I'm going to start off by saying I love this server and I want it to thrive.
Currently, new players do not have a feasible route to advance in the game without either donating or being very lucky at gambling. That's a big issue.
Right now with how things are, this server is basically cutting off new players at the start. Since we will always lose a % of players due to quitting/etc, we need to seriously focus on how to ensure that new players are engaged in content such as pvm, and when it comes out - skilling.
Right now as all of us know, PvM needs a major overhaul on the drop tables, 90% of the loot from the bosses are irrelevant and worthless, and with the amount of HP the bosses have (takes an incredible amount of time for a new player to kill a boss) and the chances of getting good loot being so lackluster, new - mid level players do not have much drive to PvM.
Because of this disconnect between current updates and what new players need we are losing new players every single day. This point is also evident by how empty raids are, and how empty bosses are in general. (exclud; ToB, Nightmare)
I think I can say, that we have all noticed how a lot of the updates pertain almost exclusively to Platinum members and donators, as well as endgame content such as custom armors, appealing to the small group of high $ donators.
But if we are to thrive as a community we NEED to invest more into assuring new players are happy and engaged with content, and have a viable route to good gear.
Therefore they would be far more likely to donate in the future if they see that the same amount of effort is put into what the game needs. Without new players staying and donating we will continue to see a decline of the avg. daily playerbase, and if we lose more players than we gain each week, that is bad for everyone.
Look, I don't pretend to have a solution at the moment to fix all of these issues other than revamping PvM which I know is being worked on, but as a community that loves this game, we want it to thrive- then we need to tackle these issues together, and brainstorm ideas as soon as possible.
I made this post because I feel that this needs to be said, and with the devs only talking to Plat members about what we need in future updates, I hope we get these issues resolved soon.
I love this game, I love this community, and I myself will be glad to donate more in the future, but we cannot thrive with the numbers we are seeing currently.
