In the original dev plan, there was talks of a new class, a level increase, and several new high end instance dungeons for end of summer. However the developers took a different direction and decided to create these Ragnarok maps/items/ and quests. So those plans have gotten pushed back even further, though not completely off the table. As to when these will get added, not sure but if i get any input, i'll be sure to let you guys know.
I believe their hope was to bring in new players, by offering something familier other MMO players can relate to. Ragnarok was one of the first MMOs to reach worldwide fame, i guess they are hoping (in a way so are we) that this will bring some of those player to this game. Hopefully once this update is complete they can get back on track for those instances.
This is what I figured. I remember--and I'm not sure if this breaches any rules so please excuse me--that when I was a CM and got to speak with a few people more directly, one of the main concerns was bringing more players to Dragon Saga.
I don't think that's a bad idea. In fact, it's obviously the basis of any MMO's community. New players leads to more players, plain and simple. I also assumed that the addition of Ragnarok to the game was someone's idea at Gravity to try and handle that by drawing on the community of, like you said, one of the most well-known MMOs in the world. Really, it's a brilliant plan and I have nothing against this.
However, I think CoolSam took the words right out of my mouth here. Those plans you mentioned sound ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. The current endgame and, really, the entire game from 60+ is a gigantic barren wasteland with far too few things to keep players interested, especially in the long term. More players is ALWAYS a good thing, but the problem here is that even with these plans to bring in new players, even people who are severely dedicated to every fiber of the game (I'd consider myself as such, I'm pretty devout), find themselves unwilling to log on. I'd hypothetically consider this situation as such:
New update to bring in new player (Development takes several months) -> During development, many players capped and leveling towards the latter half of the game get bored and quit or play less frequently -> New update hypothetically brings in ~100 players (Just an example)
So let's see: we've gained 100 new players and lost 50 while trying to bring in more. Of course, you've made a surplus of new players. But everyone in the MMO field knows that there are people who just plain won't get all the way to the end. Further evidenced by how few players there are at endgame due to the grueling grind that is the only option to level. Even still, the ones that did cap only stay out of that weird MMO-obligation most players feel, because of the hope of some new update giving them something to do. So it's not even a safe bet to say that, at endgame, you've lost 50 players and gained 100, resulting in the same note. It's actually more like gaining 20 members out of that 100, and losing 50. Again, these numbers are just made up and don't reflect the server, but it's the same idea.
All this aside, and back to what I meant about CoolSam being right. We've been BEGGING for something to do at endgame for almost a year. Elga is a complete mess and either makes the rich richer, or drives people entirely away because they're unable to complete the dungeon--not because of lack of skill, but because the game has their hands completely tied.
I'll give one last little comparison:
Let's say you get both of your eyes gouged out. Let's say, then, that you stub your toe. You seek medical attention. The doctors decide that they better get that toe fixed pronto. Meanwhile you're sitting there with no eyes. See the problem here? It's called absurdity.
We want new players, we really do. But we are suffering a severe drought of content and all anyone seems to want to do is add artificial content to encourage new players. It's a gigantic trap as it only leads them down the same bitter path we all ended up walking down, and it makes the company seem like it's only interested in profit, not satisfying needs. I realize that you're Hastur, and not the God of Gravity or anything like that, and that it's not in your control. But we all feel entirely helpless and abandoned because no one listens to us and no one does anything to fix the problems we have.
Edited by Kazu731, 26 July 2012 - 12:50 PM.