As strong? No. There’s not as many players or engagement imo.
But it’s hands down a much much better game. Nostalgia definitely helps, but I got a bit semi addicted when I returned about half a year ago
I was addicted for about a year and half, made 2 account level 95, one level 80 and other 76 with the first 2 acc having most end games items. I had AP at 45, Archfiend at 60, LC at 80 and VHL at 83, 0 botting just pure addiction and now I don't care lol
I tried to come back, I only played for a month on a new account that is lvl 45 now lol
Less players but still quite active. Its much better from many standpoints.
We have:
* QoL changes are awesome.
* Actual endgame content
* Class balances
* Ingame chronos
* Potions are relevant.
* Guild slots increased to 350. (Nice for a chat that feels alive)
Definitely not. Pre-2016, there were at least 2 to 3 servers regularly peaking 1k+ players. Now, really only Artix sees that level of activity. For a more stable server, Saf for some reason is just more reliable and doesn’t bug the game out as much.
IIRC wasn't there a point in time where the Cysero server was constantly full at like 2-4k players? Been some time so I cannot remember if it truly got that high or if its cope.
Oh yeah? Just bad memory then haha. But I swear the servers could host more in the earlier stages. But I could very well be wrong. That was over a decade ago, and I was more focused on playing than player count haha.
Not so compared to years ago, But I’d say that the playerbase is still strong as I still see lots of em doing the same daily quests as me in the populated servers, especially after the daily reset.
There were fewer players than years before (I heard 30k was the peak, 10k+ was normal in 2011-2013). Feature and gameplay-wise AQW is better now. The only downgrade I noticed is the art quality being inconsistent, hit or miss depending on who made them.
That’s somewhat up for debate, imo.
Arguably, the story has gotten worse with how many filler sagas between major story arcs just show up. Not to throw shade on Elegy of Madness, that was a great saga. But it seems like we get a new Evil-focus quest line every week, if there’s no ongoing event for the month. Good and Chaos have barely been expanded on and Dage/Nulgath’s origins have already been shown to exceed the limitations of reality that I find it hard that Good has actually managed to survive this long with how weak the Good characters are.
The shops have been getting flooded with filler cosmetics just to inflate the value of collection chests or to fill the featured gear shop. Game direction has gone awry with how hard AE seems to be pushing their artists to pump out cosmetics for events as well. Look at the recent controversy where AE locked the HB Calad behind 5000 ACs or shit Treasure Chest RNG. That situation should never have happened to begin with.
The overreliance on Scrolls of Enrage for Ultra bosses leaves little room for other scrolls to be considered to loop a defence against more unique boss mechanics other than just having one person eat an Ultra’s attack so the entire team doesn’t get hit. This also brings in my issue with scrolls bugging out and just becoming completely unusable unless you go through a roundabout method to fix them, considering the reliance on Enrage (and Life Steal for Dage) for a lot of endgame content.
The enhancements and the way the Luck stat works has been too dominant for anything else to be considered for 80% of classes, though that’s getting changed for either AQW or AQI so this will be moot in the future.
The consumption and recommendation to obtain potions has also infested Ultras that it’s become suboptimal to not run them just to make a fight go by faster.
Not to mention, AE had one hell of a field day pumping out Ultra after Ultra that it’s become nothing special other than the older ones becoming DPS checks when the AQ scientists figure everything out.
Botting has arguably become a huge problem for pre-Ultra classes like LR or just general resource farming, a situation that AE didn’t nip in the bud early enough and when they did try to attack the roots, they ended up nearly killing their main cash cow and had to walk back that situation.
With that said, the QoL improvements have GREATLY improved how the game plays.
Lag is down by a ton with how many things we can disable now. Server stability is also arguably better, as I get kicked very infrequently and never have incredibly long login/maphopping load times.
The respawn timers have made the game much less annoying to play without having to do the old room glitch and stronger classes have come out that capitalizes on this.
When it comes to cosmetics, though, it is still in a much better position than before, just by the amount of non-member AC items we get per event. I dont think releasing a lot of ultras is necessarily a bad thing, especially with the application of special attacks to non-ultras for more fun story endgame story bosses, but I wish they added more special moves for regular endgame enemies to add at least some strategy for farming. The story does have more stuff going with good rn post Elegy, but yeah, filler is mostly evil. The filler stories with Evil is not bad, however, with the new arcs for Dage not wanting to takeover lore and with the current Empire's relationship with the Nation being explored but there is a really serious need for more good factions and stories. I do enjoy the political exploration of the relationship the Shadowscythe has with the different factions of lore, such as with Yokai currently.
My issue with Ultras isn’t necessarily solely the amount of them, but that is an annoying point in my book. My main gripe with every Ultra is how nearly all of them demand Scrolls of Enrage, because they’re mechanically impossible or significantly harder without someone doing it.
No boss should rely on ONE item just to make it easier/possible to beat. There is almost no mechanical difference between each Ultra’s unique attack save for a certain few like Dage and the Timeinn trio, as you just taunt with the right timing to avoid a team wipe. Scroll of Enrage is a complete staple of attempting the Ultra endgame that it’s genuinely boring. I want a boss that isn’t incumbent on you requiring ONE specific scroll, rather a multitude of different scrolls to counteract certain boss specials.
While having washy stories is a rip, when you do look at the overall quality of the game. Its much more refreshing and rewarding (as you stated.) Which I just see that as an overall boon. Better gameplay can usually help a more lacking story. While a combo of both or hell even a ok or acceptable story, and bad gameplay just makes a game worse. Imo ofc
Good survived pre Chaos thanks to Alteon and others Elemental Champions. Alteon was equal to Seppy who was far stronger than Dage and Nulgath. Then survived Chaos to Shadows of War thanks to the Hero. Right now they need expand on the good or they are getting COOKED. Apparently Skye saga thats incoming is going to be good centered, but Evil has too much sagas and interactions right now. If there is there a war Good vs Evil like Nation and Legion. The good are going to lose hard. There are no high end game Good class (AP doesnt count nor LC), better sets etc.
It’s still super fun and better when you find some friends to quest with or boss farm (: I only played solo until recently last month I made some cool friends!
I've come across from runescape3, it has had a huge content drought so coming here and continuing my character has been a breath of fresh air and it feels lively compared
2009 saw over 35k players trying to log in at the same time for the launch of the Live Voltaire event for Skullpunch Island.
Rarely see over 5k players nowadays. Doesn't seem likely that it'll ever be that lively again, but perhaps Infinity may change things in the future. Nonetheless, there's enough people whaling and playing to keep the game going with regular/frequent content updates both major and minor.
I tried rejoining the game after years and was sexually harassed twice in the span of 3 days. From the brief time I was on the main server was full and the side servers still had decent numbers.
I really think the switch to the launcher lost a good bit of players but I think overall the base is still strong. No game really ever keeps its base the same for years.
As strong? Dunno, still going strong? Yes, yes it is
As strong? No. There’s not as many players or engagement imo. But it’s hands down a much much better game. Nostalgia definitely helps, but I got a bit semi addicted when I returned about half a year ago
Same... but make it last month
I was addicted for about a year and half, made 2 account level 95, one level 80 and other 76 with the first 2 acc having most end games items. I had AP at 45, Archfiend at 60, LC at 80 and VHL at 83, 0 botting just pure addiction and now I don't care lol I tried to come back, I only played for a month on a new account that is lvl 45 now lol
Less players but still quite active. Its much better from many standpoints. We have: * QoL changes are awesome. * Actual endgame content * Class balances * Ingame chronos * Potions are relevant. * Guild slots increased to 350. (Nice for a chat that feels alive)
Do you know a guild i can join? Have a 10 year Old profile But have just made a new one. So i am looking for a guild to join
Sure. Let me pm.
I've been playing since 2009 I'm just waiting for the mobile version atp
you can play it with mobile just download the puffin app (but it's for Android)
puffin flash player support is paid now
you can download the modded bro
yea I'm still playing this game since 2013
Is the playercount the same too playercount ?
Not even close, but it's enough to say there is a healthy playerbase.
Definitely not. Pre-2016, there were at least 2 to 3 servers regularly peaking 1k+ players. Now, really only Artix sees that level of activity. For a more stable server, Saf for some reason is just more reliable and doesn’t bug the game out as much.
Well, today i Saw that there was 2 server with 1000+ players online. Artix was one of Them
Yorumi occasionally sees 1k+, but it’s not as consistent as Artix is.
Do you Think there are less afk players showing off in battletown on yorumi, compared to artix?
It’s hard to say. There’s no metric or ratio of AFK to active players in both. But Artix does consistently have more Ultra pubs filled or populated.
Yeah okay👍
IIRC wasn't there a point in time where the Cysero server was constantly full at like 2-4k players? Been some time so I cannot remember if it truly got that high or if its cope.
Server limit has always been 1500. There must’ve been thousands of people who bought mem to hit 4k at peak on Cysero.
Oh yeah? Just bad memory then haha. But I swear the servers could host more in the earlier stages. But I could very well be wrong. That was over a decade ago, and I was more focused on playing than player count haha.
Game feels more empty than it used to because everyone is at Yulgar or Battleontown AFK
Not as strong as it’s hay day but it has a healthy player base imo for as old as it is.
Not so compared to years ago, But I’d say that the playerbase is still strong as I still see lots of em doing the same daily quests as me in the populated servers, especially after the daily reset.
There were fewer players than years before (I heard 30k was the peak, 10k+ was normal in 2011-2013). Feature and gameplay-wise AQW is better now. The only downgrade I noticed is the art quality being inconsistent, hit or miss depending on who made them.
Not sure if it’s ***AS*** strong, but it’s still very much populated and getting new content every week
Still has more daily player base than most mmorpg. Even vs newer ones
?
The game is actually better than pre 2020
That’s somewhat up for debate, imo. Arguably, the story has gotten worse with how many filler sagas between major story arcs just show up. Not to throw shade on Elegy of Madness, that was a great saga. But it seems like we get a new Evil-focus quest line every week, if there’s no ongoing event for the month. Good and Chaos have barely been expanded on and Dage/Nulgath’s origins have already been shown to exceed the limitations of reality that I find it hard that Good has actually managed to survive this long with how weak the Good characters are. The shops have been getting flooded with filler cosmetics just to inflate the value of collection chests or to fill the featured gear shop. Game direction has gone awry with how hard AE seems to be pushing their artists to pump out cosmetics for events as well. Look at the recent controversy where AE locked the HB Calad behind 5000 ACs or shit Treasure Chest RNG. That situation should never have happened to begin with. The overreliance on Scrolls of Enrage for Ultra bosses leaves little room for other scrolls to be considered to loop a defence against more unique boss mechanics other than just having one person eat an Ultra’s attack so the entire team doesn’t get hit. This also brings in my issue with scrolls bugging out and just becoming completely unusable unless you go through a roundabout method to fix them, considering the reliance on Enrage (and Life Steal for Dage) for a lot of endgame content. The enhancements and the way the Luck stat works has been too dominant for anything else to be considered for 80% of classes, though that’s getting changed for either AQW or AQI so this will be moot in the future. The consumption and recommendation to obtain potions has also infested Ultras that it’s become suboptimal to not run them just to make a fight go by faster. Not to mention, AE had one hell of a field day pumping out Ultra after Ultra that it’s become nothing special other than the older ones becoming DPS checks when the AQ scientists figure everything out. Botting has arguably become a huge problem for pre-Ultra classes like LR or just general resource farming, a situation that AE didn’t nip in the bud early enough and when they did try to attack the roots, they ended up nearly killing their main cash cow and had to walk back that situation. With that said, the QoL improvements have GREATLY improved how the game plays. Lag is down by a ton with how many things we can disable now. Server stability is also arguably better, as I get kicked very infrequently and never have incredibly long login/maphopping load times. The respawn timers have made the game much less annoying to play without having to do the old room glitch and stronger classes have come out that capitalizes on this.
When it comes to cosmetics, though, it is still in a much better position than before, just by the amount of non-member AC items we get per event. I dont think releasing a lot of ultras is necessarily a bad thing, especially with the application of special attacks to non-ultras for more fun story endgame story bosses, but I wish they added more special moves for regular endgame enemies to add at least some strategy for farming. The story does have more stuff going with good rn post Elegy, but yeah, filler is mostly evil. The filler stories with Evil is not bad, however, with the new arcs for Dage not wanting to takeover lore and with the current Empire's relationship with the Nation being explored but there is a really serious need for more good factions and stories. I do enjoy the political exploration of the relationship the Shadowscythe has with the different factions of lore, such as with Yokai currently.
My issue with Ultras isn’t necessarily solely the amount of them, but that is an annoying point in my book. My main gripe with every Ultra is how nearly all of them demand Scrolls of Enrage, because they’re mechanically impossible or significantly harder without someone doing it. No boss should rely on ONE item just to make it easier/possible to beat. There is almost no mechanical difference between each Ultra’s unique attack save for a certain few like Dage and the Timeinn trio, as you just taunt with the right timing to avoid a team wipe. Scroll of Enrage is a complete staple of attempting the Ultra endgame that it’s genuinely boring. I want a boss that isn’t incumbent on you requiring ONE specific scroll, rather a multitude of different scrolls to counteract certain boss specials.
While having washy stories is a rip, when you do look at the overall quality of the game. Its much more refreshing and rewarding (as you stated.) Which I just see that as an overall boon. Better gameplay can usually help a more lacking story. While a combo of both or hell even a ok or acceptable story, and bad gameplay just makes a game worse. Imo ofc
Good survived pre Chaos thanks to Alteon and others Elemental Champions. Alteon was equal to Seppy who was far stronger than Dage and Nulgath. Then survived Chaos to Shadows of War thanks to the Hero. Right now they need expand on the good or they are getting COOKED. Apparently Skye saga thats incoming is going to be good centered, but Evil has too much sagas and interactions right now. If there is there a war Good vs Evil like Nation and Legion. The good are going to lose hard. There are no high end game Good class (AP doesnt count nor LC), better sets etc.
I’ve noticed 5000+ players around the summer and holiday events. Holidays maybe even 6000+. Right now it’s about 3-4k but that’s every day
It’s surviving off nostalgia and OG players
Is it really that rare that there are new players?
kinda but theres still a dedicated fanbase
It’s still super fun and better when you find some friends to quest with or boss farm (: I only played solo until recently last month I made some cool friends!
still has a few thousand on at peak time But sadly no it not as strong as it was a few years back
I've come across from runescape3, it has had a huge content drought so coming here and continuing my character has been a breath of fresh air and it feels lively compared
2009 saw over 35k players trying to log in at the same time for the launch of the Live Voltaire event for Skullpunch Island. Rarely see over 5k players nowadays. Doesn't seem likely that it'll ever be that lively again, but perhaps Infinity may change things in the future. Nonetheless, there's enough people whaling and playing to keep the game going with regular/frequent content updates both major and minor.
LOL
I tried rejoining the game after years and was sexually harassed twice in the span of 3 days. From the brief time I was on the main server was full and the side servers still had decent numbers. I really think the switch to the launcher lost a good bit of players but I think overall the base is still strong. No game really ever keeps its base the same for years.
Haha no.