Frustrations of a Devoted Diplomat

[Aria]

I realize that there are several out in the MMO world of Vanguard who will consider the following words to be exaggerated, since by pure determination and likely a touch of luck they have managed to plow far into the realm of diplomacy (or at least beyond my near goal of 100). These folk are welcome to their opinions, but their accomplishments do not loosen the stranglehold my frustration has over my future in this sphere.

As a beta tester, I fell in love with the diplomacy sphere. It is one of the main reasons I chose to leave other MMOs and take up Vanguard. One of the others is the forming of fellowships, but we'll leave that rant to be handled another time. Anyway, the sphere I fell for has been drastically changed, and I feel not for the better. Many I know on the server I frequent, Hilsbury, feel as I do about the huge gap of card quality between the NPCs and that which the PC is granted. I have banged my head against the proverbial brickwall over and over, seeking the magical combination to defeat NPCs' decks, more often than not losing to said NPCs in the process. The cards I have received as rewards from the quests I have managed to seek out and complete are .. lacking. They are very slow to refresh, require several types of expression to execute, and therefore worthless against the fast paced decks of the NPCs I have thus far encountered. I know not of any other way to gain cards, as informats only trade in clothing and jewelry, and there are no card merchants that I have seen.

The 'fun factor' of the sphere has dwindled to nearly non-existant. I'm stubborn enough to keep striving forward, between bouts of incoherent mutterings and glaring at my computer screen as if it is somehow to blame for my feelings of incompetence.

I find myself wondering if this was intentional, or is something that merely slipped through the cracks of the overall 'master plan'. I can only hope for the latter.

[Aria]

My lofty goal of 100 skill in Diplomacy has been achieved, and in no small part due to the changes that the recent patch has wrought. I am grateful to those who brought about this alteration, and hope to continue forward with my devotion to the sphere.

This is one bard whose gratitude knows no bounds. Thank you.