I guess it's time

[Thayos]

Has Aquapolis really been out long enough to be deemed a success or failure? Maybe people forget how popular Diadem was when it first came out then tappered off after the adjustments.

The amount of venom and contempt experienced in the early days of Diadem was pretty telling of its failure. It was too long, aimless and completely boring. It was a failure even while it was still populated. I can't remember a single time in there when the overwhelming feeling was, "wow, this is fun!" It was basically a massive instanced hunt zone with everyone zerging the same monsters... not fun by any measure. At least in normal hunts, you have to look for the marks.

Hardcore players were pissed over the amount of senseless grinding required for the best drops; more casual/midcore players like me were pissed that Diadem wasn't the new, accessible form of endgame we'd hoped for. Really, SE just completely missed the mark by designing content that pretty much nobody wanted.

Aquapolis already feels way more successful. It is bite-sized fun that anyone can jump into. It doesn't waste anyone's time, and lets friends in FCs group up for stress-free fun. Even better, it breathed life into one of the game's other content systems -- treasure map hunting -- which is also good for casual diversions and for the economy. The fact that Aquapolis isn't making people hate the game already puts it far ahead of Diadem, imo.