Hi there! 

Here's my 2 cents on stuff... idk if it will help or not;  I mean it can either be taken as completely useless (i.e. ROFL N00B NO ONE CARES!) or a brutally honest viewpoint from the outside looking in.

I played here really casually for 2 years or so.. and fully quit around the time T5 was revamped (when bosses started being casters.. so like half a year ago? I can't remember).  Only had a few UC1 done and made it to T6, so... far far from uber type player!  I'm here right now because I like to see what's new or what neat content is being updated from time to time.  I don't know why

Anyway, I pray my post isn't taken as a troll and/or a rant.  It's just being honest (and of course, JUST one person's opinion!).  Here goes:

What made this server easy to quit was the community.  I just really got the impression after a good while that the player base here on EZ is generally just a negative bunch.  It was apparent in /ooc and apparent here on the msg boards.  IMO this is no surprise when you look at the format of this server:  It's a solo server.  Your 18 boxes don't count as group play.  There is no /ooc 70 mag LFG.  Ever.  Everyone is wrapped up doing their own thing.  Nothing wrong with that, but don't be surprised when people who are looking to play one character and have fun grouping don't stick around.

I personally enjoyed boxing on live, and would sometimes box on raids.  It was fun! ..with 2 boxes ~_~ I think it's awesome when I see the videos of some of you guys handling three groups with macros and doing a jillion dps.  Unfortunately I just found trying to box a full group to be cumbersome and inefficient at best; downright maddening at worst.  But this is a 'suit yourself' type of thing, for sure!  It's just the reason I personally was turned off by EZ the further I went.  If you guys are wondering why the population is getting stagnant... I dunno... this may be a possible reason why /shrug !

Hunter... sigh... I got the impression he knew his plan, knew what he was doing, knew how to balance stuff, knew how to best go forward.  Everything.  I think everyone really trusted his ideas and vision for the server.  I really can't say the same for new management.  Not trying to hurt any feelings so I'll leave it at that.

Lastly, a big turn-off was just the one-two punch of a lack of fresh ideas + timesinks.  As I was rolling through T6 confidently, it just hit me like a truck:  okay, now you'll have to do this literally hundreds of times before you're set for T7.  ...and all it really was for was just so I could turn this 6k item into a 8k item (or whatever the actual value was  ).  Wait, didn't I just do this process in T5 ?  Yup!!

Anyway, feel free to pick apart my post!  It's a great server honestly and I pray that it'll stay healthy just for you guys sake!  Be kind to each other 

Finally managed to kill a druid boss in T5 with tier-appropriate gear and just a 6-man group.

I'll admit (without any qualms) I'm a lazy gamer/EQ'er so for someone like me, SoD is a pain in the ass (lol).  It forced me to be attentive and adapt.  Which is great, honestly, but I could see someone getting into T5 for the 1st time and pretty much quitting out of frustration.

IMHO, SoD could be toned down a bit, but in its current state, it IS doable without an UW, enchanter, 18 box, or help from someone in an upper tier.

[entitlement]

Here's my somewhat unique opinion on the UW:

I was a hardcore EQ'er 10 years ago on live... the kind of player that played for 14 hours a day, every day, for years.  Had the best gear, had full AAXP when expansions were released, and an elitist attitude to match.  If there was an item that required a LOOONG camp that was as 'game-breaking' as Verant / Sony allowed in game, I probably owned it.

What irked me back then was entitlement.  By that, I mean the endless threads and posts from people who wanted everything... wanted their epics, wanted gear that scaled better for raid gear, wanted AAXP nerfed, wanted flagged/keyed zones unlocked because "they paid full price for the game just like everyone else and wanted the entire product".  And who wanted all this?  The people with families, the people with FT jobs, the people who just played for fun because they had a life and liked to escape for an hour or two a day.

...lol, and you had folks like me: sitting back, getting angry over SOE catering to this crowd of "slackers" by nerfing this and nerfing that...shaking my head, screaming to simply pay your dues and you can indeed have it all.  But don't think for a second you're getting the same pixels as I get by playing 1/7 of the time I did.  It pissed me off to no end to see my time and effort minimized patch after patch.

Years later, I still feel that way.  I still feel that, here on EZ, the best items should never be close to accessible by the casuals...and that the difference between the best and the rest should be significant.
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Only problem (personally) is that I'm now, 10 years later, that casual player.  I don't deserve an UW and will never have one, and that's fine.  But I'm still an elitist, if that makes sense!

Long story short:  I'm on team UW.  Don't nerf the UW, for God's sake... keep them amazing, to reward the players who put in their time (very long time), and ignore the entitled, unwashed masses.

Thanks for listening~