Doc's Ramblings

If you haven't read thru the first part, I recommend you check it out first.

Serious Gaming, or so it seems...

I played the game as a full Constituion Crusader and for the life of me, I can't seem to kill fast enough compared to those other players. As a Lv45 Crusader with a weird statistics and skills, it dawned on me that my family will not enjoy the game. I needed to make a new character than can help them survive. And what better character it is than my alternate character DocHolder whose main job is to heal my Crusader (Lv10 Heal rocks)...

(Un)fortunately, my Herbalst healer becomes relatively high level and became a full pledged Cleric since I found I used this character often to support my family. My Crusader character can't help my kids who needed my support and if they die, we'd all have to pick up the player at the spawn point. My Cleric helps a lot because it heals and revives, saving the whole party. Later on, my alt-character becomes my main character, and I played this Cleric till now.

From a simple goal of reaching Lv40 to be joining the #1 Guild of the server, it's really a heck of a joyride... 

To Mall or To Not Mall, that is the question...

For some, it is not really a question: it is a must. For me, it is a NO. I won't say "NO" as in 100% totally though, because I believe in proper compensation, so I would spend as much money on this game the amount I believe it is worth: that would be no more than $50, the price of a conventional game I used to play like Diablo, or Starcraft, or Unreal Tournament, or Counter Strike.

Sure enough, I bought Mall Point and me and my leveling partner spent it wisely, the item we bought are still being used till now. Two years RoI for a $50 payout, that's good for me, that's good of IGG too.

On the face value, the first year of ToP, things are really working out great. I spent my first $50 bucks on something I would use for the duration of the game. If that is not good RoI, I don't know what is. ToP never released any item that would be mind boggling, nor game-balance changing. Apparels and Wings that don't affect gameplay = great addition.

The beginning of the end...

Soon, after the apparels, Pet Fairy were released. Along with the fairy are awesome skills: Standard Meditation. This totally removes some of the limitations that non-Herbalist characters are lacking: SP. With the release of Pet with Skills, all other characters can cast their skills left and right without even the need to drink SP Potions. I was annoyed, almost angered, because of such convinience to non-caster players. I always believed Caster would have more SP and therefore can cast more skills, while non-Caster MUST always be limited by their SP because they aren't Caster anyway. The stats addition in and of itself is poweful enough already, but skill addition is a killer. But it never stops there...

Unique Gems were released, and while they have always been part of the game when I first joined, there's been less than 10 UGs circulating across the whole server with Rainbow and Mermaid combined. It was so horrifying for me, the fact that players can now buy them instead of hunt them gives me the shivers. Those who have $$$ can surely win the game versus those like me who play the game as it is. IGG is changing the landscape, IGG appeals to those who mall their character so that they can play the game and not those who play the game so that they can improve their character. Surely, a very big paradigm shift, at least in my opinion.

Many will say that spending tons of time in real-life to get real $$$ then spending that money is akin to spending tons of time in game to get items. While it is true to some extent, I always believed that game-knowledge should be dictating the kind of things one can achieve in game. Money can get you "flashy" things, nice apparels, but not those rare equipment and armor which should only be relegated to those who spend time with the game, to know the ins-and-outs and not those who spend $$$ for instant Death Armor.

The addition of multi-level XP-enhancing items has also shows the great divide between those who can spend real $$$ vs those who plays strategically. While players can enjoy HB via farming noob accounts or chopping Fortune trees, mallers can just as easily get them off the Item Mall! I would have preferred if Heaven Berry stays the only XP-enhancing items. While mallers can get "many HB", the divide will just be they have more HB vs they can level faster because they high-quality HB i.e. Hi Amplifier of Strive. Furthermore, these Hi Amplifier of Strive can not be gotten in-game which makes it even more imbalance.

Various events and so called Item Mall Promotions makes the situation even worse. The flooding of Lv45/Lv55/Lv65 Unseal makes it so common that players can't be pleased and happy anymore. This leads to IGG offering Black Dragon Armor, Gloves and Boots. And when that item flooded the server, IGG further pollutes the server with Death Armor and Equipment. Surely, this never really stops the never ending crave of mallers, Kylin are even auctioned.

The madness continues, Lv60 Unique Necklaces and even Ancient Necklaces are being released. The Ancient Necklaces are all Mall-only items, making the great divide farther and larger. While players can live without these items, the fact that they are Item-Mall only separates the mallers from pure gamers. The same goes for Rings and it just wont stop...

Crowns, Moli and IGG are indeed a deadly combination for those who have $$$ to spend. Crown of Decedent that adds +1 to all stats became all the rage. By this time, a lot of players are conditioned to accept malling as a standard thing, as an acceptable thing, and more frighteningly, a status symbol. With just a mere +1, and of course, defense (and later on, capability to get sockets and gems), mallers have spent an enormous amont of money. No, not $50 like me, not $100, not even $500! Why, this surely gives Moli and IGG the idea that more of similar items would mean more income for them. They can't be blamed, they are business, but at a cost of the game being poorly balanced and sided towards mallers and mallers alone.

Many will argue that without mallers, there will be no IGG. That might be true, but the fact remains that there's still many players that plays the game for free. These players still equates as IGG's customers. Customers help bring $$$ to IGG, thru advertising, thru word of mouth, and also by giving more flavor the the whole game eco-system case-in-point: a year ago, my guild members consist 90% of non mallers that sell items to mallers.

The Final Nail In The Coffin

Despite all those things that annoys me, I still find solace in the game, hoping that I can somehow catch up. IGG offers other alternatives, Award Center is nice, and so does Credit for Hours, and so called Free Lunch. However, the negative overcomes the positive side of it specially on the money-making side of things.  The Fairy Pet that I used to farm off Fox Sage was busted, when Hex came in and just about anyone can farm that boss. The same applies to Robe of the Sage, Riven Soul, Dragon Lord Shoes, and even Drakan. Farming the Summer and Spring boss halted, Hex just makes almost any player who have an ounce of patience to reach Lv80.

Manufacturing and Cooking became the next source of income, but IGG released them at Award Center. The same goes for Blueprints which I used to farm all day became something one can get off the Credits. My plans are busted yet again.

Sea Commerce was long dead, and I dont see IGG implementing them. It was my honest way of earning in-game gold, busted.

Pirate Club was awesome while it lasts. While I don't really care for Credits and Million Dollar notes, IGG removed SandBags which actually brings fun to me because I can pwlvl and play with stats and build across many noobs.

Book of Regaining Ability is just so retarded. One of the great features of Rebirth, became a mall item. And of course, you can get Rebirth Stone too at the mall.

The release of Azrael game that clearly caters to Mallers is just the final nail that ends this game for me. I guess many players will say "Good riddance". It was quite a sad day for me, specially when a lot of players embraced such change. Mall-only Gem, yeah, so long hard-worker in game. BD Gem isn't enough to satisfy the players. and what can I say, IGG can't offer anythign enticing anymore anyway.

Can we say, +15 Stat Gem in the future? I don't think it's impossible. Grandiose Set? Definitely a possibility.

Well, enough is enough for me. There is nothing to strive for in the game. I don't really consider those leveling to Lv100 as great, they just have more time and more real $$$ to spare. I play the game because my leveling partner still likes to play.

But for me, it's finished.

A Noob Has Arrived...

I still remember about two years ago, how I stumbled into this game. I just wanted to try something out till Blizzard released something new. I played every game they released in the market seriously, except World of Warcraft (WoW) which is a P2P (pay to play) game with monthly subscription. I was never fan of any game that requires a subscription to play. I mean, I bough their Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft series along with all the possible expansions. I play on Battle.Net, I paid for their game like any other honest gamer with my hard-earned money. I know the concept of MMORPG, the need to sustain it, but paying the same amount for the game itself and then paying a monthly subscription is not my kind of thing. However, I did try it because a friend has been inviting me and gave me a trial of 10 days. It was nice, the only thing that stopped me from playing it: I don't have enough time to devote except during weekends which will make my monthly paymet not having a good RoI.

I just need something to pass the time, and Tales Of Pirates seems to have what I needed. I read thru the introduction, what is it about, and what this world has to offer. The game has a light download size, I can't really remember, but it was less than a 100MB if I recall. It was also on it's first Beta release way back Febuary or March of 2007 and I was joining sometime June'07 so I told myself I will give this game a try.

The game was fun, every player I talk to was helpful. I think it's more like that because they are also just starting. The highest level was someone who just started the first few guild I know of, around Lv45 or something and I was just umm, struggling to hit Lv10 and become a SwordsMan.

Shaitan and Icicle is almost like a Ghost Town, the only city that shows sign of activities is Argent. There were only two servers, Rainbow and Mermaid (where I am at). Everyone was spamming about buying and selling at World and Trade Chat, it was because there was no fee involved with such chat. No local spammers of Gold too. I never really mingled with other players, as they tend to ask for money or try to get my equipment, you could say I'm paranoid. I only play with my family. And oh, the only thing I ever wanted to was to reach Lv40!

The game was fun, it was good enough for me.

Goal Setting!

I asked myself much about this: what can a mere new player do with a game? Surely, I can't just level and level or kill and kill monsters around me. However, if that's how it is going to be, then I'm better of quitting as this game seems not friendly about leveling. But I figure this is something I can look forward to, instead of looking at it as a negative, I have to challenge my self and set a goal. I have to reach Lv40 and get 1 million gold.

Money-making for a new comer isn't so easy, and gold isn't easy to come by: the mobs never dropped any gold/money, instead they drop random items which you can sell (for half the price) to the NPC. It was annoying for me, but I get the hang of it in time. Getting money while leveling has been a challenging task. Heaven Berry was being sold for 40k and I can barely make 5k to buy new equipment every week. But still, I learned the hardway that I can get items from the Newbie Chest. But anyway, that's part of being noobie....

I eventually hit Lv40 and succeeded from being a Swords Man, into a full-pledge Crusader. Who wouldn't want to wield two swords? Sure, I spent like 5 days to complete the advancement task but I met my first goal. However, as any noob would know, my first Character can barely level up beyond Lv40. Sure, I did hit Lv45 because I always wanted to see the glow of my Kris with a gem (which I have to buy for a very steep price), but beyond that is a grave challenge. All my equipment comes from Newbie Chest and I bought my gloves and boots at the NPC. There were some Evanescence chests but found out the hardway that you can't just buy any chest of of any class, it was so frustrating. And oh, I never even had a clue that my level won't fit on Evanescence chest. I told myself, I need to strategize and earn more than just 1M if I need to bring further fun to me and my family. And so has my continous refinement of goal has evolved.

These challenges never really bothered me, because I know, all other players are struggling equally like me. I just need to improve myself, and try to learn more about the game. After all, there were already Lv60s in the game, I am still further from quitting, if they made it, I can make it too!

I had no complaints, the game was good, everything seems to be going along well...

To be continued...

Introduction: Cleric Defined

Cleric, the name alone suggests primarily focusing on support. Google defines Cleric as belonging to Holy Order that are able to cast spells. In the world of ToP, Cleric is defined as:

Cleric

Clerics are herbalists who concentrate solely on their healing skills. They excel greatly in medical skills and support spells and will play a vital role in any party.

The Failure of Redefinition of Class

Some players tried to twist and turn how Cleric is and should be, and thus players coined the word "Battle Cleric". Then there were who tried to make support build, and called them "Full Support Cleric". But really, all these are just their own interpretation. "Battle" type, as some others defined it, came into being because this kind of build can damage. While "Support" type focus on being "support" (heal, buff, revive, etc); and saying "SUPPORT Cleric" is really a repeatition since Cleric are for support anyway so why not just call it Cleric. However, I still don't know where "Full" came into, which reminds me, how some people name their stalls as "FULL RATION" which kinda reads dumb to me (maybe it reads FULL of RATION).

I don't really see these "builds" as something special, or revolutionary. You can only do so much "Battle" with this class, seeing as how the definition is. Sure, Cleric is strong and players feel "warrior-like" but that doesn't remove that fact that their skills are for helping others rather than "just" trying to do things on their own. Cleric shine when in group of other warriors, the true warriors: Crusader, Champion, and Sharpshooter, and even Seal Master and Voyagers.

What is Cleric's role anyway?

In a battle or skirmish against stong boss or massive PvP, the Cleric ensures that their group survives, and that the members can sustain more hit, deal more damage, reveal invisible enemies, and revive whenever necessary. The Cleric's damage capability will be put as a secondary option, doing so only when revive/buff are casted and awaiting cooldown time. In these skirmishes, it matters not whether the build is "Full Support" or "Battle", both builds have to ensure their party mates perform to their peak potential.

An example: in a boss fight, a Cleric can choose to heal her dying party mates or continue to bolt the boss. The dying guy, say, a Crusader, is dealing 5k-7k damage while the Cleric is dealing 3.5k damage (which is fairly high). If the Cleric decided to let the Crusader dies, the cleric paused her Bolting, revived the Crusader and continues to bolt without buffing/healing the just-revived comrade. The Crusader sits for a while, maybe 5secs to recover HP and SP, then proceeded to kill the boss. Now, most of the time, if the Cleric just decided to heal the dying Crusader and kept him alive, more damage could have been thrown to the boss. The Cleric has to pause, to revive, and that robs the Cleric some time of bolting as well, it would have been better overall if the Cleric forego his damage capability in making sure that the Crusader survives more hit. More time is lost if the Cleric decided to buff and heal the just-revived Crusader. And even more time is lost if Crusader is fully buffed, on possession, and on cooking item since they will all be lost the moment he dies. If there is any other skill that I feel most new Cleric build put very less thought into, it is the Heal skill.

Forsaken Class - Thankless Class

Of course, this is often times overlooked at or not noticed by party members, since they are also busy with their own thing. Crusader for example, are busy trying to stay alive and deliver most damage. Voyagers are busy, ensuring they can tornado the proper character or conch effectively. The Champion, is busy ensuring he gets all the attention of all other enemy class/monsters to soak in the damage, and Sharp Shooter and Seal Master are trying to disable the enemy class with SoE, Enfeeble, Cripple, Shadow Insignia, Abyssmire, Headshot, etc.

Truly, the Class has very limited use on its own, while very helpful in a party. And yet in party, the Class is only seen as Support, no matter the "build". In actual ToP gameplay, Cleric has only two differences with Seal Master: Angelic Shield and Healing Spring. Angelic Shield, it is still useful but requires frequent re-casting, while Healing Spring, many frown about it revealing fellow Crusaders preventing them to Stealth, and in some situation, lagging other members, and does not heal fast or big enough. If Item Mall skill is to be included, then Crystalline Blessing is next skill that separates the Cleric Class to Seal Master in terms of Skill distribution. Of course, there's the Rebirth Skill but that's for "reborn" only anyway.

Forsaken Class - Dead End Gears

The Cleric gears are also not as powerful compared to other class. All other classes can upgrade their Lv70 Boss Framestone or Lv55 Chaos Framestone, into the next best thing "easily" available in the game: Black Dragon Torso. Cleric are relegated to their Lv70 Boss Framestone, with a mere 18 PR, and just 1 less SPR bonus compared to BD Torso. Yes, Cleric can still wear a Black Dragon Torso, but with how things are going in the world of ToP, Cleric is either in last list of Class to receive the BD Torso or not even being looked at as Torso recipient. Not to mention the lack of SPR regeneration is a little big minus, not a major one, when Cleric wears a BD Torso. The only next best thing is Death Armor, but um.....that's a big UMMMM

The staff is also, as everyone knows, the current highest/best is the Lv65 Unseal one. The next best thing is, umm, not yet released or can be found by farming Summer and hope that with luck, you can get a better one. The Death Staff sucks, it is good for looks yeah, but for normal use, it's still not at par compared to Lv65 unseal. Seal Master shared the same fate with Death Weapon, and Lv65 Weapon though.

The boots, the Cleric is a bit lucky compared to other class. For the gloves, it is just about equal. However, note that for most of time, other classes can gem up their boots and gloves and increase their damage output as well as HP, and hit rate while Cleric can hope to put Spirit Gem on the boots, and for Gloves, maybe a BD Heart. But then again, BD Heart seems more fitting to players who have HP rather than SP (aka Energy Shield aka ES) as their lifeblood.

Forsaken Class - Measly Damage, Tickle Me To Death

Damage output is not exponential compared to Champion or Crusader, not as fast like Sharp Shooter, and not as consistent as Voyager's. Benefit from CON gems isn't as good as well, compared to other class (well, better than Sharp Shooter though). Both of these, damage output and defense/hp all boils down to Cleric being unable to level as fast as other Class. This is a bane for Cleric, as they consume the same thing for leveling: Banana and XP Amplifiers and Possession but their XP farming is lower than other Class. In the end, it's very expensive for Cleric to level, compared to "warrior" class. The only one who also have problems with leveling will be Seal Master, but they at least have Intense Magic :)...

Is there even a good thing about Cleric?

It is a rant, so I'm supposed to be all negative. But sure, there's a positive to being: Cleric is wanted in a party, for the buffs, heal, and revive capability. For players who focused on Spirit, Cleric can have Energy Shield that makes them a mini-tank and can still do some damage, while Constitution-based Cleric are pretty good in tanking and still provide Buff and Revive, but not very strong Heal and really low Spiritual Bolt damage. Cleric is always needed in hard maze, and massive PvP, as well as boss run.

Reviving a Cleric Class, is there still a hope?

Cleric is still fun to play, despite all the rants that I have posted. The cost of gears isn't overly priced, and in-line with other Class except maybe against Crusader which makes Cleric (and actually, all other gears) seems dirt cheap. This class also only focuses on two Statistics, Spirit and Constituion (at least, the majority of the builds out there) which makes it an easy Class to play.

I believe the Cleric needs a new leveling spot, not Mirage, but better one, where the decent damage the class can throw makes a difference. An Expert Magic skill for the pet would also be awesome, as this has been one long standing skill that hasn't been released yet.

Changing damage output calculation might prove worthy, but for now, I am happy with my damage output.

Will I recommend this class for someone starting at ToP?

It really depends on what the player would like to achive in ToP. For damage, I will not recommend this class. Simplicity of gameplay, then this one is a no brainer. But whatever class the player choses, I just hope he will have fun building it and gemming it up. In the end, it's how you play the game and how you enjoy playing the game...

So as Xeus say, an NPC situated at Skeleton Haven at Deep Blue Region, "Kill-stealing is despicable" [@more@]

For the longest time I have been playing the game, be it RTS, FPS, or MMO, Kill-stealing (or KS) seems like a way to incite a heated debate among players of the game. It is less heard on RTS, since there's really not much "personal" connection to the pixels but it still happens. On FPS, it is often heard, since there's more close interaction between the characters in the game and the player, for example, kill points are counted based on, well, number of kills. The same goes for MMO, during leveleing/grinding/training and other boss run or dungeon looting, etc.

But what really is KS, and what constitutes KS. Well, let Wikipedia answer it for us all.

"In online games and especially first-person shooter games and MMORPGs, kill stealing is the practice of stealing the rewards from defeating an enemy from other players. Kill stealing occurs when the rewards for defeating a foe are limited or highly desired, and many players are competing for that same reward. The term is most often heard in first-person shootergames and MMORPGs, where rewards of items and experience points can be substantial, but can also be found in first-person shooters where players are rewarded a point for a kill. Many players feel that kill stealing is a dishonorable practice."

But given that, let me just relate some of my personal experiences with ToP and KS and how I often view it or react to it.

For me, KS is normal and acceptable so long as it is done in a none-offensive manner. For example, I was chopping Ashwood Tree in Argent and all of a sudden, someone spoke in local saying, "No KS please". I normally ignore such comment, but what I usually do is that I don't chop the tree that the other player is chopping. I am not KSing, but I am waiting for another spawn.

What usually happens, when another tree spawn, that other player will leave his current tree he is chopping and started to chop the other one as well, leaving me with nothing. I usually just shrug it off. But if he did it again the 2nd time around, I usually ignore the other player and started the "KS contest" as some may have called it.

But really, is that KS on my side? I don't think so. Players will say, "I was here first, you should wait your turn". I said, "I did, in fact, I never chopped the tree you were chopping and I was waiting for the other one". The other player said, "I'm not done, don't chop that other tree, you are so impolite". But really, the other guy is, at least in my eyes, the one doing the KS and doing all the hogging of the trees. Saying "I was here first" is totally incorrect. How would he know I wasn't there an hour ago, a day ago, a month ago, a year ago? Besides, who defines "here first", is that thru the time the player was chopping the tree for 10mins/30mins/60mins before another one comes in? "Is here first" defined in the spur of the moment, if so, what is that time?

The same thing applies to trees, mobs, or drops. If the KS relies on "being first" at a certain area, then too bad for the new players, they can't get anything for themselves, or have to wait in line just to get his turn. But some players don't have the luxure to take turns, or wait, and they can only chop/kill the one being available at the moment.

So do I support KS? It depends, and really, sometimes it's just part of the game. Say for example, in DW, if someone was on the boss first, do they say "I was here first, I get to kill the boss". Nope, there is competition that will ensue, and the strongest will often arrive as the winner and getting the drop.

And if someone asks me what is KS, well, for me if you are trying to kill something and I tried to kill it too then it's KS. But if you weren't hitting anything yet, tree or mob or mine or fish or salvage or whatever, and I killed it and got the drop then it's not KS. I'm just killing the one available at the moment. The player's name isn't plastered on the mobs, saying this mob belonged to someone else, it is just absurd. If it's available, no one is hitting it yet, then it's free for all.

Also on another note, KS will happen and players can either accept it or spent negative energy for nothing. KS can be beneficial too, specially in PvP or PK areas, to ensure that more challenge is provided by the game, and gives some spice to players.

I guess that's it for now, if you got KSed, just KS them back or do other things if you can't take the heat!

Before I continue with the rant, let me just clarify, this is not a "Bash IGG or Bash Moliyo" thread, more like trying to get them to fix it, or at least, get the players' consensus on which are the important things to fix, or deliver.

Broken (or Forgotten?) Promise/s of ToP

Let me start with the earliest version I can recall (and I'll try to post references as well), and then move forward to more recent developments

• Guild - Special Privileges, members of the #1 Ranking Guild on the server are supposed to have special Sea Commerce priviledges, but as it is not only is Sea Commerce not working, I never even have this worked even before. I'd like to have this special guild priviledge, so that Guild War will be more fun and a regular event. (Reference: http://top.igg.com/guild/special_commerce_privileges.html)
• Guild - Land/Vault/Quest, for some reason we have this on our Guild Management tab, but what is it supposed to do? Can guild have their own "Head Quarters" (HQ) as their land? If it is not yet implemented, when would it be implemented? It would be great to have this so Guild Members don't have to cause more lag, for example, in major cities such as Icicle, Shaitan, and Argent. Of course, other benefits can be given as well, such as improved pet growth or others can be implemented (i.e. bank without 200g charge?). Also maybe IGG should implement Vault so members can stash their EQs instead of using the bank. Or maybe IGG can active "Quest" so guild leaders doesn't have to use the "Motto" whenever they have activities
• GM - 24x7 responsibilities, it was supposed to be 24x7 but it never really works. I fell for this trap way back when I was starting. I keep posting on world chat, kept asking for GM help, but to no avail. (Reference: http://top.igg.com/know/more.html). I know IGG implemented Player GM, GM for a Day, but they marketed this as 24x7 support and even Live Support isn't 24x7. What gives? I hope IGG lives on their promises...
• Sea Commerce - When to bring it back? This is one of the supposed feature to impact Guild War, but not only is the Guild thing not impacting this, IGG even have to stop it. (Reference: http://top.igg.com/commerce/index.html)
• Spring Town Expansion - Autumn, what the crap. Spring Town is great, for casters and till you hit Lv70. But after that, Summer and Autumn are just a waste of virtual real estate. Sure, we have the Fox Sage, Tribal and Lizard Boss, and we have Icy Dragon and Panda Boss, and yes I know we have Black Dragon. But other than that, Autumn and Summer isn't the best place to play. Reachable only thru Underwater Tunnel, it is suicide to train in Autumn. Summer mobs are also a pain to level on, come on, unless you are heavily gemmed and very high hit rate (or very high bolt damage), leveling in Summer was a pain. It used to be good back in the days, but for some reason, they changed the XP of Summer mobs and it's not worth it anymore. I hope IGG improves XP on these Autumn and Summer mobs, so that it's an alternative leveling spot for Mirage (they can change level of mob and xp it gives)
• Spring Town Expansion - "Precious Weapons", the promised equipment are not really great, Faery Shoes with STR stats? Colossus EQs with SPR stats? Waddacrap, I know it's a pain to get these equipment, and only to get poor stat. I can understand about the poor stat, but the amount of time spent to get a rare drop isn't worth it considering drop rate, as well as chance of getting good stats. (http://top.igg.com/spring/more.html). I know Voyager's Tsunami Robe are awesome, but it seems like for the most EQs, they aren't worth the trouble to farm and spend countless time. I used to wear my Cleric Fairy Set with pride, just because I'm one of the 2 on our server who can wear it back then, and now almost everyone can. But the thing is, they only look good, but stat sucks. IGG, improve the drop rate or improve stat whenever the item drops so it's actually worthwile to farm these items.
• Union War Expansion - Mirage Cities, it is an imbalanced leveling spot. Crusaders, Champion, Sharpshooters, and Voyagers can level fast, but sucks for Cleric and Seal Master. As far as I recall, Mirage cities isn't designed to be a leveling spot for party, but a normal spot where players can party AND level solo. But as it appears, XP from Shaitan Mirage mob is same for other Mirage Cities, but Cleric and Seal Master kills a lot slower than the other classes so in effect, "Herbalist" class are slowest leveler, unless you have another class you can party with. But come on, "Herbalist" should be able to level equally fast even if not in a party.
• Union War Expansion - Fairy Marriage and chance to get Mordo Jr. I know the chance is very small, but I think the chance is too small that until now, I never heard nor read from anyone who marries their normal 1st gen and got a Jr. Now, I understand that not because I never hear or read doesn't mean it's true, but I;m one of the few "breeders" in my server and I have made numerous babies, and my experience shows 0 result of getting a Jr from non-Mordo type of 1st gen. Was it really designed like that? Or I just hoped in the idea that IGG will implement it but actually, it's not even possible?
• Union War Expansion - Analyze, why would the wood catalyst wouldn't work? It's been quite some time, ever since it's released, they never made this Catalyst to work. I'm tired of chopping 10 high level tree (i.e. Rue) and got 0 drop. Maybe IGG will sell some wood too in mall, that would suck. (Reference: http://top.igg.com/ver36/production.html)
• Union War Expansion - New "sea" items, fishing for Pearlie Ratfish, Diving Clam, and Phoenix Prawn is a nightmare. Unless a player is extremely bored, hunting for the drops is outrageously stupid. Sure, it is hard, but it is VERY hard, because there is also a chance to fail in cooking the item itself. So the rarity of drop, plus chance of failure, and stupidity of NPC price for certain cooking food makes cooking extremely hard. Then IGG came up with idea, they sold it in mall, bright idea for them, bad for players. I hope IGG released a "Golden" Salvage or Fish Net similar to golden Axe/Pick Axe to improve drop rate, or at least have the effect of Charmed Berry be applicable too.
• Union War Expansion - New "manufacturing" items, same as Analyze and sea item rant, was so hard to make, that very few actually waste time to make it. The only worthy thing to do on high level is crafting (sure, cooking is fun too, but Lv55+ unseal crafting is better).
• Union War Expansion - Rebirth, I fell for this trap, they worded the Rebirth process to be so easy to do but in truth, it was hard (nowadays, it is easier, but I'm one of the few who RBs early, stucked with bug). (Reference: http://top.igg.com/ver36/more.html)
• Paradise Found - Rebirth, ugh, 5.5% damage increase/reduction was never fixed. Seal Master's rebirth skill was never fixed. I don't know about anyone else, but Voy's RB skill is a joke (flying things, wadacrap).
• Paradise Found - Sacred War, wow IGG went back and removed this feature. Without posting any solid reason, they just removed it. (Reference: http://top.igg.com/paradise/index.html)
• Paradise Found - Marriage, meh (http://top.igg.com/paradise/marriage.html). Will they ever implement it?
• Paradise Found - Study System, this is a big *LOL*. Stick with Hexathlon (http://top.igg.com/paradise/studying.html) or hope IGG provides better way to implement it.