Panzerwaffen

Along with Regen too!!

And this kind of attitude causes companies to go out of business every day, when customers go elsewhere.

Don't give them any ideas.. After the silliness they just tried with the pirate costume power, I wouldn't put it past them.

Did anyone really think that VIP players were not going to be expected to pony up real money in this new business model? Since they seem to be unable to control the constant bleed of subscribers, they're going to have to nickel & dime the fewer & fewer remaining diehards as much as possible to keep the sinking ship afloat.

Game balance: How I miss thee...

Whether there is a "best" place is certainly arguable, but clearly some places are much better than others, simply based on frequency and number of low level bosses. I can usually get my 3 tips filled within about 30 seconds of zoning into the right zone and knowing the best spots to hit.

Sure about that?

Assault
PBAoE, Team +DMG, Res(Taunt, Placate)
Effect area Sphere
Radius 60 feet

Maneuvers
PBAoE, Team +DEF(All)
Effect area Sphere
Radius 60 feet

Tactics
PBAoE, Team +To Hit, Res(Confuse, Fear), +Perception
Effect area Sphere
Radius 60 feet

That's exactly the point of the F2P model. I have no doubt that they've got the points and costs calculated to the nth degree, and subscribers will get almost enough 'free' with their subscription to equate to what they got before F2P, but not quite, so as to encourage us to pay more money than we were before the change.

Don't forget to add Blasters in there. They have a lot more melee power than Tankers too..

This. The game is easy enough as it is. No need to dumb it down even more.. I'm very happy to see something that requires some teamwork & just a tiny bit more effort than randomly mashing buttons on the keyboard for success.

Show me a hard control that works on a +4 AV with one application, and I might agree with you.. Otherwise, nope.

None of which are an MMORPG.

So, would you claim that the majority of the general MMO player base prefers to play solo & dislikes teaming? I think it's obvious how silly a claim that would be.

As far as data goes, the developers have access to plenty of it, and have a much better idea what the majority of existing, and perhaps more importantly, potential players desire from an MMO. The recent development direction of the game is a pretty clear indicator of what they think is important to those players. And that's teaming with other players.

They're not doing this for their own amusement. They're doing this to keep a business running and profitable. They are going to allocate resources based on what appeals to the largest number of players.

What about it? People socialize all the time while playing single player games or multiplayer games like L4D or CoD. Doesn't make those games MMORPGs. Heck, I can socialize at work while I'm using Excel... Pretty sure Excel isn't claiming to be a MMORPG.

Never claimed it was the "sole reason" for playing an MMO. Nice strawman though..

And again, I'm not saying the devs should ignore solo players completely. I'm not saying teaming is the only way to play the game. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with wanting to play solo sometimes, or even all the time. I do those things myself.

However, when you break an MMO down to its core concept, it's about people playing with other people. Rationalize all you want, it won't change that simple & basic concept..

No, it's not. Doesn't matter how many times certain people repeat it, or how much it gets rationalized, the point of an MMO is for people to play together. That is what the vast majority of players want, and that is why people subscribe in the first place. Otherwise they'd just be playing any of the huge number of single player games that are out there.

Yes, there MAY be other options, but an MMO is designed around people teaming. It is to be expected that this basic core concept will drive development direction. Anyone who expects differently is in for a lot of disappointment, in the long run.

And just for the record, I say that as a player who enjoys playing solo quite a bit. I just don't have unrealistic expectations about what the developers plan to do with the game.

It's a shame more forumites can't grasp this simple concept..

This...

So much nicer to have something that requires teamwork over button mashing.

Those are my expectations as well. I'm not planning on relocating, and neither is anyone else I know in-game. We're all staying right where we're at. I expect the vast majority of players will end up doing the same. Sure, I'll probably create a few new characters on the new server just to check it out, but that's about it. In the end, I wouldn't be surprised at all, if the new VIP server ends up being one of the least populated servers..

Wow.. That's heavy.