I translated much of what has been written here and I wanted to share some thoughts.  The first is that players do not necessarily play games like they did 10 years ago.  Too many games come out and it is normal for people to change games every few months.  A drop in population after a launch is to be expected and happens with ALL games (WoW expansion, Path of Exile 2 weeks after new league etc).  Most players want to play the ‘new’ thing, have their experience and then they get bored and move on to something else—it does not necessarily mean there is a problem with the game. Second—I have seen complaints about the shop before, but I do not see a problem.  I went to another private server to check and have seen them literally selling kinah and pvp weapon and armor (and everything else).  There is a BIG difference.  The items we have in our shop are good and people should not complain about an occasional sale that brings in different items. Third—how many of you have played other online games?  Many games have a ranking system (or ladder).  So does Aion.  One problem that Aion has always had is that its ranking system never resets—but ALL other games with ranking systems reset.  The glory point mechanic is flawed and people do not lose enough each day (plus they disappear off the ranking after a certain time, 30 days I believe, and when they come back they get their points).  If there was one thing that should change about Aion is that the ladder should be reset on a set schedule.  What about gear?  Well, that gives players something to look forward to (getting their rank back or farming a new set).  Once a player is on top, a new player can never catch up if the old players continue. Fourth—not everyone plays Aion for pvp.  I do think that the combat and pvp in Aion can be very fun, but there is also a gear and ping factor that can make it un-fun.  I play with a bit high ping because I am from NA so I usually do not engage in it here (although I will occasionally siege).  I love Aion pve with the kiting, weaving, and different mechanics of end-game instances.  It is rarely just tank-n-spank, and there is always a chance of failing if your group does not know the fight or have the gear.  In many games when you queue up for an end-game instance, you know with 100% certainty that you will pass—but not in Aion (unless you already know your group).  That is why people can get so strict about who they let join.  Which brings me to my Fifth point—it is ok to take a short time to have someone who speaks English and Russian explain something to an English-only speaker.  Too many times I have been rejected from dungeons.  I asked my friend why and he said “it is because your client is in English.”  Many English speakers do not play because it is hard to get into groups.  I know that we need to do a better job at consolidating our people; and we tried, but a certain guild leader threw everything away after two weeks and the legion basically disbanded with the group fractured (some siding with the old guild leader and others moving on).  Normally this would not be a problem, but when the English-speaking community was already small it is devastating.  I am going to give you a tip for bringing people into a run like Bastion that we used to use in NA if people did not know it (because there are so many people).  In each group we mark 1 person (especially useful for all groups but defense).  We tell the new players STAY WITH THIS MARK (heart, skull, arrow etc.).  This makes it very easy for new players to go where they are supposed to.  (You really do not need to use discord).  For groups 2 and 3 do not mark the player making the pulls, mark the player who knows where to stand.  Done. Sixth—Another Aion mechanic that can be troublesome (and has been part of the game since I started playing in 1.5 (this is what patch launched in NA/EU in 2009).  When one faction dominates another faction it can cause problems (even in Korea).  Players do not like being shut out of content (even if it is game design, it is bad game design).  We have players who love to run Void Cube (Silona fortress instance)—some like to run Danuar Mysticarium (Sillus fortress instance) for composite manastone bundles, and others like to run Upper Abyss forts (KMA) for abyss points and ceramium medals.  But these options for daily fun are completely gone.  The faction who owns the fort already gets more ceramium medals (and this should be their benefit, it is a very large one).  I would like to see that the instances inside these forts are opened up for all—it is possible, I have seen events on NA where the entrances to these instances are placed in Katalam and their respective Abyss bases. Lastly—the admin on the server have thus far done a great job.  I have submitted a problem twice now and had a fast and fair resolution.  I have also watched them fix events that were problematic.  I doubt these people are getting paid for their time either—and eventually they will not want to deal with the problems if they become too much.  What we need is more productive discussions and less finger-pointing.  I would try to translate this into Russian with google-translate, but sometimes it does not translate accurately, so i will not.