ATPoseidon

Blizzard uses a term called "Maintenance Mode" where a game no longer receives content updates, but receives support and bug fixes.

Can we officially announce that Eldevin is in Maintenance Mode so it is pretty clear and curb any expectations?

The only reason the game is not shut down is because it doesn't cost anything to run it. My guess is it runs on the same server as HC's more successful games and running an additional VM on that uses next to no resources while ocassionally fooling someone into spending $20... why not?

Now, since that is very obviously the case... can we treat it as such please? When games shut down, they usually make everything free and let the few remaining fans enjoy the game to the fullest for whatever time is left.
 

Now, I'm NOT suggesting we remove the store and give everyone the best gear and stuff like that, but I'm sure it wouldn't take a lot of resources to make the game less aggrevating for the ocassional new player that stumbles in. Here's some ideas:

- Reduce the overal price of Store items, bringing it closer to "micro-transaction" values, which might actually encourage people to buy some things and play the game for longer. It certainly happened with me. I gave up on Eldevin mostly due to the inventory restrictions and I wasn't about to spend $50 to get a decent amount of bags/sacks. But I found out that the Premium Steam Packs have gone on 90% off sale in the past. Cue making new account (using forum through Steam is horrible and I can't attach an e-mail to the Steam account...), and add those packs to the wishlist. Lo and behold Autumn Sale, they went on 90% off again. Last 3 bag slots, Level 3 Riding and 3x64 slot bags for like $4... Hell yes! And here I am, playing again.

- Make Trapper's Atoll a high level area (entry requirement 40+) or increase the buff it gives to lower level players (Although that might make lower level players way too powerful). If you keep an eye on Discord, or the Steam discussions page, you will see that almost every new player that posts on there is immediately enchanted with the game. That's because the game has great PvE ideas and crafting systems that would attract people who enjoy Runescape and other games that heavily rely on gathering and crafting. And then it was f***ed up. Every single one of those posts I'm talking about goes like this "Love this game, I wanna play it, but I keep getting killed by X player" You tried to please the PKers and the PKers are toxic. "Uh well it says before you enter it's a PvP area, if you don't like it, don't play." Well guess what... They aren't! We can't ignore PvP (I'd love to, but I know better) and we can't disable it, neither will you assign resources to do major changes to Trapper's Atoll, so just make it off limits for longer, so people are not immediately discouraged by players trying to get 10000 kills achievement (which in its own right is insane...).

- Reduce the tedium of certain activities. The game can be improved a lot by simply adjust a few variables in the code, that wouldn't take that much time or effort. Here's some suggestions:
  - Increase Riding speed bonuses. It doesn't have to be huge, but 25/50/75% would be a good bump. Getting around is a big part of the game and dragon handlers are expensive while gold is scarce!
  - Increase all action speeds by... 10%? What I mean by that is, we're talking about heavy repetition when it comes to crafting, gathering, etc. If people don't have multiple monitors, to do several things at once... Nobody wants to stare at the screen at a tiny loading bar as we craft 200 pieces of cloth. Much like PvP, we can't remove that aspect of the game, but we can make it a little less tedious.

  - Optimize certain actions. The main example here is farming. I'm guessing there was a time where the plan was to have multiple types of Scarecrows, Compost and Crop Dust. Clearly that is no longer the case and we have a single type of each. Well since that is the case, why oh why do I get a window to input the item? It needlessly increases farming time by so much even if you use the Ctrl+Click shortcut. Just remove that. "Add Scarecrow" should do exactly that, check your inventory if you have one and automatically starts the action. There doesn't need to be additional input. There's probably more cases where this can be done, but I can't think of them right now.

  - Increase stack size. As I mentioned earlier, what turned me away from the game, toxic PKers aside, was the limited storage. The basket/bucket system is definitely unique and I actually like it in a weird way, but inventory space is still severely impeded by stack sizes. Once again, there's no need to go crazy, but it would help new players a whole lot if you just double everything. Processed material 5>10, raw material 10>20, filler material 25>50. 

I feel like none of these changes will significantly or in any way negatively change the core gameplay of the game, while certainly making it a more pleasant and approachable experience for everyone.

I'm convinced implementing any of these changes can be done by a single person in less than a working day (of course any price changes have to go through Marketing/Financy, I know...) and I would happily offer my services as a volunteer if you're looking to do so 

I know it's a long shot at best, but I'm hoping for this post to gain some traction, get at least a little something going on!