@ice: I didn't "like" this post but I do like it.... to a degree.
Let me preface by saying that I can fully understand your frustration. I want to emphasize that this isn't my sarcastic, cynical side. You have some extremely valid points.
That said, I'm going to provide some counterpoints. And that said, I don't mean for those to undermine your point. I do support, to a degree, your point of view; I'd just like to provide the alternative point of view.
It's not meant to, necessarily, undermine your point.
Congrats, you've been here 9 years. That definitely takes some doing.
I too have been here 9 years. I'm nowhere near EOC and have never strived to be. I'm a frigging FS addic, which could definitely be argued to be a mentally deranged thing. I think my max time without logging in is two weeks.
The point? I've found other sources of entertainment in FS.
Is that a conclusive argument for "something"? Definitely not.
Let's avoid all the crap about why the game has supposedly gone downhill. Tons of players love to talk one-sided, completely ignoring what they know nothing about. Let me be clear... this is a preface and has zero to do with your post... I just see the same thing coming forth and hoped to avoid it.
According to your post, there are 170 players in the entire game that can be considered close to EOC. I just took a gander and saw that there are 355 online.
That seems to be like a low number (let's forget that's it's Tuesday and late night), but now you begin to understand the reasoning for my preface... and I continue.
Let us now assume that all 170 of your identified players near EOC are online.
355 minus 170 = 185.
So, assuming your 170 are online 24/7... that's about 48% of the supposed FS population. Forget about the questionable numbers of FS players and blah, blah, blah.
You yourself state that the number of "EOC players" has risen from 50 to 170 in a year. I have no idea if that is even true, but it does definitely seem to counter your argument as far as statistics are concerned.
You then come to the conclusion that of those 170 players at or near EOC that they will lose interest because of the lack of content.
I have a really difficult time buying into that argument since one must assume that a good portion of that less than 50% of online population (and I chuckle) are people who really care about EOC and want to be the highest level possible.
Having been here nine years like myself, I'm sure you've had the chance to see what happens there, but, just in case: I've seen people sublevel like mad to get to the top. Content was not an issue for that competition. Just something to keep in mind.
CONCLUSION:
I do not AT ALL agree with HCS' business plan "as I have observed it". That however is a subjective opinion and company execs are the only ones who can decide on that. It's a moot point.
From the numbers, I don't think "level-increasing" content is an issue. I did like several posts suggesting that higher quality content, as opposed to copy-paste ideology, would be a plus.
That applies only to content however.
Looking back, a lot has gone on in game. Composing, various events, etc. I have to admit that I think that the Daily Quests (which probably needs a name change to "Daily Challenges" or "Daily Missions" to avoid the typical negative feedback which I agree with) is yet another move in the right direction.
I think focusing on content for content's sake is a major error which many in this thread have pointed out.
I get that all you might be interested in is leveling and EOC... but based on your own numbers, you are definitely in the minority.
That is not to say that your opinion is irrelevant. I too believe that content is important. But like many have said, I'd prefer quality over quantity.
I'd also highlight rowbeth's post #13. Things are not what they seem.
Could they be improved? For sure.
Prosperous smacking everybody! (o0