Wow, I guess I'm glad I didn't head over to Valk server. Looks like Doddler has been promoted to GM and is having his way with the server over there. I respect the information and guides he gives to the community, but I can't help but feel like the guy is running wild with his guildies on the new Valk server.
First, server exp and drop rates were suddenly jumped to 100% of normal rates. Then after he bitches on his blog about how expensive enriched elu / ori is, GMs suddenly reduce prices on them (in valk only) to make them more attractive. The GMs then look to changing WoE times and whether WoE1 / WoE2 should happen at the same time for all servers. Doddler's stance? There isn't enough competition, so lets increase the frequency. Also, lets stagger WoE days from premium and Valk servers so people who want to play both can. (I'm guessing so they can keep cross-server domination)....Insanity....
This week Valk server gets exclusive Kafra shop items. For one, they get rental items of good gear to assist with leveling that last 1 week at a time. Also quite interesting is that they get Convex Mirrors before any of the so-called "premium" servers. Convex mirrors, by the way, is an item to detect where on the map an MVP is and what the spawn time will be if it is already dead.
Funny that Doddler also wishfully hoped that iRO would see this very item sometime soon. All coincidence? Seems rather unlikely.
So, for those wishing for a fresh start on Valk server, I wouldn't be too hopeful about that happening. Valkyrie (the guild that Doddler is in) is made up of former Alpha/Insurrection members; those who ran the one-sided alliance on Loki that many have said destroyed much of the fun there. I see people migrating over to Chaos from Loki a lot recently too, just to get away from their crap. Oh, and because of them hardcoring, they already have all of the WoE2 god item pieces (with necessary fort econ and defense to actually make the items), as well as a huge amount of WoE1 god item pieces.
My only joy is that because of the Valk server bleeding these guys dry by nickel and dime-ing them to death, all servers will hopefully benefit from longevity. Now if they would only market the god damn game...
-Wiz