Absolutely.

Server managers, the PWAs, and anyone else who puts up with a lot of bull**** and sticks with this game (for whatever reason).

+ Frankie, Andy, and Chris for being very helpful and not telling me to screw off whenever I bugged them with scripting questions.

That's not a joke, that's her account name.

I would like to nominate myself.

FAQ team on UN in like 2k6

kb, dante, klyde, mysti, sub-zero. also Havoc great GP Chief

real pleasure to work with to say the least.

Everyone :-)

I am probably one of the most respected players on Graal.

Ibonic & Bell

Arch Nemesis....so glad hes no longer around.

I respect anyone who tries hard to do what's right for Graal. People who just bring it down by constantly trolling and being pessimistic are instantly written off in my book. It's the people who are around struggling to stay and do the right thing who pull off respect from me. Unfortunately, that rules out most of the people on the forums.

To those respectable people I just outlined, I know how hard you guys work to stay and do the right thing, and you all know exactly who you are, and I thank you. Don't think for a moment that I don't notice your efforts for Graal; we all need people like you in order to keep this game alive.

I respect people who make decisions based on what is right and what they truly believe in, rather than go along with the people in control. Advertise a game that all we can do is find fault with? How the hell do you expect us to do that while maintaining any ethical values at all?

Go ahead, lie about Graal all you like, but your attitude just represents those running this trashy game--it's all about being lazy and expecting others to do work for you, while still making money. Advertise so you can get in some more extorted and unappreciated laborers!

Good grief, get ahold of yourself man and start acting responsibly.

Amen :cool:

I find this sentence ironic considering the source, honestly.

Anyways, I will humor you.

When times are tough, what is the default reaction? Complain? Argue about the way it's being done? Wish that you could do something about it to make it better? Don't do anything and wait for it to get better?
In my opinion, all of these are common reactions.

Now, what is the most productive reaction? I believe the most productive reaction is to carry on with your job, but instead, do a better job in order to make things better. If everyone started contributing again, we could have a flourishing development community.

Wait, let's take a quick glance over to economics. Similar situations with depressions and recessions. In order to pull out of a depression, people are expected to spend money in order to make the economy better again.
Back over to Graal; I believe we are simply in a "development depression" right now, for reasons of which we are all aware. In order to correct this, drastic work measures must be taken. People need to start developing again, they need to quit complaining and start developing their servers as they were years ago. I know this is easier said than done considering the client hasn't received an update in over a year and none of the development tools are updated to standards... but we didn't have problems with it years ago and still made decent quality work.

The largest problem I see with Graal is that all of the elders of Graal are growing tired of developing, period. Graal is not pulling in many new players/developers (from what I know, note: this is not based on anything I've heard from upper management), and as a result, everyone is just getting tired. There is no new "blood" to liven up the place.

Holy cow, talk about roaming off topic!

I respect Bell and Streety, they're mature and they actually think about their decisions.

I don't respect Neptune (kickenitman) or Tig.

Streety donned himself the headless horseman and harassed me with staffboots and attacking me with his pumpkinny head. Oh, and he accused me of macro'ing!!! >: (

People do not pay for something they don't think is worth the value it's being sold at. There has to be a mutual agreement on the equal value of the exchange from both ends. In a free market, if someone thinks that a product or service is too expensive, they just look elsewhere.

The problem with Graal is that it is too expensive for what it offers. What does it offer, I ask you?
- A disjointed community rationed out onto diverse servers, each created by a collective but also disjointed effort.
- A chance to create, improve, or otherwise contribute to the game itself, with almost no limitations or restrictions.
- Membership, at a cost. Without paying, players are highly limited from playing or contributing, and in the latter case, no compensation (or appreciation from management) is ever offered in any form.

So if we players feel that the game is not worth the cost, it's natural for us to do what all consumers are wont to do: leave. We should go and find a better game at a better price elsewhere. But we don't. Kinda curious, isn't it?

Why don't we leave?

Whether it be loyalty to a game they've played for many years, strong social ties with the community, or an interest in expressing creativity/being able to contribute to the welfare of other players, we have stayed. But we complain, we nag, we beg for change, we offer incentives, assistance, advice, tutorials, and overall motivation to change. We tried positive motivation. That was years ago. Now we've come to resort to negative. So why are you complaining about us? We're here, sticking with the game, many of us even still paying. We should be good, smart consumers and leave, but instead we are trying from the bottoms of our hearts to improve a game that we think is worth improving.

We are not going to lure fresh new minds into the pit we're stuck in, miserable and fighting just to be told "You are only making things worse" when in reality, we are the only thing keeping this game from completely sinking away. That is why you come to us begging for a new website. Does it come from the top? Hell no, they don't care. That is why you expect us to advertise and bring in new people to contribute in the same way we do, miserable and seeking true change. The worst thing you can do in that kind of situation is remain apathetic--or worse, content with it. Why accept what is wrong? Or even portray it as though it is all sunshine and grape vines to the ignorant? You should be ashamed of yourself, and you should stop protecting the people who need a serious wake up call.

Graal is like an apple rotting from the core outward. We are the skin, the only thing holding it together right now, and we are hard and sour, but what's important is that the inside, the content be delicious and crisp. Without a healthy core, management to lead the players and provide a quality product through their own sacrifice and hard work, there is nothing to keep the content edible. It's rotting, and it's not coming from those outside the inner circle, we complainers.


Yet for some reason we stay.