If they're trying to cater to the "family" audience, then they shouldn't make it too hard. If it's too hard to accomplish the tasks in the game, too hard to level up, to hard to upgrade your ships because it's too hard to get the gold to afford it, the target audience is going to give up quickly and go to something else.

And based on the comments on this forum, the majority of players don't feel that their game play experience is being improved by these latest changes.

I am NOT diggin this new "feature"

If I have to fight anything that's going to have a chance of killing me, I want rep and gold (or at least a treasure) for defeating it. I'm sending a bug report about the gold and treasure thing....just have to remember to take a screanie next time I'm on....this HAS to be a mistake. Or at least I hope it is...

You can't dig for treasure either, unless you have a quest that requires you to dig, which you can't get if you've finished the Black Pearl story quests.

So I landed my ship on Devil's Anvil so I could run and switch a load of laundry, and came back just in time to see my level 34 pirate being killed and sent to jail by a LEVEL 2 SAND CRAB!!!!!

Don't leave your computer unattended even for a second if you are anywhere near a spot where there are enemies. You may not survive.

This has happened to me several times since the update. As a parent player who has to step away from the computer from time to time if I'm playing while the kids are home and awake, this is a little frustrating.

And is nobody else having trouble using the staff as a weapon? It is hard to kill even just a few green or yellow enemies at one time without a healer, and even then its difficult because they often are being hit themselves. You really need to have 2 good healers with you, now, whenever targeting a group of enemies, so they can heal each other while keeping the person using the staff or any other weapon healed. And if they're not going to get any rep for it, who's going to want to do it?

But the best way to level the staff can still be done alone. Go figure. Just target the gypsies or other voodoo using enemies, drain their voodoo with the hex eater shot on your pistol then proceed with the staff. We're still getting about half as many points as we were before the update, but it doesnt seem quite so impossible to level as it did before I remembered the gypsies (or brinescum and mollusks on Tormenta).

Unfortunately Ive been suspended for my very first time since playing Disney games, and wont be able to take advantage of these voodoo users for a few days...

You never should leave your character unattended. From playing UO for over 8 years taught me this.

POTCO is billed as a family and a serious gaming player game. The last newsletter mentioned something about attracting gaming players.

if they want to limit the staff as they probably saw too many people who basically were a god. The ability would be cool, don't get me wrong; but making the game too easy will draw boredom and potentially lose playing customers.

well, at least we get gold from killing enemies again. But the staff gets ridiculously low rep now. I am not 32 killed a level 22 and got 8 rep!

I'm approaching my breaking point with this game. I started a new character after not being able proceed much in the game while being stuck on the BP quest on my level 35 character. My new character made the Black Pearl quest about a week ago, and I got excited because I love training weapons. Can't tell you how not-excited I am now.

I can barely train my weapons at Kingshead (which I use to have a lot of fun doing). Did I say barely? I meant 'not at all'. Trying to train my cutlass/dagger/grenades on those guys is nearly impossible at any level I would imagine because they just constantly hit you until you run out of health. This new update made the game harder, and I (and I think I speak for many others) are not liking it. Training my pistol is nearly impossible. I left my pistol at level 2 (yes level two) until I was ready to train it and expected it to be a breeze... now it's near impossible to beat anything at Murky Hollow (as well as any place harder than that) without dying in a heartbeat...

And who wants to ask one of your friends to just stand there and heal you? I know I wouldn't want to do that. How boring...

This game is not going to be successful as it stands now; unless they make some serious changes. They messed up the game for now, that's for sure. I'm thinking of resubscribing to Toontown now (even though BBHQ is STILL not released) to finish up some unfinished fishing and golfing. Unless POTCO makes a major release and major changes to the game (something similar to an HQ in Toontown, that takes a while to max) I don't see myself paying for much longer.

If they were smart, they would put everything back to the way it was before the newest release. Mostly just the new "low level's can hit higher level players now" release.

I just stopped playing for the day today, may not play tommorow, depends how bored I am. They really messed up the game in one simple release...

Years to build a game, seconds to ruin it.

Cory, I'd be happy to heal while you leveled at Kingshead. My former guildmates haven't been back to play since they reached the end of the quests and my new guildmates, who I play with on my second character, are still working through them, so I'd hate to ask them to stop and heal Elisa for a few hours everyday while I leveled. Maybe we could take turns healing for each other to limit the boredom of it. Send me a PM if you're interested. I won't be able to do anything until after Christmas though.

The staff has no advantage over other weapons at all, now, in my opinion. It was unique and desired as a weapon worth working to level 30 for, because you could kill several high level (25 - 35 plus) enemies at once with it. I can't even charge desolation quick enough to use it before I die, now. I had put 5 skill points on the skill which rehcarges your health more quickly. Had I known this update was coming I would have put them on the skill that enables you to load/charge the voodoo skill you're using more quickly.

I'm all for them "balancing the game play" (I'm pretty sure that means that the enemy attacks are stronger in addition to them having made it so that lower level enemies can cause injury) and making it a little harder. It really was too easy. However, they have made the staff worthless in making all the changes that they did (unless you have some reason to go to Murky hollow or the Thieves Den at level 30 or higher to kill groups of level 15 and under enemies).

I'm probably a little bit more miffed about it than some others maybe, because I could have leveled staff when it was easier to do so and I didn't. I had anticipated having each weapon mastered by the end of this weekend so that I would be able to devote my playing time to my guild and second character, and now I can't. So, I'm probably whining more than I might otherwise have. That still doesn't change the fact that they have spoiled the uniqueness of the staff. We'll see what happens when they add more content, but I can't see myself using it for much of anything in the game at this point, even after it's mastered.

anyone here who doesn't like the update better leave feedback by sending in a bug report to that effect, and dont just send it and forget, follow through till you're emailing one of the techs, make sure they know you're unhappy, if enough do it, they'll change it back, if not, we're all complaining here for nothing.

We could do that, a time and a place so we could friend first :xwink:

Don't worry, get all your anger out here. I'm angry too! :xembarassed:

I, along with the rest of you, DO NOT like the recent update they have given this game. I thought that to contend with the boredom waiting for some new quests to be activated, I would just level up like everyone else was doing. Now, they have even taken the fun of doing that away! I am a level 34 and now after fighting a level 12 & 14 soldier, I have to rest for a minute or so to get my health back. And then after all that, I get a measly 2-3 rep. I have to say that unless some big changes take place soon that I probably will not be playing this game for much longer. It is supposed to be fun, not work!

grrr i just got my grenades today and the only thing that i can hit for now is a fly trap plant bc they dont move.

Thank you Plundering Mom, you have added additional insight that I was not aware of regarding the Staffs. :)