Nergal crumples to the ground

This is where I've been saying that the extended subguilds are a huge sleeper problem for the game. It used to be that any player always had universal access to characters that could be "tier 1" in playability, for lack of a better term -- a human ranger, warrior, assassin, whatever. You could make such a character and become the best. Half-giants and muls exist sort of outside the spectrum due to the extreme RP constraints placed on them, and the same went for the old elementalist guilds because they were a different playstyle altogether and didn't infringe much on mundane play.

Armageddon is also a game where people frequently start over. I'd wager at least a third of the playerbase past and present has had more than one account. People look for a fresh start, or return after years of absence. It's a game whose culture can compel players to want a personal reboot. It was a big factor of player retention that you could do this and have access to character options that didn't have hamstrung potential.

Somebody who had two karma and lost it to some staff bullshit because they once PKed an admin's pet character and became subject of the "let's see what we can punish him for" kind of scrutiny that Nyr loved so much; that player moves to a different address, misses the game, and makes a new account to start over. Or they used to. Now, faced with the reality that their characters would be at the bottom of the totem pole for quite a while, they're much less likely to bother, and becomes a lost player instead. Before these changes, you had the freedom to not care.

When they added extended/magick subguilds, suddenly players had much more cause to fret about their karma and standing with the staff, and those who might have considered returning were discouraged by the knowledge that their characters would be second-rate. You wanna know what the difference is between a basic ranger and one that gets master parry and shield use? It's at least 30% sheer combat power. A warrior with master sneak/hide? An assassin with strength buffs? You get the idea. It takes such a long time to work up a meaningful character that doing it with one that has far less potential than other people's characters is deeply unpalatable. You'll be playing on freemium mode. Who wants that?

This change did two things: a decline in player retention and a rise in sycophancy. The latter has created a really nasty atmosphere in the game and on the GDB as some players don't abide by it and have soured on the community, even if they still play. Players become hostile toward eachother because they're sick of seeing people frantically fellate the staff just to protect their privileges, enabling staff's awful behaviour.

Staff corruption and indecency has of course also played a big part in this and in the declining player numbers, but I've been saying that the change to the "character economy" is a considerable factor as well, and one that few people seem to consider. No doubt staff enjoys the unwavering worship from a portion of the playerbase, but this is not a healthy situation for a game of this type. It creates a terrible community culture and makes it far less desirable for new or returning players. The equality between mundane characters was extremely important for the game's well-being.