The fact of the matter is

[Betelgeuzah]

The fact of the matter is that no matter what they do to the game, what their claiming system ends up being like, how they will handle payment, how the zones will be redesigned, how the new combat will look like, how many races there are, and whether the endgame consists of raids or something else...

The game will always, always be chained by its server structure and engine. Nothing they can do will make as much (and enough) of an impact than the server and engine overhauls.

We can entertain ourselves with what 1.18 and 1.19 have to offer, but the game will never become even mildly successful unless the performance receives a significant boost. Even if the gameplay was actually decent and there was a lot of content, the already dated and dying old geezer of an engine that doesn't bend to do anything easily will pull the game back and kill it off.

It's extremely important to ram these facts into the developers heads so that all the patches so far haven't been for nothing. They need to do enough, and they need to do it right. If they're not willing, or capable, they may as well close the shop because nothing else matters more.

It is rather sad that at the end of the day we won't know whether this game will become worth the brand name until all this is dealt with, since we don't even have a rough date to go by, but its not important as long as its on the way and they are taking the task seriously.

Fortunately if they succeed, the game will see improvement in a way that is larger than anything we have experienced so far. It will be truly a game-changing update and the difference will be like night and day. Everything else pales in comparison.