SK - Seriously?

I am forced to correct someone. Again.

It's not tradition for protests on an MMO after a significant change. It's tradition for huge protests anywhere in the world with significant /bad/ changes. Significant good changes could easily not bring about protests. Why? Because they'd be good. Take the AH Patch. If everything didn't autobind, and crafting costs didn't skyrocket, would more than half the player base have quit right then and there? And don't think I'm making that up, this is back when gates /had/ to be filled to become active. And the fill requirements were slashed so dramatically after the patch. Why? Because the patch, with all of its bad, made that many people quit.

Saying a bad update is 'an excuse to quit' is a declaration to one's own ignorance. To pretend a very bad update isn't a driving force behind quitting, instead of "an excuse" may as well be classified as denial with just how ignorant it is. Take, for instance, Star Wars Galaxies, one of the worst patches in the history of gaming. How slow do you have to be to say that completely bastardizing the game isn't a driving force behind almost the entire player base quitting? While SK hasn't had as horrible patches, to say some of them weren't driving forces to quit is just silly.

And no, learning about what you're protesting against isn't hypocrisy. It's learning whether or not to continue the protest.

Now, I am forced to explain why some people actually play games. Why some people play games is for challenge, not to show off. Showing off might be a happy benefit, but many real gamers want to be challenged. But saying a reason people are mad is because it's too hard to show off your superiority is fairly uneducated.

People enjoy N+, Super Meat Boy, Demon's Souls, Dark Souls... Now, imagine, one day, out of the blue, a patch comes out for one of those games while you're playing. Missiles don't home anymore, it takes three buzz saws to kill you, and enemies can't follow you while attacking. If you enjoyed it for being challenging, and that happened... Would you enjoy it as much anymore? Would quitting after that patch make the patch "just an excuse" or a driving force behind quitting?

Now, some people paid money to get better gear to better approach these challenges. Even create bigger challenges purposely to better challenge themselves. What happens when the very basis for that challenge gets pulled right out of the game, the enemies themselves becoming significantly weaker to the point you'd have to hold still just to get hit? After you had just /paid/ to fight something more challenging?

And no, Biz and I don't buy regular amounts of ce enough to drive the entire energy markets. We're not vital to the game, no. But if we quit, it does mean something, especially if we're driven to by a patch. And no, the patch wouldn't be "an excuse" to quit if it pisses us off enough. But it would make veterans realize just how bad the game has gotten.

Now, for the new players... Many people trying to get into SK are regularly turned away by the difficulty, not of the game, but of crafting any equipment. Energy regularly gets more expensive, and only recently has Three Rings found a way to pump more energy into the market without just adding it themselves; Featured Auctions. This encourages people to sell off their large stocks of ce to get enough crowns to, usually, afford a pair of wings, but as all the vets get what wings they want, the effect of the auctions will slowly diminish. A newbie buying ce with cr, and being forced to play only on mist, will eventually give in and buy ce with money, or just quit the game. Normally, the latter.

You could say that the visuals aren't important to keeping someone playing, rather than actual gameplay... And being allowed at all to enjoy said gameplay. But I can't imagine it'll be very enjoyable at this point for most now that it's so blatantly easy, which will lead newbies to "It's not worth it." And considering Aga was at one point "sold" by the difficulty in a Danger Room...

And finally, we have the patch itself:

A Gremlin dodging when you shoot things at it wasn't a bug. When you see a bullet, do you just eat it with your face or move the hell out the way? No, it was a realistic response.

No, Retrodes didn't kill you the moment you spawned unless you were blind deaf and dumb. Even if you were right next to them. It still took them a moment to attack. In that moment, there are plenty of things that could be done. 1) Repel 2) Move 3) Block 4) Heavy Sword it away. It not being fun would only be to people who are too slow to not only consider all of these options and then do one of them.

And worst of all, the Wolvers and Zombies. They take so long to attack, and are guaranteed to miss unless you waltz right up in front of them and wait for them to finish their charge. These equate to the difficult of a Tier 1 Jelly. A limited turn radius would be just as bad, because it'll still be too slow and unrealistic. If you see something you wanna hit, you turn and hit the fucker. You don't swing/bite like a fat kid stumbling forward.

And they weren't mistakes, either. Enemies now sit, and wait, going "Go ahead, bro, do whatever you want for a moment. Kill me instantly if you want, I'm just gonna stand here." Saying that out loud, anyone would think /that/ was a mistake.

When a game you enjoyed for the challenge becomes bastardized and easy, to say it's a stupid reason to quit makes you the biggest idiot of all. And even moreso when you say something just as retarded as 'Three Rings listens to its players.'