I know that people are leaving the game, and that with the announcement about an unbinding some of them -may- come back. I'm also pretty sure that the number of people leaving over the update is not more than 10% or so of the playerbase. With new players coming in every day, I would expect the population a week after the update to be roughly the same as before the update. Most players will simply adapt. OTOH, many more are vowing to go on only as free-players and not indulge in cash CE anymore too. I expect that vow to not hold out for more than a month or so.

More damaging to three rings bottom line is the damage to the reputation of the game in the wider 'net. If people hear on other gaming sites about such money-gouging tactics instead of hearing about the good things, they are less likely to try the game and are more likely to look for fault if they do try it. However, that reputation damage should fade within the quarter. So the only long-term problem is those of us who stay on, but with a bitter taste in our mouths over this update and a reluctance to spend cash on CE. (Granted, I vaguely planned to spend only $10 or so and only once, but, others may have more generous wallets and the same bitter taste.)

(By money gouging tactics, of course, I mean the increased CE crafting costs. Everything is an arguable matter of game design balance, that you can like or not like but doesn't directly affect cash flow. Crafting costs would have been too, if the materials required or crowns required had been changed instead of the CE required, but instead they made a bid to multiply their income per player.)

It's frustrating, but given the small party nature of the game, it doesn't need a large playerbase to thrive, so even if half of the playerbase -did- quit over this update, they'd be replaced. I do believe that three rings values loyal customers that are around from the start, but this update and pre- and post- handling of it isn't really showing that... I only have that opinion because I've played other three rings games and assume the spiral knights team has much the same culture. (Some of them came from the puzzle pirates team, after all, to move to spiral knights.)

Guess its time to start a dedicated blog.

I for one will play the AH, and buy as much CE as low as I can get it. Less CE in circulation the better. CR is pretty worthless anyhow unless your buying from AH; you also need less now for recipes.

Haven't paid a cent and not planning to after this patch. Glad i held out to see how the developers would handle things.

On a side note, im wondering if all these posts against 3rings and these updates will stay in graveyard where any new player can read them, or will magically disappear.

You can read all sorts of commentary all the way back to October that had various levels of post intelligence. Unless you're raging, insulting or downright profane a post and its thread will be visible for a very long time. Three Rings does not moderate intelligent and critical thinking.