Well, 2005 is just about over with. So, as there is always an annual write up of events that occur in the real world, I've decied to inclued one about events that have occured in our little fictional world! Enjoy!
New Jobs Introduced into the game:
None
Jobs Modified by SE in a positive way (by useful end game gear and or abilities):
Black Mage
Red Mage
White Mage
Samurai
Dragoon
Bard
Summoner
Paladin
Dark Knight
Monk
Warrior
Note: Most of these fall under the "end game gear category"
Jobs modified by SE in a negative way (by useful end game gear and our abilities):
Ranger- Ranged Attack Nerf
Ninja- Shadow Nerf
Beastmaster- Release Nerf
Jobs untouched by SE in any way (by useful end game gear and or abilities):
Thief- Hasn't gotten anything new since Dragon Harness, released at the end of 04.
Positive Actions SE has implemented:
- Lots of new areas added to the game via the CoP expansion.
- For most jobs, lots of useful gear added.
- More difficult and challenging monsters created.
- MPK a thing of the past.
Negative Actions SE has implemented:
-The "adjustments" to NM drops. This has caused those items to sky rocket in price to where newbs who couldn't camp the items, but could farm up the money, can no longer even farm up the money. (Example: Emp Haripin from 1 mil > 3 mil)
-The terrible side effects of the anti-mpk patch (i.e. mobs vanishing if pullers get too far from them, etc).
Problems that SE has not implemented any actions against:
-Gillsellers. This is probably the most prominent of these categories. SE has done effectively nothing to combat the gillsellers (i.e. all they have done is move them around to other camps).
-Oncoming Depression in Economy. The price of gear is outrageous, at all time high's in the server's history (example, scorp harness 3 weeks ago = 6 mil. scorp harness now = 10mil).
-The Linear aspect of the game. It is impossible to accomplish anything still unless you have the right people (i.e. you cannot level unless you have the proper setup, you cannot do missions unless you have the proper setup).
Overall Rating of SE's actions on the game this year:
7/10
SE has done some pretty awesome things; they have made alot of jobs uber, and have added some new fun to the game. However, they get a 7/10 because they have also ignored some pretty huge issues in the game. I being a thief would give them a 1/10 for ignoring us completely throughout this year (all of the gear they have given us has been worthless. Dex+2 AF+1 pants, come on -_-). However, they have done alot of good things for other jobs, and I can't simply overlook that because I'm pissed off at how much they've ignored us.
So, good job SE, you're passing.
But you better step it up for next year, as you are no longer the "newest" popular MMORPG. WoW is quickly draining your members and unless you implement something fast (which I believe they will, with the "Treasures" expansion), the server sizes are going to be reduced by half, leaving around a thousand actual real players.