| Scott I'd be thrilled to have your insight on the subject of community vs convenience. On the one hand players always want the path of least resistance, and things like auction houses or instancing make things more accessible. But at what point does it become detrimental to the game(not necessarily the bottom line, but the quality of the game itself) when you remove all the community building facets in favor of a more user friendly approach?
Maybe I'm just waxing nostalgic here but I do think there has to be a happy medium between the things that were so frustrating about Everquest and the souldraining impersonality of WOW.
Maybe just do a few small things:
1. Automated auctionhouses with exorbitant fees. Still there for those who don't wish to partake, but rewarding for those who wish to wheel and deal in person like the good old days. I'd compare it to trading baseball or magic cards rather than being a bonds trader or an e-bay entrepreneur.
2. A few relevant noninstanced dungeons and raids, dispersed throughout all levels. Leave instancing in some places but make it worth people's while to venture into contested content and interact with their fellow player.
I'm sure there are some other small things you could do that smarter people than I could come up with, but I wouldn't think it would take a whole lot to improve things immensely.
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Just an earthbound misfit, I
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