Although archer/alb nerfs are one of the many reasons I'm doing this, there is another one that's been bothering me for awhile now. And that is, basically, I feel like this game has lost the "magic" it used to have.
There was a feeling I used to get in RvR and PvE that I just don't have anymore. Everything has become routine; PvE is about effiency now - all the good leveling spots from 1-50 have been discovered and are overcamped. RvR is one endless slaughter after another. 4-5 group "zergs" roam around emain at bard speed destroying any hopes of meaningful or challenging combat engagments.
I port over to emain and see a fresh batch of level 50 albs run to their deaths over and over again and there's nothing I, as 1 player, can do about it. All our veterans have long since retired or moved on to other servers. There's no one left to lead or organize us; there is no longer one person or group that people can look up to to emulate. Alb is just sort of adrift, each guild working indepentantly of one another to satisfy its own means.
95% of the people I used to know are gone. My friends list is almost always empty; it's filled with names of people who've moved on to other realms, servers or games. I only have a handful of people I talk to now, nearly all of which are in vengeance.
I miss the old days, and I now realize RvR will never be the same as it once was. Alb will never be brought up to par with the other realms, assassins will always be overpowered, and archers will never be un-nerfed. It's been this way for 6 months now and I doubt SI will make that much of a difference to change it.
Like I said at the beginning of the post, I'm only considering it, so I may not quit if something comes along to spark my interest again. SC/Alch kept me hopeing for a long time, but when they finally went live, it just sort of left me with an empty feeling.
Who knows, maybe I just need a break for a little while.
A lot of folks are only hanging on for 'the next game.' The release of SWG should make DAOC look interesting.
There's no question alb is down and out. I don't think Mythic is capable of or interested in balancing the realms and classes. And it sucks to continuously lose the RvR battles. I've gotten some fun out of stealth lately, but big axe is still meat for the grinder out there.
Everybody hits this point where rvr is no fun. I did. Take a break for a bit, come back and see if it's any fun. I did that and had some fun again.
For me it is now more about the community than the game itself. When there is a place to take my vengies I will lobby you all to move with me to that place. But right now, that place doesn't yet exist.
I might drop by a few times to play my uberfied minstrel alt in the BGs and take a few SC orders. If you want something imbued and I'm not on, send me a PM and we'll arrange a time.
My zerker's coming along quite nicely and I'm really enjoying mid. In thidranki, I got a good look at the mid perspective on realm balance and things aren't nearly as bleak as they are in alb. About my only real complaint is the hib caster stun and the run buff chanters get making it impossible for me to charge them or even run away (I'm sure once I can get some real RA's this'll change).
I think I know now why no one wants Alb to get any boosts - they're great RP farms when you're feeling frustrated and need a morale boost. Nothing's more fun than 2 shotting a pally who thinks he can tank a zerker.