There was a time, not so long ago, when Erica was different.
PR (PuppyRawr) ruled the server. For a while they ruled it to the point that they had to stir up opposition since they had thoroughly crushed those who stood in their way. They trained the siege golems into Dion and Giran back then, an event uniquie in L2 and which the players on other servers still talk about in awe.
They used to rule virtually all the castles. They don't now.
They used to determine who subclassed and who didn't. They don't now.
They used to control the choice hunting grounds. They don't now.
They still can make life difficult for their enemies, they still have some of the strongest characters on the server, but their star has been waneing for some time now. The server is different, far different, than it used to be.
Sure, there are still lots of bad things, things like major alliances who have members who run bot trains, who accept members who purchased toons, who bot themselves up, who use illegal programs. All those people might be 'powerful' but anyone who cheats is never as good as someone who can do it honestly.
Any achievement by someone who cheated is tainted, their accomplishments don't count a bit. Not one whit or tittle. If your toon is tainted by cheating, the heroness or levels or castles are also tainted.
So I was peering at my crystal balls the other day and what did I see? The evolution of Erica will continue. The day of the Honest Player is coming. It is a trend that will take another year or two to complete, but it is destined as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow. There will still be cheaters because there are weak humans at many keyboards. But one day, mark my words, the Honest Folks will be the power on Erica.
heh, I guess that DcD and High are no longer in the same alliance then eh?
Just before I quit playing on Erica, Avalon alliance decided to raid Lillith (yeah I was in Avalon ally at the time) and a member of High came to the Lillith room with a full 9men train. That by the way was the straw that broke my camels back as back then Avalon was supposed to be the good guys and SP the bad, but whatever, left Erica for Bartz a few days after seeing High botting clan members like that :eek:
I had stopped the billing of my account and was all set to leave the game. Then server transfers were announced. I signed up for another month, just to see if the game was better once the criminal element was able to move on to better prey.
Today I restarted autobilling because I am have the best time since I started playing. Erica is now a prime server and has its best days ahead.
Not only did NCSoft hit the cash jackpot collecting server transfer fees, but the second wave of income is going to hit from the honest players that are not leaving or are coming back.
I agree, the people that bot and only play for pvp arent gunna like it as much, the people that actually play the game (all aspects) will like it more. Viva la erica..!