I am not sure you can use this for anything, but if constructive feedback can be useful for you all, to bring back the glory that was once CoA, I will be happy to share my thoughts. Three things led to me departing the server.

The first, was that part of the Player base, supported by the most active DMs on the team, effectively changed CoA from a roleplaying server, to an action server. The mechanical challenge became more important than telling a good story. Values of "playing your stats", "telling a good story" and "rewarding interesting concepts & builds that portray something unique", as well as focus on a major narrative through the setting, were replaced by maximizing the mechanical challenge, and surviving insane encounters. If you survived, you got epic loot, and epic dm attention. If you died, you got told to "get better".

The second was the death of CoA Europe. I work long hours, so I could only give the game roughly 10 hours a week. And for a mover & shaker, I experienced it as almost impossible to have any impact on the game. This was caused by the Plot DMs being purely American based, so plots and progress occured outside the 17-22ish EU timezone. This made players in the EU timezones leave, and killed off the time zone entirely.

This leads me to the third "thing." Improper Community Management. With the death of storytelling and focus on mechanical challenges, with the balance between EU and US timezones, buddies of the active DMs were rewarded, and the RP focused individuals slowly drifted away. For years, we had 2 or so active IG DMs if lucky. That is not nearly enough, and it led to frustrations and stress being taken out on the player base. Instead of collaborating, the mindset of the playerbase drifted to competing for sparse DM attention, and the gap between those who had it, and those who did not, became bigger. To put it bluntly, you began nursing the weeds rather than the flowers, because the flowers needed more care, and the weed was resilient, did not have too many demands, because they only played when they needed a break from EFU.
Instead of maintaining the differences between EFU and CoA, you allowed the worst from EFU to be brought into the CoA community, and laughed at all who argued against it. And now the flowers in the garden are gone, the movers & shakers, and the storytellers have vanished, because you wanted to play "who can spawn most suicide goblins or run epic death traps for your EFU buddies.

If you want to change it, change the mindset of some of the current DM team, or remove some, who have burned out, and are effectively no longer contributing positively. Reach out to the Netheril community, and find common ground, and a way to combine forces once more.

I wish you all the best.

With the withdrawal phase well over, I can do this in a more official and trustworthy fashion. For more than 15 years, CoA has been my sanctuary, the place I could hide from the world when things got a bit too tough. However, a lot happens in 15 years, and just as the game changes, so too does the player. Having spend most of my teenage years within this magical world, it is hard to say goodbye, but this is going to be an official goodbye for me. With a busy RL, it needs all the focus and attention it can get, and this game is just too time consuming and addictive to fit into life as it is.

I wish you all the best, and while I am still sad I was never poked to become a DM (mostly kidding ), I wish you all the best. For those of you who wish to stay in touch, you can always find me on Facebook. And if I you have no idea who I am outside of this lovely fantasy realm, shoot me a pm on the forum, Ill likely to answer that.

Spiffy, Puffy and the rest of the DM team, I hope you wont give up, but will continue to keep this place alive. I know many of the community use it as I once did, as a place where the world is as it should be, not as it sometimes is. It is odd, isnt it, that fire breathing dragons and horned demons are far less scary than all the shit we people have to struggle with outside of this game.
Keep the plot wheel spinning, and keep the world alive. I wish you all the best!

Olouth / Mr Vigilante / Rusty / Christen

Until EU CoA is Velsharoon’ed, and rises from its grave, it is good bye for me as well. CoA singleplayer is not my favorite game.

You have always been able to fix broken builds, just by dying. The only difference now, is that we have locked the first 6 levels, so as soon as you have taken them, there is no way to fix them.

Also, just to be clear. YES, by using this, you should be sent back to level 6, with not a single exp above it. I know I would use it to fix shit, and I am nearly 8.

Strife, I am all for it being DM only. But as two of our active dms have stated that they are not to be bothered by the request, something else is needed.

IMO, I do not see an issue of people abusing it. And if they do, THAT is an entirely different issue. I see abuse of this, just as shifting items between characters, or any type of exploit in general. You cannot make a server exploit free, and those who abuse the trust should be punished.

Place the druid next to the undead island transition, or in the swamp next to the water. Makes zero sense that druids who dislike the city, cannot do the main druid themed quest.

With the announcement by the dm team, that they wish not to help people relevel, delevel or remake, I suggest a "delevel" NPC is placed in the fugue. Simply put, it strips you of ALL your exp, down to 0, and gives it back to level 6.

Since we already have scripts in place, that makes any character below lvl 6 lvl 6 upon death, it should be an easy fix, but would help some of the morons (like myself) from having to pester a dm. This way, your fix 6 levels arent ENTIRELY locked forever and ever.

I pondered a bit about whether people could abuse it, But since its gonna happen in the fugue, I doubt many will try and abuse it.

I do not see the issue, and welcome the change.

• It allows actual use of PRCs, which at our level makes jack shit sense.
• It allows for multiclassing in general. ATM, multiclassing work best with classes that are front loaded. That will change, when you can be a level 10 cleric, 5 rogue.
• Loot will increase in potency, to build a bridge between spellcasters and not so spellcasters.

Sure, pure casters gain power. But so do everyone else. For instance, Improved power attack is hardly worth it in our current level range, but add a few more, and imagine a War made crit with a power attack on a wizard... OUCH!

*In the center of the Hullack Forest, where the old druid stones stand, is a small bloodbath, and the leftovers of a fire. Upon close inspection, the antlers of a White stag, now scarred by fire is left in the centre of the campfire. Half burned, is a single piece of paper, an old prayer written with crude handwriting:
By the purest of the stags, shall life sproud a new, and the forest feel the embrace of change. So says Mielikki.