Stop! You're shooting me with a shotgun full of nostalgia! *Cries*

Spiral Knights 2015 is best. Haven is paved with radiants. Every weapon has a unique model, there are no more reskins. Patches come out on time. Ui obscures even more of the screen.

Wait, wrong game.

In all seriousness, I tend to view the nostalgia as rather silly. I too started in 2011, about when they introduced Snarby, and while the game had some unique and interesting features at the time, I honestly can't really compare the game at that point to what we have no. Even if there are a lot of reskins and the occasional poor design choice, this game is still significantly larger and more complex than it was when I started. I personally consider the addition of PvP, new monsters, two new bosses, accessories, advanced costuming options, Battle Sprites ...

Really, I shouldn't need to go on. In fact I'm not sure why I bothered writing this, as I'm fairly certain people would like to continue believing the game has gotten worse. But I think if nothing else I need to state (or restate) my opposition to nostalgia when it comes without logic.

The question becomes, in that case, what is a reasonable expectation for this game?

One thing you implied (in addition to saying I wasn't a veteran, which I resent somewhat) was that people have been playing constantly since they created an account. That is not in my mind a reasonable expectation, because no developer can produce content and meet expectations at the rate at which players consume them. Three Rings expects its players to take breaks and even to quit. The players that have invested that much into the game ... well, with all due respect, that was probably a bad purchase. If their expectations were high, it's their problem, not the developer's.

minerals did have a use, you could dump them into the clockworks to change their levels and get few crowns for that :P

also forgot no spammy brandish charge.

I much prefer SK as of now. In spite of the Shard Bomb and Mission system, I think SK as a whole is just a more enjoyable game.
While I had no quarrel with paying $6 a month for elevator passes as of a few months before the mist-removal patch, the fact I can play whenever I please is much nicer than when I was so limited to my firm free-to-play style trying to struggle through a broken economy with no real viable levels or gear outside of Sealed Swords, Vog, and Blitz. I always preferred 3-swing swords, so seeing that 5* Brandishes got a buff after 2011 was a big plus. I'm also glad Chaos received a hyper buff, because I, unlike everyone who constantly complains about balance (and for good reason), do enjoy the glass cannon playstyle. In 2011, I mocked accessories and Lockboxes. I even got a free Dusker Coat Freeze Med from a good sport who I gave a good laugh while I mocked them for opening Lockboxes. (I even managed to sell the coat for well more than it's worth, for a good 100k cr!) In 2013, here I am decked out in my glorious costume that I would probably think is a waste of time and money. I regret nothing.

I could go on forever about how I prefer 2013 SK over 2011, but I'd rather not.

So as to this question it brings up many things I'de like to discuss, not argue about or say one or another is better but give my honest opinion.

First off '11 or '13?
~ I'm going with '11, mostly because when i was new to the game back then (right after beta had ended) i was immediately in love with the art style and the cute little character i played as and the cute little things i swung around the room bashing into plants and trees stepping on their tiny little cute Devilite faces. Also because the game was so simple and easy to comprehend i was in complete and utter shock that i haven't found an this game sooner in its beta stages.
~ As for how the game continued i can't say i was never unsatisfied, i loved the Snarblox when he was introduced, the other bosses felt like mountains to the cloaked me, and my soon to be first 5* set back then was probably the rarest to EVER be seen on a player, Chaos. Now i wouldn't say im trying to be Hipster and all that because quite frankly im not, i simply loved the look of it. And that at the time is all i cared about from it. Being my second set was it's more refined brother the Divine set. I simply just loved the cloaks...
All of the things to come though were what really satisfied me, all the friends i made and have lost over the countless in-activities, all the specialty items i got during the Ce sales that were combined with the likes of the mysterious Rose sets led me to think the game would some day have a great story maybe about these characters or others. and i found from beating bosses that there was a story even if small that was curiously popping its head up at me. The game simply brought me much happiness and in return i spent ALLOT of money on it, because well i enjoyed my time with the game and honestly don't regret anything i had spent.
Sure even i believed as they soon were to take the bomb that got me into bombing away, that i was taking drastic blows i couldnt have even imagined how the game would drive more and more blows at me. The missions were a nice touch but people obviously soon took those out of hand when they played them over and over for profit. And then lockdown got so well, it turned into a good ol' boys club of the Uv's and other nonsense, before i had believed that i could take on that nonsense with a great bomb but sadly it was taken away.
Shadow lairs would soon strike fear into only our pint sized wallets of our characters at how expensive the experience was. And the expansion pack was the only real thing that felt like a solid addition to the game, even though sadly it couldn't be traded or purchased in game and wasn't in a regular rotation as an option but more of an "actual add on story", im not saying it was bad but more so that it was poorly taken into the game.
Then again i felt a sense of hope when i was aloud to change the color of my gear. I felt that the dev's were listening again and that they were trying to give us something we wanted, along with the battle sprites i'll agree they were listening to us about something. but i still think they like to take things to far with things such as the UI update which i will downright say was idiotic in my opinion, no one asked for something like it! And the shield bar was and still is useless, i can tell how my shield is by its distinct color thank you much. The added "flare" to the items looks and materials now oddly just confuses me about the game sometimes. Sure there is no more mist and theres no Monthly charge for free elevators but honestly i dont think it did much to help the game sure people like to play more now and that but it kind of just led to more economy problems. That and everyone whining about content to play...
And then again with flash sales they are trying to fix that hierarchy. but i honestly believe it was better back where they had started..

~ And Finally how i hope the game continues.
Sure i'll still be here supporting the game, if im going to throw more money then needs to be mentioned into something im going to follow it to it's or my end. im not going to give up because i dislike something. I'll just brush it off and stick another nitrome down into vana's face to relieve my stress.

But all in all i do hope the Dev's will stear the game back onto the road it was on before, a game that was more enjoyable and talked about on the forums rather then criticized and talked down upon.
But thats all i have to say on this topic.

Also.... Sorry for the read. Hope you enjoyed it.

If I have to throw away my pet for the old heating system, I will kick my Zeratul(my pet) to oblivion and choose the mist tank and no forge. So, give me back my 2011.

So am I the only one who remembers when our charge attacks were completely cancelled by being hit back then? Bombers had it rough. Even with thier old rampent sharp shotguns.

^Good point in ur last post

OOO has changed from quality to quantity. Mushy pretty much summed it up there.

A metric ton of bird feces is not worth more than a gram of pure diamond.

Yay for diamonds!

I choose 2011...
-Choosing which armor to use in T3 didn't matter so much; enemies didn't do more pure damage as they do now.
-More community, as people had to hang around the Arcade and AH because they couldn't hide in their Guildhall or Ready Room or teleport to missions and/or arcade from anywhere.
-Winmillion had that unique attack combo which has been altered
-Pummel Gun had one bullet cartridge, funny stuff.
-Brandishes had random chance for the extra explosions to occur

Overall, things are too simple and predictable now or just not so free... You know that your brandish will pwn everything. You sort of get punished for trying to be different as the defensive update screwed people who liked to wear Mercurial Mail everywhere *coughmyselfcough*. Overall it was a little more laid back before, and more fun in general. Missions and everything really emphasises the grind, that was less present when we had to go through random levels to get to the farmable boss runs. These are just some of the reasons why I dislike the present state of the game. May it be that I have come to a high level of mastery at fighting the monsters of the game, but still, the game seems lacking in these later years. I can relive a similar experience as the Arcade is still there, but then it's difficult to sit through the extra play time when you can just skip most of the grind time and farm the missions.

asdf random stuff.

One thing that is better about 2013, is the Dark Retribution: RJP solo Elite, 54 seconds. That is one powerful bomb.

I prefer 2011. The old UI was nice back then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7OQRA2kDyE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I'll leave that here, makes me wonder if the game was a nice f2p downloadable game where you just had to craft stuff and nothing more. Makes me wonder how this was and what if this was still today.

Noticeable differences:
Proto/Cobalt gear was way different(or at least the blaster/bomb/sword)
Kat Cowls(sadly we will never know their stats)
More moving speed
Placeable bombs
Different Angelic sets
No annoying fiends or greavers
Silkwings that looked like greavers
totally different levels
VOGS
TORTODRONES

Where's the tortodrones in 2013?
I don't see them.
I think they died.
Give em back.

I want to stab one noaw.