Casuals never had the same gameplay as the 18 hrs a day ppl on any server ever. How could they?
The user count dropped ages ago and has held steady since
It dropped because the drop files were wrong and then someone posted them and to anyone who didn't know what they meant it looked as though they were never ever going to get anything above a level 26 item or spell ever.
That's why they left.
The new drop files have been in place for about a month .
Things everyone has been moaning about are dropping. Now what do you want? More of them? Sooner?
Why not just give everyone a level 40 shop kit when they get new armour and a level 45 shop kit including dark arm when they reach 45. That's is the only way casuals get the same gameplay.
The other way it works is if everyone else is so far ahead of casuals so by the time they get to 40 most of the things they want are of no interest to the level 50+ players and so are in the shops or Tm cheap.
As a casual player who stopped for the reason I didn't get to effectively play the game to its full potential, the spells being crafted change actually has me thinking of a return. Playing any game where I'm missing vital things like spells makes me less interested in staying at the game, items I expect to have worse gear than a hardcore player, that's how it is on every MMO, but missing spells, no thanks.
And please don't say that's how Mir has always been, cause yes I know that, however it's one thing that should be changed from the original concept of Mir. A hardcore player who has all spells and better gear will usually win against a casual missing vital spells, however if the casual had the same spells, he may prove that even without the best gear he can put up a strong fight and may even win.
All I see coming from this spell crafting system is more interesting fights between players/guilds and the opportunity for casuals to have more fun... I honestly see that as a positive thing.
Random fact about me - I am pretty bad at Mir PvP, but I won't back down if someone attacks me, I usually just run about trying to hit and if I'm failing I will just run around till they get bored, I don't RT very often.