I don't think the developers care how long you stay around as long as you spend money around the time you start playing. There are a lot of people who spend quite a bit of real-world money to get those high-end items. Also, I think they made tier 3 a bit harder, so you almost need that 2 or 3 UV gear now.

i think anybody who joins the game, buys 5* gear and then tries to complete FSC is gonna be spending about the same amount of CE in revives;)

i've seen some 5* players struggle on tier 2, having the best gear is not an automatic game winner but people who like to chuck money around enjoy walking around in endgame armour.

in my opinion the new uv system is great, as even though you don't need them to beat the game, they give some players something to strive for once they have mastered the game. i'm not the kind of player who tries to get 100% completion on every game, but i know people who are and offering them the chance to improve the gear to get that perfect set-up will keep them coming back for a long while.

Nothing to see here.

They got an influx of money with Steam and the new update, I bet we see a bunch of new things coming now that they've got a hit going. This is only the beginning.

The Steam population is evaporating quickly. Last month, Spiral Knights was a Top Ten game. This month, it's struggling to have a Peak Today count of over 4,000. Barring major new content, it probably won't even manage that next month.

Of course, there's signs that OOO knows that things are starting to fall apart. This will be the second consecutive weekend with a special event to keep players logged in.

nobody is gunna unbind a 5* item for 4k CE, it costs less to craft it, if someone id unbind it and put it in the AH, it would cost more then it is.

Yep. Not buying it, bunnyhair. There are constantly 25 servers nearing full capacity, and a handful more that are significantly more full than they are empty.
During peak hours, so many people are playing that lots of players get horrible, crippling lag.
This isn't a community that is evaporating, it's a pressure cooker getting ready to burst.

As to the original post...
Whatever, dude. Your tone alone is shameful.

Starting?

There are constantly 25 servers nearing full capacity,

Instance of Haven != server.

This isn't a community that is evaporating, it's a pressure cooker getting ready to burst.

I referred specifically to the Steam numbers. Those numbers are evaporating and have been consistently shrinking.

Compare http://store.steampowered.com/stats/ (current Peak today = 4,159--number will likely change today with the weekend special) versus the numbers from just last month ( between ~6k and ~12k, according to the CEO. Source: http://thefloggingwillcontinue.com/ ).

Not buying it, bunnyhair.

I'm sorry that reality upsets you so.

Are these prices for real? 4000 CE for 5 star unbinding? 300K+ for triple UV roll? I would never have guessed these services would be so expensive except for the precedent that the OOO guys really don't know or care how to design an economy that works.

The prices have to be that high, otherwise everyone would be doing it and the economy would actually be ruined. How can you even think that this is a bad move for the economy? Since you're such an economical genius why don't you tell me what prices would have been better.

pretends I am a new player who just got to tier 2

Oh god why are energy prices so high. I cannot afford 6.3k CE because I don't do danger rooms and can't finish arenas.

-update happens-
oh what happened?
whoa, unbinding shop- OH MY GOD PRICES ARE SO HIGH NEVERMIND.
whoa, UV shop? uh, well, maybe later when I'm richer. I don't want to gamble mass crafting, but hey, at least if I get that sealed sword I might be able to get something good out of it :D

Welps, can't use any of that.

Oh awesome- energy prices went down, probably because the richer dudes are selling energy to use the UV shop! Awesome patch, now I can play more!

You know what really made people quit? The AH patch that significantly changed how people played (people who crafted for money were ultimately screwed).
You know what made people quit after that? CE prices. When they were 7k, more people would sit around town than play.

For the larger, "poorer" population, the most important thing is the in-game price of CE to keep playing, and as far as effects of the update, that's what it affected the most.
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No but seriously OP, get off your 1337h0rse and look around.

Not everyone can ezpz water trap and solo kill Vanaduke as a mercenary for hire, and not everyone can ace FSC and solo missile rooms like you probably can. Go play some public groups, and realize that you and most of the forum-goers are probably the minority of the better players in the game.

Don't treat updates like this as if the features are for everyone.

The heat amp update (and by implication, this past update) isn't for everybody, and they didn't hesitate to say it. These "high price" updates are for the 'elite players' (or more correctly, 'elite payers') who are willing to do the gamble for the unique items (and you being as 1337 as you are, tell me you haven't seen the collector attitude of wanting a GREAT weapon. CTR High haze bombs).

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Unbinding... easy? Why don't you go unbind your cliche UV vog gear, sell it all for ultimate profit then remake another set? The CE is just flying around, so it must be easy to go distribute it to some new players who are so immersed in the game that they'll spend $50+ to buy your set, right? Pft.
As a "middle-tier" crowns-only player, I can look at UV wares on the AH. 100k+ is a long shot, but spending the time to play and earn a normal DA? Doable. How do you think new players are gonna end up with instant 5* gear, let alone handle the price markup for UV'd 5* gear that's undoubtedly going to end up being the real market for 5*?

So let's entertain your idea of players reaching end-game quicker and leaving. They spend >$75 on the game and buy themselves the leetgear.

Unfortunately, as much as 3rings probably wants it to be, that kind of player isn't so commonplace that there are hordes of them "buying their way to tier 3" (let alone, 'endgame') that it significantly affects the player population.

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Adding the tier 1 boss? "Genius" as you call it. It was in time for the new players.
Another tier 2 boss is pointless? If you're just starting out, it feels like more content, and that's awesome. As a fairly seasoned player, I'm friggin sick of Jelly runs. The new stage (while laggy at first) was really refreshing.

Grim gallery was cool.

End-game content? As far as actual game content, 3rings is definitely catering to newer players: that's the obvious target for the new bosses and stage content.

You and your few friends might be end-game, bored and waiting, but that's far from the majority of the playerbase.

The title of this thread wins dumb question of the year. Come get your award.