all the hundreds of items available, people were wearing the ones with the best stats - or trying to get them while waiting in boredom. Because many people thought the fun starts when you finally reached that item/armor. What kind of game is that? You work hundreds of hours just to have fun, eventually?
It wasn't a game any more, it was a grinding marathon. I know some liked that, but I didn't. I am not trying to create a free2play version of WoW here, and if some got that impression, I am sorry to have wasted your time.
Am I aware of the fact that these new changes might drive quite some players away? Totally. But let me tell you one thing, what good is a game developer if he doesn't like his own product?
I'd say that depends on a devs motivation. There are, as far as I can see, two different options: a) The dev wants to play the game itself, b) the dev gets a salary.
Considering that I am sitting in an apartment with estimated 15°C, (I need all the power I can afford for the PC!), instead of sailing around the carribean with a yacht, I'd say b) cant be it. That leaves us with the egoistical option a).
I always thought it was fun if everyone could create his own char, using his own items. The point was not to outgrind other players, but to just spice the game up and give it some variety and persistance. Have your own char, live with it, with it's strength, but also with it's flaws. That is also the reason why there is no respec option.
Retrospective, the very first big patch was indeed the, in my opinion, worst decision ever. I thought "Hey, that xp function is a bit silly, after level 31 you cant upgrade your char any more! Bug! Constant progression forever!" And i thought other games do it too, so it must be for a reason. Now I realise they have a very good reason, monthly subscriptions.
But why should I have the same goal? There is no reason whatsoever for me to try and gather the largest playerbase possible. If it is a byproduct of me having fun while playing, that's great. But if I actually have to decide between maintaining a large playerbase
or creating a fun game, well - I am sorry, I want to do something that I have fun doing. I am aware that is selfish, but when I wash a car, it's mine, not my neighbours'. (Not that I could afford one
)
The decision was between stopping the project cRPG altogether, or change it radically. Therefore, keeping it as it was, was actually NO option, at least not from my side.
For everyone who wants to leave: I am sorry for every single one I have disappointed, I really hope you find a game that fits your needs and playstyle more, and thanks for being an important part of the journey.
To all the others (or new players) that still think the game is fun, let's start a new chapter and have a fun trip to see where the project cRPG ends - because I have no fucking idea.
(That's something a dev on salary can't say, yay!)
