I'm not an experienced mage player and I don't like the idea of elevating guys who can put 100 hours a week into their character above your casual player, or newbie. I do, however, enjoy a challenge.

Changes like ABS can be tedious but at the same time I do find it challenging, like empowerment. For all the downsides presented by these two aspects I wouldn't cut them out of the game entirely because the game would become a little more boring, a little less immersive.

I had the time of my life as a newbie trying to work things out, survive, learning the ropes, exploring. You know why? It was all new, all challenging and it kept me hooked. I enjoy these changes for the challenge they embody. Yes, I get burnt out exploring everywhere with mages with incredibly gay sets after 200 hours, but I get a rush when I find a new location. Just because you want an easy life, don't ruin my enjoyment.

And those guys who did the legwork for the original lists still won't want for ABS if they need them, they just might have to settle for slightly less potent limited wands, but for every sleek location they find they'll probably find another 2 limited wands. It's just crap that after all their hard work originally they'll have to find more locations. I have no active characters currently purely because of time restraints. Not ABS, not empowerment, not lack of RP. Real life just caught up. I'm not 16 without any responsibility anymore.

Edit: CF takes time, effort and concentration. It's a game where you will experience heartbreaking lows and exhilirating highs. I just can't handle the hours it saps from other activities anymore and I know a lot of other people are in the same boat. I wish I could play casually; an hour here and there but I can't, I play and I'm hooked, doing 60 hour weeks until my eyes are sore and my fingers are callused so I don't play anymore.

PS: CF is still a great fucking game and the Imm team deserve respect. They've been bending over backwards to accommodate the slowly dwindling playerbase's requests. They're more active now than ever. Some of you guys give them a lot of shit that is completely unjustified. If I was Zulg, or Daev, or Baer, or Valg, I would have just upped and walked away from it long before them. It's no wonder some of their responses on officials come across as caustic. Anyone who has an inkling of how much work their (more or less unpaid) job entails would show more respect.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2009 06:56AM by istirith.