Some of the updates you listed as favorites are things that should have been in the game right off the bat. AH for example, I booted up this game for the first time and went "why the hell is there no AH here?". So yes, it's a great update, but its to be expected in a game like this.

LD is a good game aside from item balance and players with egos. You guys pointed out the problems it has perfectly, they just quite as bad as you think IMO.

Oh and Xairathan, half of the people who blame things AA/ploris/lag/etc are actualy people who can't even win WITH heart pendants, so that's why. (Though I'd feel better if AA was removed from lockdown, I'm just saying it's not bad enough to be blamed for a win). I love the whole "if everyone used heart pendants, it would be fair". Heart pendants are much more effective on strikers, if everyone used HPs, the difference in health between classes would become less marginal, and that helps striker the most.

Anyway, my top 4 and bottom 5;

Best;
1) Most of the super-early updates- Things like the AH. Though they should have been made pre-release IMO, so I hesitate to give back-pats for them. I guess you can count this as more than one, if you think I'm being a pessimist by only having 3 pluses and 5 minuses.

2) Guild halls- Crown sink, completely new content, fun. I am unable to adequately express my gratitude.

3) LD. Even though it has tons of simple singlar problems that aren't being adressed for some reason, it's messed up existance keeps allot of players in the game. Plus it's pretty fun, and thought out much more than super-brawl or whatever beta PvP was called. If OOO ever fixes those things, put them as my #4. Again though, should LD fixes would get the 'should have been there in the first place' treatment, like the AH.

4) Most balance changes- Gunner buff, dragon buff, ICM bomb nerf, you name it.

Worst;
1) Shard bomb- this could have been handled so much better. The problem was that all the spikes could hit the target if the enemy was standing on the one point where they spawned. This could have been fixed if OOO made the shards spawn at DIFFERENT POINTS that were each off center along the shards path. Then they could have put a small explosion in the middle with fair knockback to prevent people from standing in the middle and dodging everything. OOO didn't want to make the shard bombs good though, they just didn't like the fact that there was a good endgame item you could get for only 400 CE. That's why they didn't touch the spur. This update also screwed the spur over too, because now nobody really wants them to change 4* items.

2) Ironclaw munitions factory- this update proved OOO had the ability to make cool monsters all this time, and that they just decided they didn't see any profit in it unless the levels were pay to play. It really hurt their credibility, now when I meet someone who wants to know about SK, I feel oblighed to tell them that you can't actualy play all the levels for free like in a 'real' F2P game. And don't get me started on the item balance.

3) Heart pendants- what has allready been said by me and others. These would be fair if they only had three versions going from 2 to 3 to 4, each one in it's own teir kinda like the vitasuit 'line' (no 4's in T2). It helps strikers and cashers more than others.

4) Supply depo- Supply depo gets new players to waste cash on low star items that could have been either used to craft said items for a cheaper price or traded to the community. I know I wasted a good bit of CE I bought as a noob, but it at least fueled the economy some. I realized that I should make more stuff on my own. Now that fuel gets thrown into the supply depo, and more of it gets thrown.

5) Shadow lairs- Shadow lairs for obvious reasons. I understand the point in making a toll fee, so that people don't get to jump into the first level and say "boy, wasn't a great call to try this in proto gear" and only waste 10 mist, but the fee is too large/all CE. They should make it slightly easier/cheaper/no CE revive. Toll would still be big enough compensate OOO for the lack of energy spent on reviving. Still, more endgame is appreciated, even though I'd rather just have another T3 boss.

Hmm...

Best ones:

Shadow Lairs - I really like that idea and even implementation. Unkown Passage&Sanctuary have best atmosphere in game. <3
Guild Halls - You must be rich, as Bill Gates to buy chair, but anyhow that is nice. At last somehow You can create something in-game and show it to others.
OCH - Good mission. It was very fun for first time. I can't wait for next Mission DLCs.
Danger missions - Nice. Sometimes too Op, but still fun.

Good ones:

Dash&Bash - Facilitation, but i like it. Cooldown is pretty good idea.

Neutral Ones:

Missions - Only few missions was good. Rest was copy-paste from arcade. What a disappoint... Stops the arcade, by forcing making missions... before it good EQ was enough...
Colloseum - I would like to see normal PvP here. LD is unbalanced, BN is unsustainable by network latency.

Worse:
Pets - Raising them can be fun, but by God! That game needs more facilities?

Worst:
Supply depot&Item-giving missions - Pointless. Stupid. Doesn't repay. Disgusts. Confuses. For brainless.
HoH demands - Stops the game, blocks arcade, forces to grind. I hate it. Deleting it wouldn't hurt. Yet hitting vanaduke with brandish and without experience isn't so easy.
Deleting old good stuff, bosses, levels, super brawl - I. Just. Hate. OOO. For. That. I would love to fight with tortodrone again, even if it would be rare boss. And vog.... And old levels... Ehh ;/
New UI - Awful. Not that atmosphere... Hp bar in haven, lol.
Vita drop block - Why da hell it was deleted?

Without Lockdown, there would either be no SK today, or the community would be extremely small with OOO trying to push out money-grabs.
Dislike it or not, without it, there can be no successful SK.

Best:
Auction House
Guild Hall Update
Mini-Monsters

Worst:
Mission System
Shard Bombs
UI change

And lockdown is a tiny part of the game. That there is even a community for it surprises me.

Best:

1. Hp bars. Like it or not, I quite prefer seeing some damage done to my enemies.
2. Shard bomb variety.
3. Uh... Guild Halls?

Worst:

1. The UI change, although while some of it was justified so far, most of it hasn't.
2. Icon changes. Wasn't really needed.
3. Black Kats, if that can be considered an update.

I haven't been playing the game as long as others, so I'm just going to list the updates that have affected me.

BEST

1). Guild Halls. Very much needed.

2). PvP. The game would be pretty much dead without it.

3). Missions. While some people don't like them, they actually tell you what to do and it shows you how the game progresses.

Honorable Mention - Weapons Update. It added Flourishes!!!

WORST

1). Kozma. Y CAN'T U FIRE GUN AT NPC!?!?! Bad update. It killed Boost. Kozma was good when she sold Cobalt stuff, but now...

2). Lockboxes, not prize boxes. Another money sink by OOO. It turned SK into TF2 and Dota2.

3). Heart Trinkets. Do I really need to describe this one?

Top 3:

1: COMPOUNDS, SO MUCH. I love 'em. They've got all the randomized goodness of the Clockworks, a step up in difficulty from the usual CW, the pay isn't half bad compared with other CW levels, and the swarm mobs are well-designed (plus, the Dust Bunnies' sounds will bring a smile to your face). We need more updates like that.

2: Danger Missions, another good content update. They're really tough, which provides a challenge for the 1337est of the 1337, even for you Lockdown Jocks who think Clockworks can never be fun ever. If you find them easy, you're probably both skilled and well geared (or just have an awesome party). And they're not behind a paywall like Shadow Lairs and OCH (which wasn't as tough, but still is no cakewalk). There's a bit of randomization to them while they keep with the same general theme, which, along with the lack of a paywall, helps them beat out Shadow Lairs and OCH for the spot. (Sorry, Unknown Passage; you're really cool, but it costs my 450 CE plus a revive or two to get to you and that just isn't nice.) There's nothing quite like beating one without having to revive; when you can do that (without Dragon Scale in C42) you know you're doing well as a player.

3: Guildhalls! While they don't do anything combat-wise, they're a great way to get players connected. Collaborating to get a boss trophy by teaming up for the bosses or searching for the necessary mats in the Works adds to the social aspect of the game. The customization is great, as are the preset things (see also: that awesome war room on the second floor). And it's all bought with Crowns, which keeps the CE prices from overinflating.

Plus, Guildhalls are great to derp around in. Three cheers for derping around! Honorable mention goes to Dash/Bash and Gorgos. EDIT: Also, to mostly removing the Stun bug. Thank you so much.

And now...

Hall of Undeniable Crappiness and Mediocrity (Bottom 3):

1- SHARD BOMB DOWNDATE. Maybe we should give the Final Flourish a bit of a bump down? Or maybe the Brandish lines don't need five explosions at their peak, so we should remove one? NAAAAAH. Let's just take the one trump card bombers have, that was really fun to use and took different skills than other bombs, and turn it into something that's like the other bombs, but nerfier with a gimmicky mechanic! I know folks like Zeddy have used these to great effect, but let's be honest, the game just isn't the same without the old Shards.

For a counterexample, let's use TF2's Gunslinger. The Gunslinger is a melee weapon for the Engineer that switches out his regular Sentry Gun for a fast-building, but relatively weak, Mini-Sentry. Instead of camping in an Engineer nest and holding a point with the massive but not very portable Sentry Gun, a Gunslinger Engineer can instead hop around on the front lines pulling all sorts of tricks with the Mini-Sentry, not quite outputting the firepower of the regular Sentry but making up for it with mobility and "confusion-fu" potential. It's no more powerful than the vanilla engineer, but the change in style makes it useful and fun to play as.

Sun Shards was like that. Instead of using a massive explosion that hits everything, a bomber could become a ranged attacker from multiple directions or deal a nice little bit of damage to one enemy, doing less damage than an Autogun charge and having to get in closer, but remaining more mobile. And this being Spiral Knights, a bomber could still carry the traditional bombs like Nitro and Dark Briar and Vortex, just like the Gunslinger Engineer mentioned above still can build his regular Dispenser and Teleporter (which the non-Gunslinger Engineer can also build) and pack a Shotgun and Pistol/Wrangler (which, again, the non-Gunslinger Engineer can also pack). It wasn't any more overpowered than other weapons like Divine Avenger and Blitz Needle; it just had a different niche that Nick must have missed. We really didn't care that it's not "bomb-like", you made some good decisions before and after this update but the whole thing was just terrible. (Notice that the same thing happened with the Pepperbox. We liked our Fiery Vacuum Cleaner. Give us our Fiery Vacuum Cleaner back. Make another autogun to be a leaf blower.)

So anyway...

2: The UI update; while I like the Shield bar, made one key mistake that fudged up combat. The health bar was much better on the bottom; you could quickly glance to it before, where now you have to look way up and probably brush into Shadow Fire. Whatever you're planning to put on the bottom, OOO, you should have put it on the top and left the health bar in its original position.

Also, I liked personal colors appearing on minimap dots. Haven used to be more colorful. Now every dot is tainted the ugliest gray color you'll ever see. Seriously. At least make it a less pukey gray. And even if the thrown vial images change, can we at least keep the old icons in the vial slot? I liked them. Or better yet, allow us to switch between them. Maybe even let us move the health bar. Would be freat.

3: Kataclysmic Confrontation. It was awful and grindy and horrible. Really. And the BKC is so crazy overpowered it's not even funny. UNIVERSAL DAMAGE HIGH AND MOVEMENT SPEED ON ONE HAT IS UNACCEPTABLE, OKAY? And it shouldn't be resistant to Freeze, it really shouldn't be resistant to anything. Give us a good reason to pack a Shivermist in Lockdown, OOO!

Dishonorable mention goes to removal of the "Recon Bug" and re-addition of the Invincibility Frames, as well as all monster nerfs and the aforementioned derpifying of the Pepperbox. Give Strikers something to fear, OOO!

Finally, in response to the above, I wish SK would get a little more like TF2 in some aspects. A Three Rings Workshop would be wonderful. (And Zeddy and Luguiru would feel all warm and fuzzy inside.)

Check out the videos in the memorial thread.

Worst update ever: The new UI.

Why? BECAUSE I CAN'T SEE MY ENERGY/CROWNS! :(

Best:
1) Danger Missions. Provided you don't play them every day, they don't get dull and boring. They become that one really hard thing you haven't mastered but you're still familiar with them and you know how to beat them; it's all about that pretty challenging execution in the end.
2) Accessories are pretty fab, they add a lot of personification and make for great currency sinks.
3) Mist wells. It might not have been them but the CE prices have been very stable ever since they were introduced and that's bloody brilliant!
There are plenty other great things but I can't squeeze 'em all into three points.

Worst:
1) Not the change of the Shard Bombs, but the lack of fixing them. There's no reason for them to have a hit limit like they do unless Brandishes and Alchemers get one, too.
2) This one isn't really about the game, but OOO, rather. Somewhere along, you guys stopped listening for a bit. So many promos, so little balance. Considering the gear survey and that stuff you did with random EPs to random players, I'm expecting something, though.
3) Shadow Lairs. They're great fun, no gear from them is OP but by the gods, those walls of CE blocking them is too big. Halve it and it'd be cool, I guess.

Best:
1) Coliseum Games - Super fun update that breaks up the normal clockwork delving day. Great to play while waiting for mist.

2) Heart Trinkets For Everyone! - I see a lot of people complain about it but before the update, LD was unfair to those who weren't lucky enough to have them drop / afford one. Now anyone can get them if they grind FSC hard enough just like any other 5* weapon / armor so in my view it was a good update.

3) Guild Halls - Great having the majority of things throughout haven in 1 place. (Brinks :( please come home, we love you very much.)

Worst:
1) New UI (Like a lot of people have said) - Hit or miss, sadly mostly miss. I like the colours showing which resistances your armor / shields have and the fact I can hide most of the UI making the most of space. The icons however don't fit in with the simplicity of the rest of the game and has lost some of its charm. I miss the old health bars / seeing teammates' pips of health.

2) Punch - Getting good gear has become too easy with the new npc and now with UV locking it's even sillier.

3) Featured Auctions - At first they were great with the variety of items going up, but every week its the same ol story. Where is the long list of Volcanic / Divine / Prismatic items like they did once? Spice it up! (If I see anything other than wings / tails / glow-eyes / prime bombhead I think I'm going to faint.) I feel that the items such as the Supply Packs and Rose Sets should be bind on acquire to prevent people buying them out as soon as they're up and selling to people at a higher price.

@Xairathan - Finesse weren't full True Love Lockets, most of us had a 2* with the occasional 3* lockets. Having heart trinkets doesn't instantly make you into a better player. Sure you can last longer but if you lack the skills, you're just going to prolong an inevitable death.

When JK was nerfed.

THAT was the worst.

Shard bombs still has more range and projectiles than guns do.

Best
1.) GH
2.) PvP
3.) Mission System*

Worst
1.) Various updates that have damaged players' primary and secondary in-game markets, including, but not limited to, the supply depot, bind-on-use (when equips were no longer unbound after crafting), and accessory rebalancing.
2.) OCH (while I actually really enjoy everything about OCH, it sticks out rather badly as the only DLC)
3.) Mission System*