This has sparked an idea of mine...
Is there any possibility that servers running older versions of the game would be set up? Would it be profitable? How? Would it split the community too much?
I mean, I could try answering all those questions, but I'd rather listen for this one. I don't want to type a huge block of text.
Wow has around 10 million active players.
Spiral Knights has around 30000 (at most).
An unofficial Wow private server had 5 times this number.
Do you really think this would work for Spiral Knights?
Not to mention every tech savvy teen would go ahead and launch their own private server. That topic's been discussed not so long ago already and concluded in "yup, not worth the effort, not gonna work".
Additionally, you have mist energy and the necessity to buy crystal energy to progress, you lose all your gear/progress, depending how far back you go you'd have much less content, etc.
It's more looking back with rose tinted glasses than it is actually a better game back then. While health revives and gate construction were nice, they weren't what defined the game.
I'm not talking about a pirate server at all.
What I'm more thinking of is a limited time event that would be launched allowing players to step back in time.
I'm also not saying it's perfect. But the current iteration isn't perfect, either. But new players could experience the older stuff.
I would play the old game over the current one for one, simple eight-directional reason.
I would be more keen on relapsing the experience anew on a separate server. The true beauty of what made Spiral Knights successful in the first place was when everyone was gathered closer to each other on a more even field, without saturing and secluding players into a ridiculous series of individualistic tasks.
Your wording could have been a little less confusing, but I think I get what you're saying.
Having a short event where the game reverted to "Beta Mode" could actually be pretty fun. Not only could non-beta players get to experience the old game, it would be a nice opportunity for GH to see what altered or removed content we enjoy in this event.
There are some obvious hurdles that need to be overcome, though:
1. Mist Energy and all energy fees besides Supply Depot have to be taken out. Nobody would play in this mode otherwise.
2. ALL equipment would have to be carried over from the main game. Again, no one would play otherwise. Battle Sprites can be disabled, but everything else has to stay the same.
3. The main game servers should keep running, so people who don't like Beta Mode can still keep playing normally.
4. There should be some rewards associated with participating in the event. Nicer-looking reskins of normal gear or just costumes would work fine.
Unfortunately, this seems like too much of a technical and monetary undertaking for GH to tackle right now that doesn't really offer them anything in return. As much as I want Gate Construction back and to be able to see the Starlight Cradle levels, I'd rather they work on more permanent and fun things. (doesn't mean they still can't bring that stuff back, though)
I assume something like this takes more man-power than Grey Havens has access to, but I just wanted to put it out there.
No. No. In now way. Yes.