So... why are you still here?

Great:

* The game is completely ****ing gorgeous. Seriously, it's a really damn beautiful, wellmade game with quite original bosses and mobs (some more, some less, some recolors). It's also the only game I've found with such an extensive character customization, even being able to change the cheekbone of a character.

* The story is good, if you actually bother with reading quests and stuff like that.

* Personally, I think the community is great. It's just the ones that treat EXP like it can only be found in the cashshop that can be annoying (OMG STUPID CLERIC WHY U NO HEAL!!!!!!????? you know the drill).


Bad:

* The management completely sucks ***. The first time Anni packs came out it was a major dip for the game but it was getting better until they brought it back "because of popular demand" and then it went downhill, slowly but surely, especially when they were never taken out again and only changed name and shape.

* The management sucks utter ***. They punish people who do not abuse glitches to super power level or get millions of coins worth of stuff while they promote cheating by not punishing botters or bug abusers. Then they remove cool bugs like the one where you could quickly switch around weapons and it bugged out so you could use axe skills with a bow (it would actually be your axes, it was just the bow visionally).

Which side wins?

The positive side.

Why do I stay?

I will stay until the alleged rumours that they will force everyone to use Arc or not be able to play come true, which I am not surprised at all if it happens, considering it's the worst possible idea they could ever have. Why? The **** bugs out completely and just turns into a black box when I try to start it on my comp.

1. Name one or more reasons why this game is good (great is too strong a word to describe it).

Mildly interesting subject matter, the storyline is good if time is taken to follow the quests and play the game right)
Colourful graphics but not too cartoony like some other MMOs
It cures my boredom (sometimes)
You can leave it for a bit and come back and still pick up where you left off fairly easily (I left for a year and settled back in quite well a couple of months back)
I've invested a lot of time and money to make it good for me
I have made some fantastic friends in game some of whom still play

2. Name one or more reasons why this game is not so great (or downright sucks).

Lack of communication from anyone up above.
Unhelpful/Selfish players, no community spirit, greed reigns supreme. I remember back several years ago on DW Calamity had regular boss days where they would all gather and get people through mini bosses. Nobody does this on such a large scale anymore, well not unless for profit. (Maybe its because there aren't any proper new players anymore and everyone has a toon that can solo them I don't know.)
Abusers don't get properly punished
Economy is horrendous and nothing seems to be able to fix it. If this was a rl world economy a bail out would've been needed a long time ago
The game is too focused on end game when back at the start it was more the journey that was the focus.

3. Which side wins out in your opinion?

Lots of negatives in the game but I still enjoy playing it so i'm gna go the positive.

4. I'm assuming the majority of people reading this still play the game and you're certainly reading the forums. If the negative side won for you, why are you still here?

I picked positive however that being said there are some days where I just don't feel like logging and to be honest while I enjoy playing the game I wouldn't lose any sleep if they closed it.

i stick around for friends, nuff said

The Nice Things:

Nostalgia. This was my first game, after all; I started right after Age of Spirits was released. Something about this game just got under my skin immediately.

Customization is great, especially with .ini editing. In PWI, the only characters that look the same are the ones who are preset models.

The world is open and feels enormous and varied. The game's dungeons and regions all have their own distinct atmosphere.

Races all posses a unique identity and their classes suit them well. Even we elves aren't your generic fantasy elves.

Lots of wonderful people play and have played this game.

You can technically achieve anything you want provided you farm for it.

The...Not-so-nice Things:

Levels 1-99 are typically barren, and also go way too fast in my opinion. It results in a lot of people who are in the 100's level-wise but barely have any knowledge of their class. I know it is a trope of PWI 'veterans' to complain about this with an unprogressive heavy-handedness, but it really seems to be a problem. That aside, the experience of a low level today versus a low level in 2008-2010 PWI is very...different. And lonely. Eventually, most people would rather just hyper through to 100 to be with the rest of their fac mates than play through most of the game's content.

Likewise, people aren't as enthusiastic to help with low-level FBs and culti, whereas when I first started, even the high levels were excited to help with something as simple as an FB19. And they wouldn't just solo-pull all the mobs into one big spot and AOE them, they'd invite other people even though they weren't needed, and it would be a social experience. My very first FB ever got me hooked on the game because of how much fun the group who did it for me made it. I also had other experiences where I'd take an alt to FB19 and do it with an at-level squad of level 19-22s. People just wanted to have fun, even if we died many times. We tried to strategize how to survive, all of us new and relatively inexperienced. I was disappointed when I began to notice a distinct lack of at-level squadding, and I think it's these experiences that were the most fun for me playing this game.

Everyone, even new players, hyper.

The flashy, dare I say gaudy models/textures of new areas, weapons and armor don't look right next to most of the game. This is a small gripe, though. Some people like the way they look. To me, they just look cheap imo.

The management is pretty rough sometimes, but I have seen worse. Same goes for the economy. At /least/ in-game coin still has value, and we aren't trading boutique items as the main currency as is the case in some F2Ps.

Power creep homogenizes classes in PVE. Anyone can tank and solo anything provided their gear is absurd enough.

Farming does become incredibly time-consuming and important to maintaining competitiveness to the point where it is literally the main thing people are concerned with in-game.

Which side wins out?

Well, as much as I wish this wasn't the case, the negatives win out for me. Personally, I prefer the game the way it was when I started, if only for the fact that there was just lots more activity throughout all zones and levels. Now, if I play and level a character, most of the game feels very lonely to the point where I feel like I am playing a bad single-player RPG. You can't do anything with an at-level squad anymore; all you can ever find is high levels who just want to burn through it so they can get back to spamming BH or selling FCC. If you're like me and don't really like the idea of power-leveling, it's kind of disheartening. I'm not trying to sound like I have disdain for power levelers and the like, but the game basically gives you no choice if you actually want to have company while you play outside of faction chat.

Why Am I Still Here?

I like to help my fac mates, and now and again I find people who aren't necessarily looking to be level 10X and in full G16 +10 by the end of their first week here. It's fun to partner up with fellow oddballs to just quest and relieve my need for stimulation while working on a particularly tedious assignment for school. I find I often return to PWI when I am very stressed and just need something that is ultimately familiar and redundant to occupy one side of my brain while the other does actual work. If no such kindred spirit manifests, I sit in Arrivals opening TT for fac mates or random people while goofing around in fac chat or help run the occasional lowbie BH.