I can't say that this was the worst event ever. I can, however, say that it was mediocre.
Look at the type of event it was. Look at the subject matter being dealt with. We were all granted the chance to destroy the killer of Morpheus and the (almost) destroyer of the Matrix. It's kinda like Smith all over again, what with the Assassin's threats. Content wise, you can't do a whole lot with a simple hunt. That's why all the "hunt" related Player Driven Events (PDEs) you see seem simple. Just find the target, and kill him/her/it. Now, there is the avenging of a leader's death to consider, but that's up to the players to add, not the company making the event. The same goes for any RP that goes into something like this. Hmm, kinda makes things a bit...easy for the sponsor, doesn't it? No content to plan, the players bring most of it.
This is why I can't say it was the worst event ever. The event itself isn't meant to be some huge, awe-inspiring thing, it's just a hunt. Now, RP-wise, yes, I'm glad to see the killer of my mentor dead. That's all I can glean from this. My question though, is...why wasn't this all wrapped up in one event? Why couldn't we have killed the A after we found out about the death of M? IT'S A SIMPLE HUNT!
C'mon, why did it take so much time to kill the A? Seemed a bit...I don't know...drawn out, if you ask me. It was almost as if the heads behind it all needed to make the event longer just so it seemed "major" somehow. I sincerely hope SOE didn't mean for this to be their great gift to the players and a way of saying, "Hey, we can do it too!" Content-wise, any player with half a brain could come up with a hunt. It isn't hard.
Yet, we continue to defend mediocrity. "Any event is better than no event", right? Really? Has it been that long since we had an event? What is it with people? I could've waited a little longer for the team to come up with some quality stuff. Or was it that maybe SOE was worried that people were leaving too quickly, and rushed to put SOMETHING up for us to work with? cough...Pandora's Box...cough
Am I alone in my thinking? Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? Is anyone else as worried as I am?
Don't defend mediocrity. We pay these people to deliver quality, and live up to certain promises that were made. I'm not saying the game has to be perfect. I'm not saying every event has to be an end-all, awe-inspirer. I'm saying that I expect more from a company with so many games under their belt. I am disappointed.
Criticism is not a bad thing. Mediocrity needs no defenders. Oh, and one last thought...
To the people that came back into game for this event after being gone for so long...will you be sticking around? If there's one thing this event did well, it was bringing back a lot of old friends. Did this event re-solidify your belief in the game? I'm interested in hearing your opinions.
P.S - I think we could've done without the reward. The fly in amber was a nice touch, but a prize for killing the Assassin? How much more stuff can SOE give out before they realize that you can't win people over with pacifiers? <shakes head>
