I very much believe that the problem is not loot. The problem is markup. When I started, even generic leather was at 150%. That markup saved us from bad runs time and time again. A lot of the hunting materials are used by the tailors. However, when MA added decay to armor and clothing removal, people stopped taking off their armor and stopped changing their clothes. This one move deterred a lot of participants from shopping for new outfits. There's no point in owning more that one set of clothing if you're not going to bother to change. I believe this move killed the tailoring industry which in turn killed hunting through bad markup on tailoring materials. I think it's high time the decay on armor and clothing is removed and a few new bps get added to try and bring life back to tailoring. When is the last time someone saw a bp for jeans? Do they drop anymore? I don't know what changed that caused the mining resources to drop in markup, but I'm sure one or more of you miners out there must have some idea/s.
Another problem is the social atmosphere. There are still some that spend time at PA but it's not like it was. PA is too expansive and there doesn't seem to be a big meeting ground. In order to get with traders, new participants have to get Twin. It was a lot easier when you were new to have the traders centrally located where we came off the ship. New participants don't have the ped flow to efficiently use the auction and therefore use traders more.
Along with the social atmosphere is something someone already touched upon a little. It's no longer necessary to risk death to run from tp to tp. This helped to get more seasoned participants together with new participants. The mystery and sense of adventure is taken out for the new participants because it's no big deal to fly these days and the more seasoned participants no longer have a cheap activity that also allows for a fresh look at the planet through the eyes of someone new. Kind of like seeing the world in a new way through the eyes of your children for you parents and others who understand that.
Beyond the puny field, there doesn't really seem to be a decent hunting spot that new participants have latched onto. Once they are ready to go to another mob, it's a lonely planet out there. Remember Atlas Island? That place was always busy. I think Atlas Island was one of the things that was utterly destroyed the night Hades got blown up. There's a few other hunting locations I miss dearly too. In fact, I haven't been anywhere near as satisfied with my choices of hunting locations since Hades got blown up. I think the area at the lake north of PA could make a good next stop after the punys location. The problem is that there is no decent trade center there and the maturity might need to be dropped just a bit. I think with the addition of the auctioneer and storage, that area could become quite a center of activity.
Someone earlier suggested we write our ideas of what could help improve things both for keeping new participants and for helping seasoned one's find that love of the planet we once had in abundance. I hope this helps get some of you on track with that idea. If enough are listed, the devs may agree with some of them and we could see them incorporated. Blind squirrels and nuts kind of thing.
Hug,
Aliana
