Given time, pop will trend towards 99% of players at level 50, and a vast wasteland below it. This wasteland will cease being a grouping game, and become soloers or people being powerlevelled.
This WILL happen. NO question about it.
What will be our reaction?
That's the important question. Because there's attrition at level 50. Some number of people will quit every week. If you have no newbies coming in, and people slowly quitting at level 50, the server dies. That's how it always happens, in every game. Old EQ, DAoC, Vanguard, WAR, WoW, on and on...the same story, over and over again.
Right now, we're seeing the early warning signs of real problems for new players. This community better sit down and decide what to do, right now, and not put this off any longer. If we're not willing to accommodate people, they're not gonna roll new chars here, and we're up shit creek.
In a month or so, considering adjusting the XP curve for newbies, or even tweaking things like bind wound; those are going to seem gentle options, compared to how desperate for new blood we may become.
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