**Sorry this is so long! This isn't targeted towards anybody, just a open response
**
I think that with time, this will always happen to online games. Population fluctuates and after a long time, it will decrease because it's original primary population is gone. Although that may be apart of it, I think everybody has their reason for leaving the game and admittedly, very few people are able to go cold turkey and go from active to never touching the game in a day; normally they end up coming back soon thereafter (I see this happen a lot). Graal is the type of game you gradually stop playing over time until you decide it's history for you.
I know from being in meetings that player's ideas are always kept in mind,
however there will normally always have to be revisions to the ideas so they can realistically be implemented to the game. If it's not a direct idea from a player, then it's inspired by what the player's say they want more of.
Another thing you have to keep in mind as well though, is originality can only span such a long time. Since Era works with new staff coming and going, ideas, styles, and quality is going to fluctuate. Unlike most online games you could draw for comparison, this game is run by people
volunteering to do their work for the game. Most any other online game with a sustaining playerbase typically has a paid team where whoever is making the update does what they're doing for a living, went to college to do it, that kind of thing. The staff in Graal are all people who originally played the game and decided to apply for the team and volunteer for free (basically) to do so. That plays a huge part in how much the quality and originality of work fluctuates. Since the staff don't do this as a job, they don't always have the proper time to devote to it (it's not specifically integrated into their life as a real job would be with hours, and they're typically in high school to college, busy with life and school).
Personally, with this in mind, it's kind of impressive how well the game is still running. Another problem could also be lag, and putting out small and scattered updates, or huge and centered updates, will always cause lag. So until that's no longer a problem, certain things might not be put out, although I believe that's a smaller part of it. There's a lot of things in store for the future you'll have to be patient with, developers have been crazy, crazy busy and I know how hard these guys work. They deserve so much more credit.
I know there's a lot of things players wish would happen, and wish didn't happen, but in a game like this one with it's special system of working things, you have to be patient and let trial and error run its course. Developers try their best, and try to add little things here and there like the players want (which still leads to resistance). That's one of the main reasons that staff don't reveal what's being worked on; expectations are already very high for what can be done realistically and telling people what is being made makes those expectations grow. An example would be Countryside; huge hype was built around it, but it had a lot of problems and the main people working on it grew busy. So now people are salty over it and constantly use it against staff.
I think the game population will do what it does. Ultimately, it has too many influences in many forms to definitively know why the playerbase dropped. Blaming the current staff and every decision they make (Not to say that you are of course
) is unfair because they can only do so much, and it's not easy to please everybody, especially when no matter what is put out, even if it is what people want, it's met with extreme, harsh criticism.
I agree though, it's a shame. It may be one staff's fault, it may be a few updates' fault, it may be lag's fault, it may be players not getting what they wanted within the game. That's irreversible. The best thing the staff can do is listen to the players and do the best they can with what they have and can do. The best thing the players can do is support what is being made, whether you agree with it or not, because it's not an easy job, and be patient. Things are always being planned and in the process of being made. It just takes time to make it, and let trial and error run its course.
I'm always hopeful there's room for improvement, so long as we allow there to be. You're right to an extent though iMagic, and I don't disagree with you.