Quote:
Originally Posted by Peppers
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I have heard rumors that there are guilds who are purposely training, exploiting, using mq and/or other hacks. I also hear rumors of two boxing.
Can anyone confirm or deny or otherwise shed light on these issues? I am not an elite player yet and I have no way of knowing what is going on in the top guilds. If someone would be kind enough to elaborate the current situation, I would be grateful.
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The current situation is that server population has bottomed out to lower averages than VZTZ on its deathbed. The reason for the low population is a lack of confidence in the game's administrators to enforce rules equally rather than selectively.
In this case, and as distinct from VZTZ, Amelinda has show the integrity to admit the mistake on the part of the staff (she stated that Holocaust were not permanently banned after being caught exploiting Nagafen because the staff was aware that Nihilum had used the same exploit repeatedly for weeks and the staff had failed to take action).
Supposedly the server admins are going to remove the dragon loot that Nihilum obtained through exploiting, but as of yet this has not happened. Until it does, many will question the wisdom of subjecting themselves to a time sink to reach the level cap, knowing that they are competing against cheaters who are effectively sponsored by the server's admins.
One of the most important aspects for maintaining an audience in online games is the perception of an equal playing field. This is why WoW was so much more successful than Everquest... because in WoW even the worst players can reach the level cap and become decently geared. This allows bad players to be able to tell themselves "I'm a good player."
Everquest is different because anyone who plays for a significant amount of time knows that their ability to advance is predicated on time investment and relationships with other players. The perception of an even playing field in Everquest influences players such as myself (who have wives, kids, jobs, bands, etc...) who didn't have the time to invest to be lvl 46 by now. We must stop and consider if it's worth it to keep grinding, knowing that when we reach planar level we will be competing against two guilds that cheated on a massive scale and were given a pass for it by the server's admins.