I was awesome. I could kill anything that walked the face of Yliakum. I spent a hell of a long time getting to that point. Then 0.5 came out. Can't manage to bring down a tefusang. I sit around b1ch-slapping arangmas and rats all day, until I try to kill a rogue (the one I used to beat the crap out of) and then die and get so pi**ed off that I log. Yeah, my sword skill isn't maxed. My stats aren't AMAZING (has the cap really been raised to 400???). That shouldn't matter too much. Yes, before 0.5 the 3 stats that mattered seemed to be endurance, strength, and agility, and I maxed all of those except endurance, which I got to 150 (this is with a 200 level cap). And then there were weapons skills. Those were the stats that mattered in PvP and PvE. And the player's skill in using offensive/defense stances mattered a lot also. It was this combat system that made Planeshift worth playing compared to many other MMORPG's "click-and-wait" system.
Now I just walk up to any mob and get 3-hit killed, no matter how much dodging, running, and defense I put into the equation, the mob still manages to cut through the heavy armor which is now at horribly low quality because (since the Gugrontid mining spot disappeared) I haven't been able to earn 20k to buy a new set. And now the sabres I used to be able to repair are at half quality and can't dent the tough hide of a consumer (and yes, I used to kill those all the time, too).
Planeshift was never easy. Killing mobs always presented some skill. But now even the stupid riverlings are able to kick my @$$.