Indeed, the shortcuts in this game so that designers don't actually have to come up with new designs are rather...peculiar. HW being an actual expansion - and look at all the "new" leveling gear reusing models from old tomestone pieces! Look at leveling dungeon drops using the very same models with different paintjobs! Meh. Void Ark also looks interesting, but yes, it also looks like a lot of rehashed designs again.
This has been increasingly glaring indeed. I don't think I've seen or heard variations of "hardware limitations" and "network restrictions" and "the team is small" and "would be too difficult" used as frequently and as many times in other games as I have been seeing and hearing it here. When at the same time boasting large numbers and reporting huge profits. It's shady and it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Just take a look at the dungeon models. ... No wait, model. I don't think there's more than one. It has been the same since...the beginning? And for quite a long while we have been saying how boring and un-fun it is. Effect? Nothing. We even get the expert dungeons reduced from three to two, and while HW brought two that were visually new, at least, 3.1 is bringing one new and one we already have. They work on adding features and new visuals and furnitures to houses? When the whole housing system is a huge letdown, with availability so disproportionate it's out of this world? With no plans on actually fixing it, just a vague "we'll add more servers in the future", when it's evident that that can't solve the core issue? Um.
This here. I clearly remember phrases like "break of trust" in regards to 1.0 - and then they went ahead and did it again, first with the housing, and a few more times with other things since then. And sorry, but I don't feel like they're working to repair any of it. The cash shop, the retainers, the hair design contest, the transfers - er. No. Just no. They might be listening to their Japanese playerbase, for all I know, but I can't feel like they're listening to anyone else, not when so many things are broken and left alone for so long. I'm not doubting the fact that they're working their butts off, either, they do seem too passionate to slack off. The problem is that the focus is not where it should be.
Viktor, you're speaking truth there.