quote:

For all you P2W scaredypants, let an old-timer tell you a story. Back in the day, all you had were AQ DF and MQ.
in AQ, at least half of the skills of every class were Guardian only, and you couldn't visit half the map or use half the gear unless you were Guardian.
In DF, you were luck if ONLY half the skills of your favorite class were Dragonlord only, and there was less Amulet gear, but the power difference was way higher. There was also an entire quest chain only accessible if you verified as an AQ guardian.
In MQ, the versatility of mech and item builds meant star captain items were less poignant, but about half of the game was for Star Captains only. And of course there were verification shops for Df and AQ.

And you know what? We LOVED it! If you could play without a membership, you were a skilled player. We enjoyed PvPing staff members, and specially equipped players, because beating them meant we were just that good. I pretty much beat the game before I EVER laid eyes on a membership, and that's the best part! You can't pay to win on a game without an end, a way to win. You just pay for easy mode, pay for more content. You're not winning if you buy membership, you're buying a DLC, the New Game Plus.
Cut to now, and people are so afraid of lootboxes or whatever that AE is afraid to even put in a verification shop to reward longtime players, and people complain whenever they release a Dc set or pre-release a class five days early. Man, the fanbase got WEAK! it's embarrassing! If you can't get more powerful gear for Guardian or Dc's or exclusive quests and areas, why even bother paying!?
My response to the P2W people? GET GUD, SCRUBLORD!!!!!!