Well I would imagine my input was unexpected here and most probably unwanted by some. How ever yes on occasion I do still read these forums and this one post that really warranted a reply. As frankly many of the problems listed here were a major reason I became disenchanted with illarion and eventually leave.
Nope I am not going to list other factors and shall abstain from any form of complaint as much as able.
Respect and conflicts.
In a game with no consequence for actions how can players be expected to respect anything?
You lock some one in jail despite there ability to have up to 5 characters when I left they feel a need to break that character out with in 3 days. Some how even enlisting gm help or just magically walking out the door before there were locks. Yes, we have locks now but this speaks volumes for how players approach conflicts and being on the losing end.
Why on earth would I wish a conflict with a character I can never destroy death is only through player consent so my option fight them cloud or be clouded and keep my skills up daily so I remain better than them or lose. Losing of course not the issue but old text on the front page…
” the mystical cross may restore bodies etc etc but for any crime some one only deserves one death” was never adhered to so a conflict is an endless circle jerk and if your connected Pendar or alkhurg then losing your armor was never a huge issue.
Basically Samantha, Stephen or Pendar when he was around all they can do is cloud you so you can squeal pk and lose a few decimal points in leetness. Number of times I had my axe at some ones throat and they more or less told me stfu was endless source of amazement.
There is nothing to fear no consequences so why respect or get into an circle jerk of cloud making?
Answer put in a death system that only counts to player vs player.
First three have no affect from the fourth one you have a percentile chance of DIEING at which point boom your char is deleted. If you do not die with in two weeks one death, mark is deleted. Lets face it dieing on an orcs axe should mean something it is a degenerateing factor to rp this kill me I don’t care, I will just come back BS.
Ilalrion was never huge pvp so not to many people should die for good but it would stop walking back into town if guards ban you, it would mean if I take a bounty on some one they can be afraid and it may even cause a criminal to actually stay away from town. Which would be surreal…
If you get pked sends logs it will adjusted simply no?
Resurrection
One major problem is that skills are so hard to gain and you suddenly realize when starting a new character that it will be 6 months before your character is any place near as accomplished as your now –dead- one.
If you are a black smith you need to be a master as people didn’t want poor quality. If you’re a warrior well your not going to one worth noticing until you have spent weeks and weeks. That is how it was and maybe it has changed
A role playing game that doesn’t focus on skills, but everything in game includeing your ability to make money and many many quests revolves around them?
As I have often said make skills up to 70% easy to get and then from 85% up really hard, I mean if you create a new char you have to be know nothing peasant arriveing on illarion as a soldier or crafter always comes across lame as hell as you cannot display any skill. After the 7 characters I played I realized it gets really hard to have originally lost your skills some place. Same time playing a young skillless person is equally boring or restricting.
Some free rpg games have various ways around this such as letting people take skilled characters who are limited in what they can learn or reach a lower skill cap etc.
So yeah a new char is relegated to being second rate until I spend hours working on skills in game not designed to be exciting to level up on. For any one who is going to say you don’t need skills. I played Maliss and others trust me rping a mean or talented character with out skill is doable but you end up faking it and eventually betraying character. Do you know how many lame assasins I have killed, hooded scary and dead in two hits. That to me is as poor rp as having a Halfling tank.
So yes you cannot with out skills play a variety of roles people discovering how limited it is to have there primary character relegated back to being handicapped. Maybe that’s just me, it is certainly reason I wont be returning I don’t have much inclination to take Pendar out the box and even less spend 6 months making another useful.
Perhaps that has nothing to do with it, but it defiantly has a HUGE amount to do with why even the worse villain will never agree to actually die.
General rp standard
As to general rp I only see a complete clamp down which would cause the GMS to become huge villains or a reward system. Rewards could be in the form of small skill gains for outstanding rp I assume the issue of –perceived- inactive gms has been dealt with. If not this ability could be granted to a few trusted anonymous people. Regardless as soon as people see that they can actually be acknowledged and rewarded for consistent and out standing RP they will begin to pay more attention. As soon as people start doing it, then it becomes a standard and people adhere to standards only way to change a mass system like an online rp is to set a standard. By peoples desire to be included they will follow it…
At base I spent a phenomenal year here and when I joined and John was still guard captain old trollsbane blah blah. The standard of role-play was most definitely much higher. A lot of the tom foolery that passes for rp simply was not tolerated slowly in my eyes illarion fell into simple bad practices, power emoteing non responsive rp, twinky villans and happy go lucky no motive characters. Being the best is a flimsy if anything goal, with out aspirations and desires for a character how can one role-play it becomes more like floating from chatter to chatter. This can only be changed by slowly reasserting better standards daily through better rp from those able to do it.
It also needs super active staff to promote this both via there player characters and gm accounts. I know many GMs here also develop script but actual plot gms need to realize that the most dedicated players spend upwards of three hours a day IG. So as a GM you have foremost declared yourself as amongst the most dedicated and addicted of players. Really if illarions GMs had just spent 2 hours a day on average each in game on gm accounts game could have altered drastically.
I recall fondly the undead war when there was so much GM activity and a plot that forced change on people some of the best rp ever for me came out of that and it was of a nature only GMS could make happen.
Conflicts between races, some good ideas where in the pipeline
Traders only sell certain things unfortunately with out a system where they only deal with citizens of that town the abuse of vashikars dealer by every one who gathered maces was disgusting and made it useless as it never even had money for a vashikari.
The next option is via plots of various forms.
Every ones ore is gone but silverbrand defended as it was by the world smith from this curse, but there pigs have vanished. Instantly a trade must be made or one cant fight and one may starve. Trades lead to conflicts
A lizard paladin following Tanora has come to cleanse the city of this undead menace and rallys people to him, he would only need a large amount of gold and relatively good fighting skills. Gold to attract people and skills to be worth following. Must be some one who could be trusted with said role.
I loved this game and still hold fond memories I once said it could exceed ultima online for features a huge feat for a game made by volunteers and as such would make it the premier free rpg online full stop.
How ever reading these threads and from my occasional browsing it becomes clear than unless players and staff can really unite and get behind positive reform of the rp in game. It may slowly degenerate into a glorified runescape that would be sad and I doubt it is what any one desires.
Hell I have written far to much leave what is irrelevant ignore what incorrect and if there is any value to it hope it finds some use.
Pendar/Bran/Maliss/Aurania/others
Mostly Brian
. And I would love to force change and evolution ingame, and I have talked with Rinya last night about it and we may see changes in that department. However, you all must understand, if Stephen caused conflict, he Would be overthrown because tho he has power, he does not have the proper funding to keep people on his side nor the muscle to do what he wants to do. 
(ich mach das gerne 