Umm, I think you may have misread, I could be wrong though. It's not as much updates like these, it was the update to CB that made many people leave PS. The community became less of a family and more a bunch of different clubs. I've just barely stuck around whereas in MB I was here daily.
That's correct ...OK, some *did* quit because of waiting forever for the Linux or Mac port - but mainly it was in the big migration and char wipe from MB->CB
I find the community ties were much stronger back then, but that is to be expected with a smaller number of people. Whereas we had Zetsumei and Kixie (Who has improved...and always rocked in my books anyways) and got through it pretty easy, now we have Zanzibar, and though he is a lesser evil than Zetsumei, he has caused more damage community wise.
The MB players loved it for the family feeling, that's why they left...atleast, as far as I can gather.
Hear, hear!!!
I still miss those times every now and a then ...it was that we were just so tighter together

But I think we're still evolving ...right now we're just in the stadium where we just got introduced to guilds, trading, magic, fighting and training. I always look forward to updates - I might not always be 100% happy with what happens when they come out. Very much not so when suddenly there's a vast amount of noobies (which I usually really like, if they're good RP-ers!) who just don't get (yet) what PS is all about and try to play it as a hack'n'slash. Also sometimes I don't like some feature when they come out - but then again, you have to look at it all in the whole picture and remember that the picture's still faaaaaaar from complete. It's pleasant, but still needs some new layers of colour, some parts are still blank and some need some more work on them.
I would even be so bold to say, that I don't see a point in bitching at all until I see the

Until then I think we just need to support our lovely devs in all the ways we can, report bugs, make suggestions and _constructive_ criticism. ....ok, the same applies for the beta as well (and the later versions) - but the point is that PS is pre-alpha and until it reaches beta there is no telling what all can happen. The devs know it's not perfect, they know it needs improving, but right now they have more work to do on adding features and content. Of course these features need to be implemented as good as possible, but the beta is where the big tweaking will happen ....or at least, that's how I see it.
P.S. Some may wonder what we had in MB then at all - well, crystals, the world and
a _LOT_ of imagination and team play
