I am in the same situation. Looking at buying a new Ipad to play the game again. My old Ipad Mini (first gen) is not capable of playing the game (crashes every few minutes). The increasing Freemium aspects of the game is making the game a real turn off for me. Tokens for this, tokens for that, kill bosses 1000s of times to get the good drops and on and on. The game has changed a great deal since the days when I leveled up to 60 and was camping Falgren and fell in love with the game and really enjoyed playing.
Every new feature I see announced in the Forums I get excited because many of these things were suggested years ago and can really improve the enjoyment of the game for the players. Then I read the details for the new features and I just go blah... Everything new seems to come at a cost and is implemented with the angle of generating revenue. I understand OTM needs to make money but game synergy and enjoyment should be the focus of every new feature. When game features complement each other and people enjoy playing they will spend money on the game.
If I do start playing again it will be for my clan mates in Avalon. Maybe with a new Ipad I'll be able to see all the nice new eye candy that I have been unable to see for the past 2 years lol.
You're right in the sense that OTM need to generate money because this is as much a business as anything else. However you're wrong when you say that "Everyting new seems to come at a cost and is implemented with the angle of generating revenue." I feel like this is the opposite to what had been happening for the past few years. For a few years OTM added simple bosses and chests and called it an update. THAT was created with the angle of generating revenue. More chests = more money for OTM. However recently, with the addition of features like the bounty board AND pets it's clear that they're making a change. For one, you can get pet tokens from chests, yes but you can also grind them out from free- non plat methods. If anything, they're switching from their old style of creating boring chests every single event to the point where it's not even hyped up anymore. They've added fishing, a method of killing time and training something completely out of combat and very unique may i add. You're also right when you say that they have begun adding things that were suggested years ago. The auction house is being developed and i think that is a game changing feature and it's the kind of thing i wanted to see being added into the game. It's a universal feature (i assume) usable by all levels and they've stated that you receive 5 slots or so, for free. If they cared solely about money, you would have to pay to use the system as a whole but it's clear that they want to cater to all audiences, including non plat buyers.
The game is evolving and i think it will only get better from here on out. And ahh the nostalgia of camping falgren for those dragon discs, i'll never forget those days.
