It's obvious that RO2 isn't retaining players, as I've stated before. Anyone who tracks the stats of players from release to now will notice a very sharp drop-off.
I don't think it's hard to see why. Obviously the realism community (me included) is only a part of the overall playing fanbase, but they are typically the people that keep playing games like RO long after release, because they are loyal. TWI has done their best to alienate and make the realism community feel pretty damn small, and its showing in numbers.
I know for a fact that almost all of my RO1 buddies that played the first game religiously just aren't playing RO2. Why? They're waiting for it to be the game that was advertised prior to release. Or they've given up in frustration and have either gone back to RO1 or are playing other games.
And what about the newer RO2 fanbase? Well, BF3 is happening, and that population is much more likely to be pulled away from RO2. Even if they don't' care about more realism features, the bugginess and instability of the release tends to be a big turn off with this kind of crowd. I'm not demeaning anyone -- just stating the truth. I know that when I try out a game of which I'm not part of the "hardcore" following for it, I have a VERY limited attention span in waiting for things to get fixed if I'm not absolutely nuts about the game. With these games, I wait for a bit, and then just turn to playing games that I know I'll have fun with.
I've always loved RO, which is why I'm so patient with this game. I'm cynical because I just don't see any wheels turning aimed at actually addressing the complaints of a significant and the most LOYAL part of the community. On the contrary, I keep seeing statements that our community is small and inconsequential, or that we're simple trolls. Nothing is further from the truth, and this is very frustrating.
