Problem: Most of the world sees the game as a crappy pay to win game

Solution: Create a new, more fair, game while slowly feeding the spiral knights community crappy promotions to keep them funding the creation of the new game. Said new game must not come across as being entirely pay to win.

Relevant. But since that's no fun, here goes, in order of (percieved) importance:

Problem: The price of CE is higher than new players can easily afford.
Underlying problems: The price of CE is tied to (among other things) the payout from the areas that most people farm. This used to be Royal Jelly Palace in the 3k CE days of yore, but as the average character has aged, it's shifted to Firestorm Citadel. The shift from the Arcade to Missions has also reduced the amount of less-profitable levels one has to run through to reach those levels, increasing the average crowns per level of a run. All this together leads to a large population of players who can pull in ~18k crowns with an easy pair of KoA runs, and a CE price that's difficult to stomach for people without that kind of income.
Solution: Alter the way that missions, particularly KoA, are accessed. Once per day like the Prestige missions seems reasonable, as does a one-time total limit like the very early missions.

Problem: Meeting new people is a chore.
Underlying problems: The Arcade allowed players with different goals to mingle in the same "instance" of one of four "worlds." Missions added dozens of much smaller and much more profitable worlds, which encourages people to stay in those rather than the larger Arcade worlds. Players are then presented with two mostly exclusive options: make money, or socialize.
Solution: Same as above. Reducing ability of missions to be repeated pushes more people into the Arcade, and thus into each other.

Problem: Normal damage is not well balanced against special damage, which makes many weapons unattractive.
Underlying problems: Since special damage is identical or superior to normal damage against 2/3 of foes, the only reason to pick a normal damage weapon over a special one is to attack the remaining third. However, this can be done just as well or better by another weapon of a different special type. Additionally, in Lockdown, virtually every kind of armor has normal defense, which makes normal weapons very unattractive there.
Solution: Make special damage weapons significantly superior to their normal counterparts ONLY against the enemies weak to their specific damage. If I were to estimate, I would recommend putting normal weapons' damage at just over halfway between their special counterparts neutral and increased damage. This would make normal weapons more worth having against a variety of foes, which still making special weapons attractive for dealing with specific foes.

Problem:

This game has far too many imbalances in equipment including weapons, armor, and some trinkets.

Solution:

Balance the game. Not "herp derp give all guns +X% and bombs +Y% damage", real balance. Balance that would make Ironmight rival Skolver as defense versus offense. Balance that would make you choose Chroma over Wolver for jellies. Balance that makes swords swords and guns guns. Balance that makes everything viable in its own way.

Yes there is.

Biggest Problem: The community

Solution: Ban them.

Problem: The game is awesome! Atleast for me it is :D. I don't do anything all day and just stay in haven talking to friends and trying to sell stuff, complaining about how boring it is to just stay there. I don't even use my CE to alt craft anymore that's how good it has got. I don't even worry about the CE market because I don't use my CE to do anything :D.

Solution: There probably isn't a solution other than quitting ^.^ or maybe having a new boss or atleast something new I can grind for crowns all day.

Going with Arquebus's format for this, I thought I'd contribute based on my observations.

Problem: CE Price is higher than most new players have the patience for. (AKA: We've heard this one before)

Underlying Problems:
It's not that people can't get enough crowns or that people sell it for too high. What I've come to think is that instead, the economy itself is flawed. The ONLY way for CE to make its way into the market is through buying it with dosh. Or giveaways (but when's the last time that's happened?). With the economy the way it is, there will always be a demand for CE, with a nigh infinite supply of CR. In my opinion, this is the reason why CE will hardly stabilize anytime soon.

Tentative Solution:
If OOO put in a way for players to earn CE, there would be a trickle of CE coming into the economy to balance out the supply/demand slope that has made the CE cost rise and rise. This process has to be a bearably slow one (read that carefully). Something that can't be ground or abused. So what about something that we can do once a day? Oh wait, there is something- Danger/Prestige Missions. They only give their payout once per day, even if you repeat them. So why not make an "Energy Mission" where the reward is a bit of Crystal?

Potential Consequences:
Obviously endgame and elitist players will be upset that they won't be getting as much money if the CE price lowers. People might progress to endgame slightly faster due to more CE in the economy and in the hands of players.

But wait Renzey, why buy energy with dosh if you can get it for free?!
See, that's why I say "bearably slow." It's gotta be a rate that people believe can earn them a good profit, but at the same time, that player's time might be more spent on other things, so purchasing energy or an elevator pass would just be a better use of time than another tedious mission.

I've tried to make this as unbiased as possible, I hope I get my idea across without causing too much rabble >..>

Problem: Stun is glitchy

Solution: Magic

Problem: Snipes suffer from indigestion
Solution: Let them poop in Haven

I know for sure this solution will soon be implemented, and despite what the devs say, all the white you'll see in Haven will be snipe poo.

Problem: Game is missing a totally awesome weapon.

Solution: Add a bomb that explodes into eight shards that scatter in eight directions.

Problem: People exist.
Solution: ???

Problem: People
Solution: Nuclear warfare.

Problem: Nuclear warfare
Solution: Eat banana cream pie.

Problem: I need amusement

Solution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

Problem: Most of the community is bad (in one way or another) for the game's health.

Solution: A long drop and a short stop. Repeat until problem is solved.

Well, it's a good thing those nasty "Baners" will be gone. I was getting tired of hearing about how everyone's punishment must be more severe anyway.

Problem: Thread derailed due to incoherent chatter.

Solution: Come on guys, be serious about this. Can we please kinda keep it on-topic, here? There are plenty of other places on the forums to goof off and be silly. Let's just try to keep it specific to the actual game, and not our conflicting ideas about the community.

I feel there is a lack of communication, i understand keeping things secret but it would be nice to hear some stuff on a regular intervel about what is happening.

Problem: Way too many furries

Solution: Live trap + rations

Problem: not enough furries

Solution: More Vertical Vents and Cat Tails

...though I do agree that there's a lack of communication between the SK staff and the community. I think that feeding us some ideas about the world around us in SK would be a little more fufilling than costume promotions in-between major updates.

Before I start yah it's about CE...

Problem: Ce cost to much.

Underlying problem: vanaduke run gives to much reward, that high reward set the standard for the CE price.

Solution: drop vanaduke reward to 3k thats what danger missions are at and they pose more problem.
Let people squirm with the new high Ce price that can't pay off in one run.

Underlying solution: Ce will drop people will "go crazy" and be mad, but hey there's your low ce price.

Only problem. Hmm idk there's a problem with low ce price shaddup and like it.

I've seen this somewhere b4

I think we can all kind of agree that the Energy prices are kind of the biggest problem plaguing the community at the moment.
What I would like to know is if there are any players here on the forums that put up their energy on the market and if they would even be greatly effected by the price going down. Seeing as there's only so much you can do with the Crowns, would they even care?
They're the ones putting up their hard earned money on the market, so they should kind of have more say in this and also help to sort it out a bit more as well.

Granted there are still tons more problems in the game than just the Energy price mayhem. So I pose a question:
Would it be more beneficial to make the game more playable by fixing balancing problems among other things and offering more content, thus drawing in more players?
-OR-
Would it be more beneficial to work out the Energy market first, keeping the fanbase the game has already established happy then go to work on adding more content?

Or we could continue talking about random shiz.
Along with Gris' mandatory math lessons, I think we should hold a grammar course as well. If they can't tell the difference between "your" and "you're," they need to be fined.

Player: Energy is a serious issue that needs fixing
Other player: I agree
Pay-to-Win Triple Max UV buys 10,000 crates a day credit card warrior: OMG SHUT UP POORFAG BUY SOME CE ALREADY
Player: But it's a free-to-play game
Pay-to-Win Triple Max UV buys 10,000 crates a day credit card warrior: JUST BECAUSE ITS ADVERTISED AS FREE DOESNT MEAN YOU DONT HAVE TO PAY GOSH GROW UP YOU CHILD I BET YOU JUST CANT CONVINCE YOUR MOM TO BUY YOU SOME CE FOR A BOX THAT WILL HAVE A 1UV TICKET IN IT
Other Player: I'm quitting
Player: Yeah, me too, this game sucks and the people that play it are idiots
Pay-to-Win Triple Max UV buys 10,000 crates a day credit card warrior: OMG THIS COMMUNITY IS TERRIBLE QUITTERS KEEP QUITTING AND HATERS KEEP HATING ON THIS GAME I WISH THREE RINGS WOULD BAN THEM
Well Known Player: I am also leaving, I'm tired of recolored cash-in promos and the developers constantly changing this game for the worse.
Pay-to-Win Triple Max UV buys 10,000 crates a day credit card warrior: YOU'LL BE BACK, THEY ALWAYS COME BACK
Pay-to-Win Triple Max UV buys 10,000 crates a day credit card warrior: PLEASE COME BACK
Pay-to-Win Triple Max UV buys 10,000 crates a day credit card warrior: I DONT WANT TO BE ALOOOOOOOOOONE

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

I don't know why I've stayed with the game in the year-ish time I've known of it. Maybe it's just the hope that something good will finally happen, the hope that good ideas and good execution go together instead of one or the other. Maybe it's wanting to stay with the friends I've made, which is kind of weird because the community is also one of the reasons I left for a while.