In my opinion, the issues arisve from how NCSoft markets/presents L2 Aden vs what L2 really is as a whole. It's an MMO with PvPvE, yes, but it's also "Do all content by yourself! Have a great solo experience!" There's also contrast between the set-it-and-forget-it auto play and active play. The players who aren't as active EXPECT to be able to auto-hunt while afk, and active players don't see why those players should expect to stay alive while away from the computer. Two different cultures exist in the game, which is the true Aden/Essence experiment, as I see it.
The problem comes from the incentives/disincentives BETWEEN solo vs group play. Here's an example we all know.
Problem: no PK consequence/disincentive - that's a direct result of empowering the solo side. A single player can keep all their gains, and only give up a few lcoins and adena.
This has been mentioned before, but seriously, this type of thing can be OPTIMIZED over time. Players who get killed over and over then sit out, log out, or quit because they can't play. PKers get virtually no downtime and can keep going. See the mismatch? What's incentivised here?
Solution: harsher escalating penalties - after a certain point, the PKer shouldn't be allowed to waltz into towns, and should bear the risk of permanently dropping items. People risk items while compounding and enchanting all the time. L2 Revolution did a better job of dealing with jerks.
Perhaps there should also be a SOE/BSOE debuff - for 5 minutes (while Chaotic), increased SOE/BSOE time by 100% per stack.
There's so much more as a part of this discussion, but to all who say PKing is part of the game. Yes, yes it is, but it's NOT marketed as solely that. There's a balance to be struck, and whether that's by NCSoft framing this server more accurately, changing consequences, or by players coming together (<- IDEAL), then we'll continue to have culture/expectation wars and drama all around.
A short list of features that are mismatched between solo/group play:
-PKer penalties
-Clan hopping and irrelevant loyalty
-Diversity of rewards/tasks of daily missions
-"War" system lacks depth of any kind
-Olympiad isn't optimized in any way for solo PvP
-Auto-hunt 24/7 isn't the only way to play the game
At the end of the day, Epidemic played the clan game better than anyone. A tyranny formed around raid bosses and end-game content. Rival clans couldn't just magically organize, and if they did, it wasn't enough. There's now widespread revolt through server-wide pking, and a "protest" in Giran, hah. Also, the player pool at the top will keep dwindling, with a mid-tier population is littered with alts. There's a persistent quit-and-sell pattern with geared characters who are done. Oh, and there's an ongoing content schedule that 99% of Elcadia is weeks/months behind on. The discomfort that this brings to L2 will compound over time, since the system of incentives and content is for those who spend, with no help to those struggling on the bubble. It's all just a game, but we're all adults and each have a choice to make about the world you want to spend time in.
If you guys have suggestions or more info from your own perspectives, please share.
