It's hard to say more than what has been said. I've been around a good part of a year and really enjoyed this game the whole time. Part of what I enjoyed was how active the devs were, and how much it felt that our input affected the game. Aly could be found in world chat pretty much every day, helping us with runs, and hearing our gripes/issues. I really believe that activity has dwindled almost entirely because the devs stopped doing this, and not the other way around. I think even a modest dev presence, combined with some of the ideas posted here, could bring this game back to full activity with limited cost. We don't really need new content for a while, just devs who are on top of server issues, game-breaking bugs, hearing our suggestions, etc. When the players feel abandoned, they abandon the game. That being said, I will stick around, and play about as much as I already do. I hope the continued activity of all the loyal players shows the devs we care enough for them to give it another shot.

Hi, I've enjoyed this game for some months and I'm sad to hear that you are not going to maintain it in the future.
I hope that my feed back may be useful to the devs.

I liked the game in general and the guilds in particular. I find it pretty balanced and challenging enough.
Personally I hate that the card extraction for the reward at the end of an instance are totally rigged (don't tell me each card as a 20% chance to come out!) and I didn't like that some quick runs allow you to get the extra tokens and some don't.
I would have liked an option to disable some of the eye-candy in favor of playability.

I never bought any extra content because it seems overpriced to me in respect to the meager advantage given, I agree that 10$ for VIP is a lot, nevertheless if you would have put a useful feature like "don't get lumber as a reward" or "eliminate one of the five card from the reward" I would have bought it.

Anyway, thanks for your hard work and I hope you will give us the chance to enjoy the final part of the game!

I think this game is awesome, and like everyone else I am disappointed (but not surprised) that the devs have given up on it. I'm not surprised, as it was obvious the devs were spending less and less time on the game of late. As Yobo says above, Aly used to be in chat all the time, but I haven't seen her in months. A quick search shows that her character is still level 48 and hasn't logged in since October 6th. Likewise, tickets that were once replied to within 24 hours (maybe longer at a weekend) now take days to get a response. Having the devs accessible via tickets (it seemed David personally responded to every ticket) and visible in world chat and playing the game along with the players makes the devs seem human, a quality that seems unique to CNE as in every other game I've played the devs are like some mystical entity and the lack of interaction between players and devs leads to detachment and disinterest. Feeling like you can contact the devs if there is a problem, or seeing them in chat playing the game makes it feel less like 'us and them' and more like we're all playing it together, and inspires loyalty.

I think maybe some of the issue with newer players giving up may be related to lack of comprehensive wiki - when I'm stuck in BW2 I always check the wiki first, so when I can't find a particular chest I kind of hope that I could find its location on the wiki, or am not sure how various things work, the wiki is where I would go first. Until I joined a guild that was actually active, I was floundering in many areas as there was no 'guide' as to how to play the game, which meant that despite being with the game since Alpha I was lagging well behind (and still am to a little bit, though I have caught up a long way now)

The absolute best thing about this game is the guilds and guild chat. I tend to lurk with the chat facilities elsewhere, sometimes watching the conversations but never really participating. I used to lurk in world as well, but with the guild chat, because you get guild points etc from working together, and because it's better for your guild if your members are progressing more in terms of level and gear and ability, you end up with an environment where guild members help and encourage each other through the game, rather than being competitive and not helping each other in an attempt to gain an edge over other players. And then because everyone within the guild chats are friendly and encouraging, you end up with a family-style atmosphere. I'm friends with some guild mates on facebook, when normally I wouldn't add random game-playing strangers, but you get to know people because of the friendly atmosphere. Guild chat (and world sometimes too) is filled with all sorts of chatter - I spent about an hour having an in depth discussion about thesis topics once, other times it's teasing people about cake (Khale!). The friendly environment means that if I'm beaten by a guild mate when I'm in the arena, I can tell them what it is that meant they beat me (even with the AI advantage) so that might help them with tactics/figuring out weaknesses. When I've finished daily tasks in game, I often leave the game logged in rather than close the window (like I do with every other game once I have completed that day's gameplay) because I can still join in with chat - and in guild it often is like a chatroom with people you know. I'd happily arrange to meet up with guild mates in real life if I was in their area - inconceivable with other games - because you do end up feeling almost like a family. My boyfriend is in the navy, so he's away at sea for months on end where I can only communicate with him via letter, and this game, and particularly the guild and guild chat element of it, help fill the hole of loneliness in his absence, as I have group of people I can chat to about all and sundry, and if I need support I know I'll get it.

I think, even if you never update the game past January (and like everyone else I'm hoping you'll reconsider), I'd still be on here for hours on end purely for the guild chat, and connecting with the friends I've made through it.

The other things I love about the CNE games in general is that they're never too complex, and I love the fact that the graphics are not trying to be too 'real' - I hate avatar style games. Most games I get bored of fairly quickly, but the CNE games have always kept me entertained for hours. The storylines are engaging and the games are fun to play. I think that some of the comments about the cost of premium game items also applies - I might spend $5-10 here or there for things I particularly like (I bought the rare dragon pets for all 3 alts) but more than that is way too much for a game - the '$35 worth of stuff for $20' is way to expensive for me. I kind of see it as $5-10 is like buying a coffee, or coffee and a cake. A reasonable price level. If it starts ratcheting up to 'dinner and wine' level, I can't really justify spending that in one go one a game. If you split the elements of the $20 package into smaller 'coffee priced' chunks, I think a lot more people would buy them. Buying stuff in game is pretty much a donation of appreciation to the developers of that game, and I quite happily buy things in game with the thought 'It's only about the price of a coffee, and I really like the game, so I'm happy to give the devs some money'. I'd easily buy 4 $5 things that added up to $20, but not $20 in one go. A lot of the shop items are v v overpriced - you might get loads in a $20 package, but I often only want part of it. And then I'm spending $10-$15 on stuff I don't want to get the stuff I do. Things like hall of trial glyphs and reforge locks could be bought individually and a lot cheaper per unit. If I'm really close to getting the tokens for something or am trying to get good stats, I might spend a few dollars to get a couple of glyphs/locks, but I'm not going to spend a small fortune on them - I see the price for those and think 'I'll wait a couple of days and earn the tokens' or 'I'll just wait til I earn some locks' instead of buying them. If they were available in single units and cheap, lots more people would buy them at the point they think 'I'm 3 tokens short - I'll buy a glyph, they're only a dollar or so'

I'll be highly disappointed to see this game 'die', and if anyone I've come across in the game wants to add me on Facebook, I can be found at https://www.facebook.com/lenahlene

Merlin/Myfanwy/ArthurKingoftheBritons

I started this in the last week of February this year (2015) and have not missed a day since. Blundered around by myself for a while trying things, then joined a guild. It really didn't help any as the members were seldom around. Khale invited me to his guild (Hell Raisers) and I really learned how to play as there were always people around. Then we had a server merge and HR guild merged with Be Still My Soul, and we became, in effect, a bigger guild and more new people with ideas. Guild goals - 1) to help everybody to get better. 2) to have fun.
Having guild chat really helped with both goals. Also having a goal to make the guild a better place; building it up by completing tasks that had us working together was exciting. This game is unique in integrating guild growth with personal growth. The more you helped the guild the better you got .
Then guild chat started serving another function. If anybody mentioned having an out of game problem, it was a support group!
I have played a lot of MMO games ever since getting internet (some even before as the school where I worked had it). In most games with player vs player interaction, you could get wiped out when you were offline. This is one of the few (other than Roleplaying games) where that doesn't happen. That by itself makes this game special. Sure, you can beat a player in arena, but that doesn't affect his/her position in any way. They don't even have to miss time or buy healing potions. In fact they don't even get a record of being beaten.
Also attractive about the game is it is not a twitch game. I am a retired teacher and thinking and planning are more stimulating than having to have good reflexes.

Truly a Shame that the game will no longer have the attention it Deserves!!

Everyone has pretty much covered my feelings about not having any updates to the game...
This is the first MMO that I've ever enjoyed and wanted to come back to play.
I've met some amazing and wonderful people that help to make this game fun. Both in my Awesome guild (Still Hell Raisers) and in World.
I'll be here until the end...But

Devs...Please reconsider! Realize what a gem you have!

I play this game for only 10 days but I still think this is one of the greatest games I've ever played. Rarely happens to find a game with one or two of these features that I found in this game: this kind of graphics (which is my favorite), a guild with many advantages, recruitable helpers which you can put an equipment on them (and which follow you on the map) and a game with both an hero and village that you can upgrade depending on the character's level and not the reverse (this one is really rare, i only found characters depending on city level). And one of the most amazing things is that here you find people from all the world. This is why I like this game so much and why I am really sorry for updates ending. (English for my sorry bad!)

I can't say anything that hasn't already been said. This is a fantastic game. I always felt that the devs were amazing at what they did, being in chat and answering tickets so quickly. Any time David fixed an issue for me, or gave me some advice on my lag I always tried to express my appreciation for how hard they work. Now it just feels like we're all being forgotten for something that might be better. How you can get any better than SoT though, is beyond me. I have never played a game where I felt so connected to the players that I start thinking of them as family. I've felt many emotions since the news was released. I have been angry at the devs for abandoning us, sad...so, so sad at the thought of not seeing many of the close friends I've made every day, running with them, laughing about how they always have to "wait for Cam" or "Cam, where are you? We can't see you again." "Um, I'm right in front of you, guys." Or, the joy of getting those last few frags to tier another piece of equipment. We won't have any of that any more and it honestly breaks my heart. Then that makes me angry all over again because I sit here crying over a game. But, it's really more than a game when you have this much emotion attached to it. I just hope the devs realize what they have with this game and change their minds, or at least read all these posts and feel like asshats for the decision they've made.

You dont know how i am lazy to register a forum and write something.. I am doing this for SoT! I cant believe that you earn much more money from that idle game than this fantastic game. I think like the most loyal players, SoT is the real gem you created! dont let it die...
Does anyone know a game similar? I think this game is unique for now, and suffers for being the first of the combination of rpg, turned based, etc.. And i really enjoyed playing it.
I hope you developers suddenly see how good this game is and dont leave it or maybe a miracle happens and thousands of new players start playing and spending money like crazy so everyone can be happy :P

I'll keep on playing for now. Still plenty to do. Been on almost every day for 10 months or so now. Even met a few people in real life.

While I'm disappointed there will be no more updates, I understand. You can't pay people to develop content with no steady stream of income. To have a successful freemium game you need to constantly have an influx of new players, maintain the current base, and update it regularly. It's a tough line to walk. One thing in particular that the game has going for it is the community. Everyone is very friendly and that's not something you usually see in an online game. So even if the game is no longer profitable, that's not something that can be taken away.

i know i've already replied but is no-one angry at CNE for abandoning us? they've given up on the game without even discussing it with us. If they'd be honest with us all along and stated they were having problems or what they needed maybe we could've helped them out. Im angry at them as i am a loyal player and i have supported them by giving them my RL money and bought all their packs and all the sales they had. it feels like i have wasted so much money and CNE hasnt kept their word or even made minor changes and fixed bugs like they were meant too. it doesn't seem fair IMHO.