Allods Schmallods

I regularly read several other MMO and gaming blogs, and some of them have criticised the masses for walking away from Allods online because of it's problems since launch.

Personally, I was very excited by the game while playing it in Closed Beta. But that excitement soon vanished once the Open Beta arrived.
The inability to log-on and the lag once in there was a major factor. A little lag was to be expected, but to not even be able to get in to the game was a major put-off.
I've got a few hours spare, I think "I know, I'll log in to Allods and do some levelling". Only to find that I can't get in to the bloody thing. So I switch back to WoW out of boredom. I bet I'm not the only one who did this.

The other major issue is the cash shop. I'm not as naieve as some people out there. 'Massively' overpricing something so that when you slash prices to the level where you're simply 'Majorly' overpricing them it looks like you're taking positive action, will not work on me.

I usually consider things before doing them, and see right through tactics like this. Where is my incentive to play if the cost of the end-game is going to be so high?

The only time I see myself returning to Allods is to play with my son. He wants to get in to MMO's, and with Allods being free2play I wouldn't mind spending some time in there with him teaching him the basics of this type of game. It'll do him well if he wants to transfer to a more mainstream one later.

As I said, some of the bloggers out there have criticised people for walking away from the game in it's early stages. Seeing it as some sort of betrayal.
But at the end of the day, it's a game. I'm supposed to play it for fun. Not because I feel that I'm being loyal to it in some way. If the I don't want to put up with it's problems anymore, there's plenty of other games out there willing to take it's place.

If my mobile phone provider had absolutely terrible reception in my town, I'd switch to another provider, even if I'd been with that same company for years. I don't have to be loyal to them if they're not providing what I need. So why the hell would I do it with a game?
The problem is, millions of people wouldn't switch providers, either through laziness, scared of change, apathy, or simply because they like to feel that they're not 'quitters'... Idiots.

(Allods might be free2play at the basic level, but it only stays that way if you get your character to the level-cap and then celebrate by rollign another one and doign the same thing again).

Moving on Down (And Recruiting)

I'm trying to take a bit more of a back-seat in the MMO's at the moment, while still trying to stay active in the Munquis.

For this reason, I've handed over the GM'ship of the WoW guild to Knickerface, and last night Bronze took over the Leadership of the STO Fleet. (Although because of a feature of the STO fleet system, we're actually both still the leaders of the fleet. I promoted him to the top spot, but it left me there too. And I can't demote myself).

The Munquis are obviously going through a bit of a transitional phase at the moment. The next few months will be a turning point. And will probably define whether the Tribe survives and becomes bigger and better than ever. Or simply dwindles away in to history because there just aren't enough people interested in joining, or in staying as members.

I think we were quite unique in WoW. You used to be able to log on at any time of day and find at least several players online. Log on at peak times, and it would be in the 20+ range. Log on in the middle of the night, and there would probably still be at least 1 or 2 around.
Those days appear to be gone. I've logged in to find myself the only person online, the raiders have struggled to reach the numbers needed, and for the first time in a few years we're having to actively recruit to try and sort the situation out... It was bound to happen at some point but it's always a shame when things, that were once great, begin to fade away.

In STO we're at th eopposite end of the scale. We're a new fleet, but it's a new game. So we're going to have to actively recruit no matter how we look at it. We currently have a fleet of 2, and that's not going to help much.
I've posted a recruitment thread on the official forums, and we'll have to start advertising in-game. But some of the the other fleets have got much more of a head-start on us. Particularly the ones that played in the Beta. As they probably kept everyone they already had, and many people prefer to join established teams liek that, rather than come in at ground level and work hard to build things up.

Personally, I prefer the challenge.