I gave up on AOM about 2 months ago, as smurfs had made the game completely intolerable for me. In anticipation of the titans release, I reinstalled aom last week and have come to 4 conclusions:
1) AOM IS DEAD DEAD DEAD. 2 months ago on a typical weeknight at 10pm EST there were 1500 players online. In the past week at 10pm EST there have been 400-600 players online. This game has died.
2) SMURFS are the only players left online. In the past week my rating has run from the introductory 1600 to 1675. I have played 18 games with my rating in this range. Of those 18 games, I lost 13 of them. Of those 13 losses, looking up my opponent player stats today, 11 of them now have ratings above 1800 (with the highest at 2143). So the math is simple - 61% of my games have been played against smurfs. Are they vindictive smurfs? I don't know. They may just have created new nicks. But that is irrelevant. For a 1600-1700 player, the reality is simple - more than 50% of the games you play are against players who will be in a few games rated higher than 1800 - ie. MORE THAN 50% OF THE GAMES YOU PLAY WILL BE AGAINST SMURFS.
3) ESO has indicated that they will NOT be doing anything about this problem with the release of the titans. They have made it clear that they will be chasing players that droptrick, cheat, etc. But comments from eso posted to this forum have made it clear that they have not done anything to address the problem of smurfs.
4) Most importantly, ESO doesn't recognize this problem for what it is - a blight on the community of gamers that play its games. My response is simple. I will refuse to spend my $50 on any ESO title until their online gaming system addresses this problem. So you might ask, who is this poster anyway... Am I a hardcore gamer? I don't know... If a hardcore gamer means one that has mastered the game, then no, I'm not a hardcore gamer. But if a hardcore gamer means that I've purchased each and every ESO release from AOE through AOK to AOM, with each expansion pack, then yes I am one. The point is that I have loved each and every eso release for the challenge and potential that it has had, but don't have the time to spend more than 3 to 4 hours a week playing their games. For folks like me, smurfs have made the eso experience completely intolerable. The number of players online at the moment make it very clear. Hell, there are twice as many players online right now at the zone for aok as there are on aom right now.
These conclusions quite frankly sadden me. The eso tradition has been to produce games that provide value and excitement to its players. But in the world of online gaming they have failed to recognize that most gamers are just looking for an occasional matchup against a reasonalbly matched opponent. The rating system introduced with aom claimed to satisfy this desire. The reality of experience with aom has proven this to be a horrific failure.
SO NY RESPONSE IS SIMPLE. MY DAYS OF PLAYING ESO GAMES IS DONE. THEY WILL NEVER SEE A PENNY FROM ME UNTIL THEY RECOGINZE THAT THEY HAVE FAILED ON THIS COUNT. THE RELEASE OF THE TITANS WILL BE THE FIRST ESO RELEASE THAT HASN'T EARNED ANY OF MY ATTENTION OR MY HARD EARNED DOLLARS.
I trust that many of you share my sentiments.... Comments?