I agree with a lot of razer's points.
and i know that you guys are probably aware of tons of this stuff, but yerr
New Image, same communityI would really love to see our population grow. I understand that the number of people seeking a ro server to settle into is in decline but i still think its worth a shot to focus first on newbies, rather than the vet community.
I like the way that razer put it: Treat ourselves as a starting community of 50.
The anniversary events and the mass e-mail seem to give the server a new image-- but log in, what's different? The population's mindset is still the same. Newbies can't compete in woe/pvp, and i imagine that all the melee mains roll their eyes when prontera wars break out. Don't have a kaho/valk? Good luck finding an endless party. I hate how incredibly big the stat/bonus difference is between a player with restricted gear is when compared to someone "decently geared". High-end gears are still staple, etc.
I hope you guys don't go all out with advertising before this is addressed - because to put it bluntly, i wouldn't stay on this server if i were a new player. And i don't go back to servers that i don't like.
Faster experience through novice battle manuals, beginner weapons and the job agency don't help at all, if in the end, you're still way behind others at 99/70. Besides, this should be a low rate server.
PvEI also agree that PvE is important, because its the easiest way to make friends.
So force people to party!
I think the umbala event did a good job of this. It's been fun!

I've partied with at least 7 friends and 4 strangers since the event started... which admittedly sounds like very little, but feels like way more than usual.
UpdatesI am always impressed by the dedication that the staffers put forth, given that they are volunteers. It's obvious that some of them are constantly working on things for the server. I don't know about the ones that don't make public appearances, but i imagine that there's at least one person working his/her ass off behind the scenes.
However! And i think that i've complained about this before:
SPREAD OUT YOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR GODS SAKES. ಠ_ಠ
You have so much content coming out, but some people don't realize this because you're chunking them into fatass tldr updates. I think the community would be much more impressed if you made multiple threads for different things from the same maintenance, and spread out posting 2hrs from each. Sounds dumb, looks good. Keeps people excited and watching the forums.
...
...and now i'll make a thread with some neutral event-related feedback to redeem myself from all this negativity @@;